John Harbaugh expects both Greg Roman and Don “Wink” Martindale to return

During his end-of-season press conference yesterday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh revealed that he expects both offensive coordinator Greg Roman and defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale to return for the 2021 season.

It will be hard to find any objections to Martindale remaining in Baltimore. After all, since taking over control of the defense from Dean Pees in 2018, the Ravens have ranked fourth (2018), fifth (2019), and eighth (2020) in defensive DVOA. There are quite a few, however, who will be unhappy with the retention of Roman following another poor performance from the offense in the playoffs.

Roman won Assistant Coach of the Year in 2019, his first season after taking over for Marty Mornhinweg. Under Roman in 2019, Baltimore broke the single-season rushing record, and QB Lamar Jackson became only the second unanimous MVP in league history. The Ravens finished the 2019 season with the most points scored in the league. Despite this, the offense only mustered a measly 12 points in a playoff loss to the Titans.

Baltimore once again finished with the most rushing yards and in the league in 2020. Still, the Ravens only scored three points against the Bills in the playoffs. There are several reasons for the offensive failures in the playoffs, but many fans and media members are pointing to Roman as the main culprit.

Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner recently criticized Baltimore’s offense and the passing schemes. Former Panthers and Ravens wideout Steve Smith Sr. pulled no punches when talking about Roman after the loss to Buffalo. Many have cited Roman’s past tenures with teams as an example of why he shouldn’t stick around.

While Baltimore’s passing attack has not put up the yards that other great offenses do, they were the most efficient passing team in 2019. Injuries and reshuffling of players along the offensive line hindered the offense in 2020, but Jackson and the offense caught fire to finish the regular season.

Regardless of how people feel about Roman, it certainly appears that he will remain the offensive playcaller in 2021.