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Liam Coen’s path to the head coaching job of the Jacksonville Jaguars had been relatively conventional until it looked like the job was his. Like many first-time head coaches who have been hired over the last six or seven years, Coen has the experience of having coached under Sean McVay in Los Angeles. After that, he was a play-caller at both the college level and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. His resume states that he’s as qualified to be a head coach as many others who have earned that title.
Where Liam Coen’s path gets a little bizarre was when it looked like the Jaguars were closing in on the 39-year-old coordinator, who once upon a time was a quarterback who rewrote the University of Massachusetts record book. The Jaguars reportedly were zeroing in on Coen for the job, but he had reservations about leaving Tampa Bay and signed a new deal with the Bucs.
However, less than 24 hours after Coen initially declined the chance to interview in person in Jacksonville, the Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke and all of the sudden, Coen was not only back in play, but within a day, agreeing to a deal. The Jags got their man, and the Bucs are left with a Liam Coen-sized hole to fill on their coaching staff.
According to Michael DiRocco and Jenna Laine of ESPN, Coen did confide in a Buccaneers assistant that he felt badly for the way things materialized, however, he apparently “felt like he owed it to himself,” to take the opportunity.
Understandably, there was a bit of frustration in Tampa Bay, not that Coen left to become a head coach, but for how the entire situation was handled, which is messy at best.
“The manner in which it unfolded is still a little tough to comprehend,” a Buccaneers team source said told DiRocco and Laine. “Life goes on.”
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Buccaneers have begun their search for their next offensive coordinator, and their search will begin in a similar spot… with another member of Sean McVay’s coaching staff. Nate Scheelhaase was an offensive assistant/pass game assistant under McVay last season after serving as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator during the 2023 college football season.
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