The Jacksonville Jaguars are set to hire Liam Coen as their new head coach after a surprising change of plans
Originally, Coen was all set to stay in Tampa Bay. He was even in line to be the highest-paid offensive coordinator in the league after Baker Mayfield had a standout season. But then, the Jaguars fired their general manager, and things changed quickly.
The Jaguars reached out to Coen again, asking if he’d think about taking the job. Meanwhile, the Bucs tried to get in touch with him, but he was already on his way to Jacksonville to seal the deal. He did eventually let Bucs head coach Todd Bowles know about the interview.
There was talk about former Jets coach Robert Saleh being a good fit for the Jaguars, but now it seems like he might be heading back to the 49ers instead.
Coen hasn’t been a head coach in the NFL before. He’s mostly worked as a positional coach or coordinator. He had a brief stint with the Rams and then went to Kentucky before joining the Bucs.
The Jaguars have a talented quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, but they haven’t really been able to make the most of his skills. After a rough time with Urban Meyer, Doug Pederson took over in 2022 and led the team to a wild card win. But things went downhill from there, and they ended up with a 4-13 record in 2024.
Now, Jacksonville is looking to the draft, holding the No. 5 pick, and they’ve got a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball, especially on defense.