With growing uncertainty over whether or not Penn State will be able to land Vanderbilt's James Franklin as their next head coach, the Nittany Lions have interviewed San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
While Franklin and previous frontrunner Al Golden both have close connections to Happy Valley*, Roman is more of an outsider. A native of Atlantic City (about 250 miles from PSU), Roman got his start as an offensive line assistant with the Carolina Panthers in 1995. During his tenure with the Houston Texans and the Baltimore Ravens, Roman caught the eye of Jim Harbaugh, who hired him as his offensive coordinator at Stanford in 2009.
Stanford went 20-6 with Roman as their offensive coordinator. With Andrew Luck under center, the Cardinal reached the 2010 Orange Bowl, where they defeated Virginia Tech 40-12. After the 2010 season, Harbaugh accepted the 49ers head coaching job, and took Roman along with him.
Roman reportedly interviewed for the Penn State job back in 2011, shortly after Joe Paterno was let go during the fallout from the Sandusky scandal. When asked about the interview in 2012, Roman told CSNBayArea.com:
"That's a job if I were to become the head coach there, I'd wouldn't leave."
Keep a close eye on Roman as the Penn State situation develops. We would currently consider him the third option behind Franklin and former Titans HC Mike Munchak, but things could change in a hurry.
*Golden played and briefly coached at PSU, while Franklin grew up about an hour away from State College and got his first coaching job at nearby Kutztown.
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More Penn State:
Vanderbilt Matches Penn State's Offer for James Franklin, Move Now Uncertain
The 11 Ways You Know You Went To Penn State
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