I have a gut feeling about Greg Roman, almost surely the new offensive coordinator at the 49ers. He won’t design the offense by himself — Jim Harbaugh will have lots to say about that — but he’ll probably call most of the plays. And he will assert his point of view and challenge Harbaugh.

This challenge part is important. A good head coach wants assistants who challenge his assumptions and bring new ideas. Mike Singletary did not want this in Jimmy Raye. Singletary was a bad head coach. I can tell you Bill Walsh surrounded himself with the smartest men and they were assertive — Dennis Green, Mike Holmgren etc. There were sparks flying between those guys and that’s why the Niners offense was so good. I believe Harbaugh is trying for that kind of creativity on his staff.