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The Jacksonville Jaguars missed out on their pursuit of former Lions OC Ben Johnson. Jacksonville was reportedly smitten with Johnson and willing to do whatever it takes to hire him. Unfortunately, the did not move on from former GM Trent Baalke soon enough to make it work.
A recent article from Albert Breer on SI.com sheds more light on Jacksonville’s head coaching search. It highlights how close Johnson was to taking the job, and what role Baalke’s presence had in Johnson making a final decision.
“My belief is that Ben Johnson was very high on the Jaguars’ job—high enough on it to have taken the interview with Jacksonville even before they let Baalke go,” Breer wrote. “Jacksonville was high on Johnson, too, enough so to discuss making a big-money offer. But in the end, I’m not sure Johnson wanted to have to push Baalke out to go there. So Johnson chose the Chicago Bears over the Las Vegas Raiders, and the Jags moved on.”
Breer firmly believes that Baalke’s presence played a huge part in this year’s head coaching search. It seems that initially losing out on Coen was the final straw.
“Long story short, after getting that no from Coen, the Jags fired Baalke, circled back, and Coen wound up getting offered a deal well into eight figures annually to go,” Breer continued.
In fact, Coen is rumored to earn $12 million per season as the Jaguars head coach.
Expectations will be high for Coen in year one after the dramatic series of events that led him to Jacksonville.
The Jaguars and Liam Coen went on a bizarre journey together this weekend.
It is only natural to wonder how Coen felt after all of the dust finally settled. That’s exactly what one ESPN article sought to find out.
Coen confided in a Buccaneers assistant that he felt badly about the way things materialized, according to Michael DiRocco and Jenna Laine of ESPN. However, Coen said that he “felt like he owed it to himself” to take the Jacksonville opportunity.
Understandably, the Buccaneers were a little upset about the whole situation.
“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.”
These are the kinds of odd situation that form natural rivalries. Both teams are from the state of Florida, which only adds to the story.
The Jaguars and Buccaneers will not play each other during the 2025 season, unless they both make the Super Bowl. When they do end up playing each other, fans can expect fireworks.
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