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The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired their next head coach. Just days after Liam Coen told the Tampa Bay Buccaneers he was returning as their offensive coordinator, he turned his back on the team. He is the new head coach in Jacksonville, per ESPN’s Jenna Laine.
“A source told Laine that Coen reached out to Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles earlier Thursday night to tell him about his renewed interest in the Jaguars’ job, but Coen did not speak with anyone else in the Bucs’ front office,” Michael DiRocco wrote on ESPN.com.
The Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke during their head coaching search and Coen immediately turned back around. He kept his job for a few extra weeks but could not secure the coach, securing the end of his run. Now, Shad Khan will have to fill his role after bringing Coen in.
The Buccaneers will have a third offensive coordinator in three years in 2025. Dave Calanes was calling plays for Tampa before he got the head coaching job with the Carolina Panthers. Coen came in from the University of Kentucky, where he was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Tampa will look in unique places for a new playcaller.
When Baalke was let go, the Jaguars’ job became much more intriguing. Coaching candidates want to work in tandem with their general manager and Coen will be able to do that. Plus, he has a quarterback with a high ceiling and playoff experience. Coen has his hands full trying to coach up Trevor Lawrence and the guys around him, but there is talent in the building.
The Jaguars were about to have in-person interviews with two defensive coaches before Coen changed his mind. Former Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham were the other candidates. But Jacksonville ended up with one of the top offensive minds in this coaching cycle.
Doug Pederson had immediate success in his first season with the Jaguars. They went 9-8, won the AFC South, and beat the Chargers in the Wild Card Round. While they never made it back to the playoffs, it set an expectation in the front office that was hard to replicate.
The Liam Coen switch leaves a lot of questions about the original retention of Baalke. If the general manager role was open from the beginning, would Ben Johnson have come to Jacksonville? We’ll never know, but it may have worked out for the Jags in the long run.
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