JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In a whirlwind two-day saga, Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC Liam Coen will officially be the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars after initially backing out of the interview pool.
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This comes after Trent Baalke and the Jaguars “parted ways” on Jan. 22, leading Coen to reconsider the job.
The team is hopeful that the 39-year-old can unlock Trevor Lawrence’s full potential.
“Lawrence is getting what he wanted. He asked for an offensive coordinator, offensive-minded coach, so Liam Coen seemed to be able to bring that to Duval and just excited about Jacksonville,” a fan told News4JAX.
News4JAX spoke with several fans who said they were hopeful about the decision.
“He comes with a good record. I just, you know, I question the higher authority of the Jaguars. Sometimes I think they’re more concerned about a stadium than they are about the team,” a fan said.
Coen is credited with the most recent success of Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who threw a career-high 41 touchdowns after throwing 28 in the previous season.
“I’m super excited to have a new coach. We had a lot of experiences where, you know, a lot of coaches didn’t want to come here because of the general manager. So I’m pretty excited about it,” another fan said.
Coen brings 15 years of coaching experience to Jacksonville, including five years in the NFL. Before his stint with Tampa Bay, Coen served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Kentucky for the 2023 and 2021 seasons during which he put forth two of the highest-scoring single seasons in school history. The 2021 Wildcats team amassed 56 total touchdowns while the 2023 Wildcats team scored 50 total touchdowns.
We want to hear from you. What do you think about the hire? Will the offense improve? What needs to happen next to get the organization on a path to success? Let us know your thoughts below.
