Coen Hired a Jaguars New Coach

As the world turns, the two-day soap opera is over. Liam Coen is finalizing a deal to become the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.

Coen, who was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator this season, pulled his name out of the running for the Jaguars job on Wednesday to stay with the NFC South champions. At the time, Jones reported that the Buccaneers agreed to terms to make Coen one of the NFL’s highest-paid offensive coordinators.

But things changed on a dime after the Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke.

Jones reported Thursday that the Jaguars approached Coen again with a new offer after the dismissal of Baalke. Additionally, Tampa Bay’s attempts to reach Coen went unanswered much of the day until later Thursday evening after reports surfaced that he was back in contention as the Jaguars’ top head-coaching candidate.

Coen, 39-years-of-age, took over for Dave Canales as Tampa Bay’s offensive play-caller, and the Buccaneers flourished. They won the division crown for a fourth consecutive season while producing the NFL’s No. 4 scoring offense (29.5 points per game) and ranking third in total offense (399.6 yards per game).

Quarterback Baker Mayfield registered career highs in several categories, such as, completion percentage (71.4%), passing yards (4,500), passing yards per attempt (7.9), passing touchdowns (41) and passer rating (106.8) while executing Coen’s system in 2024.

Coen is a branch off Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay’s highly successful coaching tree. After eight years of paying his dues as a collegiate assistant coach, he made his debut in the NFL as McVay’s assistant wide receivers coach with the Rams in 2018 and 2019. McVay elevated Coen to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2020, and then Coen exited to become the Kentucky Wildcats offensive coordinator in 2021, where he coached an attack led by quarterback Will Levis, who is now with the Tennessee Titans.

Once the Minnesota Vikings hired Kevin O’Connell to be their head coach after working as the Rams’ OC, McVay brought Coen back to Los Angeles to fill that role in 2022. That was the first time Coen had an opportunity to work in concert with Mayfield following his midseason arrival from the Carolina Panthers. Coen then returned to Kentucky as their offensive coordinator in 2023 before Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles hired him to be his OC and play-caller, a responsibility Coen had not had at the NFL level while working for the Rams.

Coen will have a solid core of young weapons to work with in Jacksonville, headlined by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr., two offensive tackles who were drafted in the first two rounds, Pro Bowl edge rusher Josh Hines-Allen, edge rusher Travon Walker and cornerback Tyson Campbell. Now, Coen can see his plan for the Jaguars carried out his way and on his terms by having a say in picking the front office he will work alongside with in Jacksonville.

That is a nice recovery for a Jaguars franchise that appeared to be in a tailspin just 24 hours earlier. Sometimes the ultimate solution is as simple as completely tearing it down and starting over in order to have franchise-wide alignment between a team’s desired head coach and the front office.