New Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen Is The Biggest Snake In Football Today

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Ever since they fired Jack Del Rio after 2011, the Jaguars have been one of the most mismanaged teams in the NFL. That ties in directly with when currently owner Shad Khan took ownership of the team in January of 2012.

I will admit they did have a nice Cinderella run to the AFC Championship game in 2017, but outside of that one season, they have won just over 30% of their games going 64-148 with Khan as their owner 

Under Khan, Jags fans have endured a year of Mike Mularkey (2-14) at HC, had Gus Bradley (14-48) for four years, Doug Marrone (23-43) for four years, tried out Urban Meyer (2-11) for a hot second and needed Darrell Bevell (1-3) to finish, and then brought in the hottest Coaching name out there in Doug Pederson (22-29), who won a Super Bowl as an offensive playcaller and even had a Bug Light commercial about a play of his from the big game. 

*Pederson went 9-8 in each of his first two seasons and even won a playoff game only to lose to Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs the next round by just seven points. He was fired after going 4-13 this season despite only having starting QB Trevor Lawrence for 10 games.

Khan's reign of terror has continued this off-season as the team did not fire GM Trent Baalke who doesn't have the best reputation in league circles. Baalke originally came in to work with Urban Meyer and once that situation too a hard left he's been in a tough spot. Firing Doug Pederson and still surviving was an interesting move, although Khan admitted that wouldn't necessarily be the case. Not only that, he said that right in front of Baalke less than three weeks ago.

Fast forward and career jumping Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen is a hot name in league circles. With Ben Johnson taking a job this season, he would likely be the name next year to have his choice of jobs if the Bucs had offensive success again this season. He did have one interview request in this hiring cycle, with Jacksonville. 

I'll be honest, Liam Coen did a great job as Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator this past season. I was excited at the possibility of him returning. He turned a bottom five rushing offense into a top five rushing offense. Despite being labeled the favorite for the job before even interviewing, I was skeptical given he had only had one year of NFL playcalling experience.

Coen is a habitual ladder climber, which is both a good and a bad thing. On one hand, he does well enough as his job that he gets jobs that are either better, promotions, or at least lateral. On the other hand, he seems very indecisive and jumpy. He was with the Rams for a few seasons as their Assistant Wide Receivers Coach and then Assistant Quarterbacks Coach. In 2021 he jumped to Kentucky to be their Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach. In 2022 he went back to the Rams to be their Offensive Coordinator (in title only, Sean McVay called the plays). in 2023 he went back to Kentucky for the same role he had previously with the promise to not abandon them so quickly again.

In 2024, he got a great opportunity with the Buccaneers to be their Offensive Coordinator and would get to actually call plays this time, something he'd never done at the NFL level in a regular season game. The Bucs took a big risk with this. He was the non-play calling OC when Baker Mayfield suited up on a few days notice against the Raiders. 

But the risk paid off as he led the Bucs Offense to new heights as the team averaged 29 points per game. Then this Jacksonville interview comes up. And hey, I get it. If you have a chance at a promotion, go for it. But I also have interviewed people before and one thing you look for is if they're steady. My one concern with Coen was that his resume was jumpy. That concern proved valid today as after announcing yesterday he was pulling out of the Jaguars job, he agreed to a new contract with the Buccaneers to be one of the highest paid Coordinators in the NFL. Quite the bump for a guy who has called plays for 18 full non-preseason NFL games. 

But that loyalty was not repaid today as word broke that he was ignoring the Buccaneers attempts to contact him as he flew to Jacksonville to meet with Shad Khan about the open HC job. See yesterday Khan fired Baalke as GM. So there was a material change to the position. That being said, there is a way to handle things and there is snake-like behavior. And what Coen exhibited today was some very shady shit.

A few weeks ago, before the Wild Card game against Washington, Coen was asked in a press conference if he wanted to be a Head Coach as his name had been originally linked to Jacksonville. He started lying here.

Then he starts ducking calls and texts from his employer like a real weasel.

To make matters worse, he used the same sick kid excuse today as to why he wouldn't respond to the Bucs' calls.

Why the secrecy? Well it turns out the Bucs' offer was on the condition that he didn't take a second interview with Jacksonville.

And I'm conflicted here, because it is hard to fault a guy for taking the money..

But let me be crystal clear - this is a big risk for Jacksonville too. Something Shad Khan hasn't proved to be good at doing. They are handing over the keys to their entire franchise to a guy who has called plays (admittedly very well) for 18 NFL games. Not only that, based on his resume, I'm skeptical about who he'll get to come over to Jacksonville with him in the Coaching ranks. The Bucs can block all lateral moves, so maybe he takes one Coach from the Bucs and makes them a non-play calling OC? Ok, but how about Defensive Coordinator? What about GM?! This is A LOT for a guy with seemingly limited connections and HAS 18 GAMES OF NFL PLAY CALLING EXPERIENCE. 

And listen, if Coen had taken the Jags job early this week, nobody would've faulted him. Dave Canales left on pretty good terms last year. He got a dream job and took it. But just lying to people left and right is crazy behavior. As a Bucs stan for fucking life - I am officially no longer a Coen Head. Not only that - I hate this guy's guts. Enjoy your money and Shad Khan you snake.