We had some unusual NFL drama go down last week. Rather than going into a full breakdown, I’ll briefly recap here to simplify things. Liam Coen agreed to terms with the Buccaneers to become one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the league. He contacted Todd Bowles later that day to say that he couldn’t come in to sign and make it official because his child was sick in the hospital that night. The following day – he ghosted the Buccaneers and was en route to Jacksonville to sign a deal to become their next head coach. Not exactly the most professional move a so-called leader should be making right? 

At the end of the day, business is business and things like this can happen. Let’s just dive into the actual impacts this hire could have in the world of Florida football. 

Coen put together quite the impressive first year with the Bucs as the offensive coordinator. In what was seen as an upgrade with Dave Canales at the lead in 2023, Coen absolutely shattered those offensive metrics the following season.

While all of those improvements are impressive, it’s the fact that Coen took the rushing offense from last to 4th that stands out to me. The Bucs have been notoriously known as a team that seemingly never has much of a run game through the past years. They were finally seen as a dual-threat offense this year which was the main contributor to their success. 

The Jaguars on the other hand, were terrible in just about every aspect of football last season. They brought in Coen in hopes to upgrade the offense like he did in Tampa, likely focusing on trying to improve their putrid run game which ranked 26th in the league last season. We may see Etienne become relevant again as well as Bigsby; Coen showed that he is a fan of the 2-man RB committee with Irving and White this past season. 

Things are easier said than done though. Coen is entering a much more difficult scenario with the Jaguars than he had in Tampa. It doesn’t take a genius to know that the Buccaneers roster is lightyears ahead of the Jaguars. The Bucs offense is complete, and some of that recent success likely comes from good drafting on behalf of the GM, not just Coens’ play designs. Coen will now face a downgrade at essentially every position outside of TE on offense, he’ll be put to the test with this team. 

I don’t believe expectations should be set high for the first year or two under Coen based on the overall roster he’s been given to work with, but I worry about Coen as an overall leader in general. I don’t think that his way of going about this hire will be forgotten and the players who he will now coach may be a bit hesitant to buy in on the guy and trust him (rightfully so). 

Coen has been a drifter in these past few years. Anyone with access to the internet can see that his word doesn’t really mean much. This isn’t even the first time that he has committed to a team only to bail on them shortly after. He was set on returning to Kentucky as the OC in January of 2023. Two weeks later, he had cancelled those plans to become the Buccaneers OC. 

It’s understandable to try and move up in the coaching ranks, but the way that Coen goes about his business doesn’t sit right with me. The gap between a coordinator and a head coach is quite large, and there’s much more to it than just making decisions on the field. You are now put in the role to represent and lead a professional football team. All eyes are on your actions, words, and production. It almost feels as if Coen is starting on the wrong foot here. Take a look at all the great coaches in the league now, they’re good at what they do, but a lot of it has to do with the respect that their players have towards them and the culture that they build. Telling your franchise QB and your players that you are staying to then leave hours later isn’t exactly the ideal move to make when you plan on trying to win over players on a new team. 

Regardless of the outcome and what happened, congrats to Coen for landing the job after just one year as an OC in the NFL, but things feel a bit rushed here. I don’t think highly of the Jaguars management (Yes, they fired their last GM in a literal panic just to get Coen), I don’t think highly of their roster, and I simply don’t believe in Coen succeeding in a head coaching role. Half of being a head coach is building a positive relationship with your players – I don’t see that coming from him. Some guys were just destined to be coordinators, he is one of them.

Good luck Jags fans, this is your leader for the next 5 years (maybe).