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After a long coaching search that took a few unnecessary turns, the Jacksonville Jaguars finally landed on former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen as their new head coach. Now, they are focused on building a staff around Coen as he looks to turn things around quickly in Jacksonville.
Coen is a first-time head coach who was only the OC in Tampa Bay for one year, so he is very inexperienced overall. As a result, the Jaguars are trying to build an experienced staff around him to help him navigate his first season in 2025. This weekend, the Jaguars interviewed former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera for an undisclosed potential role on Coen’s staff, according to John Shipley of Sports Illustrated.
Rivera had a very successful nine-year stint with the Panthers, leading them to the Super Bowl after the 2015 season. He then immediately went to the Washington Commanders as their head coach for four seasons before he was fired after the 2023 campaign. He wasn’t in the NFL in 2024, but he did interview with the Chicago Bears and the New York Jets for their head coach openings this offseason.
The Jaguars also have a first-year defensive coordinator in Anthony Campanile on staff already, so Rivera’s experience and expertise on that side of the ball would be a huge benefit to the team.
Coen has already said that he will be calling the plays on offense for the Jaguars, but they still have not made a formal hire for their open offensive coordinator position. Now, they are closing in on an intriguing candidate according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston.
“Rams offensive assistant/passing game specialist Nate Scheelhaase has emerged as leading candidate for Jaguars offensive coordinator job, per multiple NFL sources, who predict he’ll ultimately be hired,” Wilson reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Scheelhaase was the starting quarterback at Illinois for four seasons from 2010-13 before joining the coaching staff with the Illini. He coached at the college ranks until 2023, finishing off that final season as the offensive coordinator at Iowa State. He joined Sean McVay’s staff with the Los Angeles Rams in 2024 and now seems like he could be headed to Jacksonville. While he won’t be calling plays if he gets the Jaguars OC job, he will still be a big part of what the offense looks like.
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