Michael Silver's in-depth piece on Greg Roman

[ChrisPozz]

Y! SPORTS

Dang. I love this guy as a coach.

 

[ChrisPozz]

Y! SPORTS

Dang. I love this guy as a coach.

"We sit in the room and he'll put his thoughts up on the board and ask what we think, and we'll collectively discuss things," Rathman says of Roman. "It's not just him. He's looking for input from all the coaches he works with. And he listens."

Says Roman: "I've been in that position — the frustrated assistant who wants to voice his opinion. It's frustrating. I used to throw out insane stuff, just to get people going."

Ha! Love it.

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"Play-calling, it's week to week, but sometimes it goes beyond that, too," Roman says. "I don't want to sound too melodramatic. But here's what it is: I orchestrate sequences of events. I don't just grab plays. Everything I do has a purpose. I'm thinking big picture."

And as Roman suggests, many of those thoughts come at odd hours. "A lot of my [expletive] happens at night — late at night," he says. "I'm nocturnal. I'll be in bed, asleep, and I'll get up and walk into the other room and start writing things down. It's hard to turn it off."

And that.

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"My post-New England mindset was to hold back and try to save things for the playoffs," Roman says. "We did a bunch of [read-option plays] against New England, but you run into that question of exposure. The reality is that you've got to win playoff games. That was definitely part of the plan. Because NFL teams are too good — you start showing something and having success, they're gonna find a way to stop it.

"You don't want to make a living on it. If you can win a game and hold that back, why not? I coached defense. I know what it's like when you have to prepare for something like that. It's all hands on deck. It's mayhem."

 

[nmgsc2002]

Thanks for the article Pozz. That was a great read.

I know everyone usually wants to be a head coach at some point but I always pray and hope that we give him a nice increase in pay to try and keep him here longer as our coordinator and that he doesn't mind staying as a coordinator even though the article sounds like he wants to be head coach. It would be awesome to see him and Kap grow together kind of like Peyton Manning did with Tom Moore for years to come. I know that is only a dream of mine as I do think he will get a job after this next season, but I can always wish.

 

[Yadahell]

Great article! I have recently been thinking about how lucky the 49ers were to retain Roman and Fangio for another year. The SB window only lasts so long...gotta get it done this upcoming season!

 

[I_am_1z]

"You don't want to make a living on it. If you can win a game and hold that back, why not? I coached defense. I know what it's like when you have to prepare for something like that. It's all hands on deck. It's mayhem." [/I]

Weren't we saying the same thing after the game in some of the losses, that Roman wasn't calling his best plays because he didn't want to show too much?

 

[MHSL82]

Weren't we saying the same thing after the game in some of the losses, that Roman wasn't calling his best plays because he didn't want to show too much?

Yep. Our regular season numbers may have been better with our QBs (running and passing) and maybe we win a game more (with a tie and OT loss, anything is possible), but I think our postseason may have suffered. I mean, it seemed like Green Bay in the Divisional thought we abandoned the pistol because we went away from it those last two games. Roman said that was the reason for the absence, to f' with the opposing teams in the playoffs. I mean, Atlanta then started to expect pistol all the time and we got them eventually there with less pistol, right?

 

[MHSL82]

From the article above: Capers and his fellow defensive coordinators will devote much of their offseason to devising ways to combat the read option.

"Oh yeah, they're gonna find ways to stop it," Roman says... "It's gonna go back and forth. And we've gotta predict what they will do and figure out how to counter that.

"But the reality is, if you've got a guy who can throw the ball like [Kaepernick] can and run it like he can, it eventually becomes a numbers game. What do you want to stop? Then we turn to something we call play-action, and it's a huge advantage.

"So yeah, they're gonna be spending a lot of time on this. They should. This is real. And we're just getting started."

Well, here's one guy not willing to help them figure it out...

Who is your new favorite college football coach?

Let me tell you: His name is Jim Mastro.

The running backs coach at Washington State, Mastro has had a message for NFL teams hoping to pick his brain on how to stop the read-option and quarterbacks such as Colin Kaepernick: get lost.

OK, he’s presumably been more polite, but he really has declined the NFL’s requests because of his loyalty to Kaepernick. The connection? Mastro was Nevada’s running backs coach during Kaepernick’s career in Reno.

As a result of his 11 seasons at Nevada, Mastro learned the Pistol offense from its creator, Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault. That explains the interest from NFL teams in Mastro after defenses were routinely vexed by the read-option in 2012.

Given his background, Mastro could shed plenty of light on defending the attack. Instead, he’ll do his part to keep defenses in the dark.

“As long as Colin is in the NFL, I’m not going to do that,” Mastro told CBSSports.com. “He is like a son to me. There are plenty of people (NFL teams) can get a hold of that can help them.”

 

[Rvnight18]

From the article above: Capers and his fellow defensive coordinators will devote much of their offseason to devising ways to combat the read option.

"Oh yeah, they're gonna find ways to stop it," Roman says... "It's gonna go back and forth. And we've gotta predict what they will do and figure out how to counter that.

"But the reality is, if you've got a guy who can throw the ball like [Kaepernick] can and run it like he can, it eventually becomes a numbers game. What do you want to stop? Then we turn to something we call play-action, and it's a huge advantage.

"So yeah, they're gonna be spending a lot of time on this. They should. This is real. And we're just getting started."

Well, here's one guy not willing to help them figure it out...

Who is your new favorite college football coach?

Let me tell you: His name is Jim Mastro.

The running backs coach at Washington State, Mastro has had a message for NFL teams hoping to pick his brain on how to stop the read-option and quarterbacks such as Colin Kaepernick: get lost.

OK, he’s presumably been more polite, but he really has declined the NFL’s requests because of his loyalty to Kaepernick. The connection? Mastro was Nevada’s running backs coach during Kaepernick’s career in Reno.

As a result of his 11 seasons at Nevada, Mastro learned the Pistol offense from its creator, Wolf Pack coach Chris Ault. That explains the interest from NFL teams in Mastro after defenses were routinely vexed by the read-option in 2012.

Given his background, Mastro could shed plenty of light on defending the attack. Instead, he’ll do his part to keep defenses in the dark.

“As long as Colin is in the NFL, I’m not going to do that,” Mastro told CBSSports.com. “He is like a son to me. There are plenty of people (NFL teams) can get a hold of that can help them.”

This shows the person Kaep is IMO. You have a guy who stands to make some money and seems to possibly have a way to put his foot into the NFL, and he declines because of how he feels for Kaep.

And Pozz this is one of the best articles I have read in a while. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MHSL82]

This shows the person Kaep is IMO. You have a guy who stands to make some money and seems to possibly have a way to put his foot into the NFL, and he declines because of how he feels for Kaep.

And Pozz this is one of the best articles I have read in a while. Thanks for sharing.

Mastro is a Maestro. Forgive me, I couldn't resist.

 

[Rvnight18]

Mastro is a Maestro. Forgive me, I couldn't resist.

Haha I laughed. Of course I have been wide awake since 5am unable to sleep. Guess my body is just getting ready for the baby. Only 5 and a half weeks to go and a new niner fan will be here.

 

[MHSL82]

Haha I laughed. Of course I have been wide awake since 5am unable to sleep. Guess my body is just getting ready for the baby. Only 5 and a half weeks to go and a new niner fan will be here.

My silly aunt was trying to convince me to let my baby/kid decide what team she would root for. Come on! She did that for her daughter with religion. Sports are different. I don't want to have a rivalry in the house. Also, I want my daughter to be one of the smart ones, smarter than I am, of course - and I'd be too disappointed if she chose the Broncos or a flavor of the week team.

You have to understand. I live outside of the Bay Area and in a state that has no football team - easy to be apathetic or bandwagon here. No friendly SF pressure. I have to do that myself. I converted some when Alex Smith was here because of the Utah ties. Most of them have stayed, some now don't care or have jumped ship. Not much of a missionary as my converts revert sometimes. (No, I'm not Mormon, missionary reference is coincidental.)

 

[Rvnight18]

Yea I live in Ohio. Told my Wife the only thing I will force upon my kids are the niners, buckeyes, and braves