Earlier this week, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen turned down a second interview with the Jaguars. He was supposed to meet again with Jacksonville about their head coaching vacancy. However, Coen withdrew his name from the running and signed an extension with Tampa Bay.
At least that’s what we all thought two days ago. On Thursday evening, reports came out that Liam Coen will leave Tampa Bay and become the next head coach of the Jaguars. Coen was comfortable accepting the job once he knew Trent Baalke was fired as general manager.
Liam Coen changed his mind and will be the next head coach in Jacksonville
Here is the full story on the #Jaguars being on the verge of hiring Liam Coen as their new head coach: https://t.co/A44LmXG6h1https://t.co/A44LmXG6h1
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 24, 2025
On Wednesday, news broke that Liam Coen would not have a second in-person interview with the Jaguars. Instead, the 39-year-old accepted an extension to stay with Tampa Bay as their OC. No head coach wanted to fill Jacksonville’s vacancy if Trent Baalke was still the GM. That’s why Liam Coen initially said no. When team owner Shad Khan fired Baalke, talks with Coen ramped up again.
Jacksonville thought they lost out on one of their top candidates for head coach in 2025. Liam Coen was interested in the job, just not if Trent Baalke was still the GM. His track record with former head coaches is not great. In just the last four years, two different head coaches were fired by Jacksonville. Now, they have one of the brightest young minds in football to be their next head coach.
Former Bucs OC Liam Coen has been a coach in the NFL or at the collegiate level since 2010. He’s coached the Rams and Buccaneers, and he was the offensive coordinator for both teams. Tampa Bay’s (29.0) points per game in 2024 was the fifth-best in the NFL. Jacksonville has found its next head coach, but it is still searching for a general manager after firing Trent Baalke this week. Reports around the league say that Coen will get “Ben Johnson” level money, Johnson was recently hired by the Chicago Bears. Liam Coen will be the Jaguars’ head coach in 2025.
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