NEW ORLEANS -- Given a chance Thursday, San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman offered to set the record straight.
It’s been written and repeated that he and new Jacksonville Jaguars general manager David Caldwell were roommates at John Carroll University in Ohio.
While they were friends and teammates in college, they didn’t live together.
And when they were starting out in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers, Roman said the roommate situation was not a shared sort of deal.
“We didn't room together, he roomed with me,” Roman said, laughing. “He lived on my couch, he paid no rent. ...It was out of the goodness of my heart. I was older and we were young, hungry guys looking to make it in this world.”
“It was all football all the time, 24-7.”
Roman was a young coach starting out, a bit older than Caldwell, a young scout with roughly the same status.
“On David, there’s not a lot of dirt,” Roman said at Thursday’s 49ers media session. "He’s a hard working guy, he’s got a good head on his shoulders, he’s been around a lot of good people, Bill Polian, Thomas Dimitroff.
“He’s a very good people person, he’s got great people skills. Don’t worry about him in that regard. He’s got a sharp wit. He’s very energetic about being successful.”
Roman was a presumed front-runner for the Jaguars' head coaching post because of his connection to Caldwell. But as the 49ers played their way to the Super Bowl, Caldwell hired Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.