Liam Coen is signing a new contract with the Bucs, will remove himself from Jacksonville’s head coaching search

After the 2024 season, the Jacksonville Jaguars parted ways with Doug Pederson as head coach. Top names for the vacancy included Liam Coen, Robert Saleh, and Patrick Graham. However, Coen is taking himself out of the running. 

He was supposed to have a second in-person interview with the Jaguars this week. Instead, Tampa Bay is making Coen one of the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL. The Bucs are giving him a contract extension and he will remain the OC.

Liam Coen is no longer in the running to be Jacksonville’s next head coach

Jacksonville was in the midst of conducting second in-person HC interviews this week with Liam Coen – who’s now out – as well as former Raiders DC Patrick Graham and former Jets HC Robert Saleh. https://t.co/NEZw6ZqWgo

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2025

From 2010-2017, Liam Coen spent time at the collegiate level as a quarterbacks coach. Eventually, he worked his way up to offensive coordinator for Maine in 2016 and 2017. Coen got his big break in 2018 when he was hired by Rams head coach Sean McVay. In 2018 and 2019, Coen was the assistant WRs coach for Los Angeles. For the 2020 season, Coen was assistant QB coach with the Rams. The following season in 2021, Coen found himself at Kentucky as the offensive coordinator/QB coach.

After one season with the Wildcats, Coen was re-hired by Sean McVay. This time as the offensive coordinator in 2022. Coen held that position for one season before he returned to Kentucky again in 2023 as the offensive coordinator/QB coach. Ahead of the 2024 season, Coen was hired by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their offensive coordinator. Tampa Bay’s (29.0) points per game in 2024 was the fifth-best in the NFL. With that success, Coen drew head coaching interest this offseason. The 38-year-old had an in-person interview with the Jaguars.

Coen was set to have a second in-person interview this week with Jacksonville. However, Liam Coen is taking himself out of the running. He is signing a new contract to become one of the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL. If the Bucs can have another successful season offensively, Coen will only have more head coaching interest after 2025. Similar to what we saw Ben Johnson do with the Detroit Lions. Raiders’ DC Patrick Graham and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh are the top candidates now for Jacksonville.