Bills Fire Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman

After losing to the Jets on Thursday night, the Bills are shaking up their coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman has been fired, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The Bills have appointed Anthony Lynn, their running backs coach, as their new OC (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). The Bills have confirmed the news via press release.Greg Roman (vertical)

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Roman’s firing is a shocker for a number of reasons. Of course, it’s pretty rare that a team will can a coordinator two games into the season. Also, the Bills’ offense wasn’t necessarily the problem in Thursday night’s loss to the rival Jets. The Bills defense was picked apart all night by Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matt Forte and the shortcomings on D can partially be chalked up to the missing pieces in Buffalo’s front seven. The Bills lost to the Jets 37-31, dropping them to 0-2.

Roman, hired in January of 2015, was the NFL’s highest paid offensive coordinator. The 44-year-old was expected to be the offensive counterbalance to head coach Rex Ryan, but Buffalo apparently wasn’t satisfied with what they’ve seen so far. While the Bills have not been an offensive juggernaut over the last year-and-change, Roman did help mold Tyrod Taylor into one of the league’s more promising quarterbacks. One could also argue that the offense has not been operating at full strength as Sammy Watkins played through injuries last year.

Lynn, meanwhile, is a rising star in coaching circles. This past offseason, Lynn interviewed for a number of other gigs, including the 49ers and Dolphins head coaching jobs. If Lynn can help improve the Bills’ offense, he will be a top candidate for vacancies around the league in the spring.

The Browns, Rams, Buccaneers, and other clubs had interest in hiring Roman prior to the 2015 season, but Buffalo outbid them all. Roman came with the reputation as an offensive guru even though his play-calling was suspect towards the end of his tenure with the Niners.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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