With more head coaching vacancies being filled by the day, the interest be Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen and the Jacksonville Jaguars continues to grow. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport has reported that Coen is set to have a second interview with Jacksonville this week and it is an in-person interview.
This comes off the heels of reports that the Chicago Bears are hiring former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to become their head coach. Johnson was heavily considered as a top head coaching candidate this offseason and the Jaguars were very interested in him as well. With Johnson off the board, Jacksonville may pivot to Liam Coen, making it the third year in a row that the Bucs would be in search for a new offensive coordinator.
Liam Coen Is Among Several Coaching Candidates
While Bucs fans are rightfully worried about Liam Coen potentially departing from Tampa, it’s important to specify that Rapoport als said that there are several candidates that Jacksonville is looking at. In his same post on X, Rapoport mentions that the Jaguars will also be interviewing Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham and former Jets head coach Robert Saleh.
Graham has yet to be a head coach but has been a coach in the NFL since 2009. He’s been with the Patriots, Giants, Packers, Dolphins and Raiders in his career with roles such as defensive line coach, linebackers coach, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator. He helped win Super Bowl 50 over the Patriots, which many remember from a key defensive play late in the game with a Malcolm Butler interception.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield, OC Liam Coen and QBs coach Thad Lewis – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
An advantage that Robert Saleh has going into these interviews is that he at least has head coaching experience. He didn’t have a good record with the Jets at 20-36, but their organizations consistent meddling and disfunction might be chalked up to the reason why they were not successful. Saleh made his stock rise before the Jets as a successful defensive coordinator with the 49ers and has been in the NFL since 2005.
Liam Coen does not nearly have as much experience as these other two coaches, but there’s not denying the great job he’s done as an offensive coordinator with the Bucs. Under Liam Coen’s watch, the Bucs scored 502 points in the regular season. That’s the second most they’ve score in franchise history. Tampa Bay averaged 29.5 points per game, which was fourth best in the league.
He was able to get Mike Evans to reach 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th straight season, despite missing three games. Liam Coen also set up Bucky Irving be the Bucs first running back to surpass 1,000 rushing yards in a decade and assisted in Baker Mayfield reaching career highs in several categories. That includes 41 passing touchdowns, which put Mayfield second all-time Bucs history for single season passing touchdowns, trailing Tom Brady by two.
Bucs OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
This all came in Liam Coen’s first year as a play caller at the NFL level. He may not have all of the experience of some others lobbying for this job, but he’s proven quickly that he’s capable of excelling in the role. The Jaguars have a young core of talent on offense that they may want Coen to get the best out of.
It remains to be seen how the Bucs will handle this if Coen is offered a head coaching job. Will they try to convince he to come back by giving him more money? Will they decide they can’t lose him and make him the head coach in Tampa. There are several scenarios in which the Bucs and their front office will need to play out in order to keep their high flying offense in a good spot heading into next season.
Pewter Report spoke a lot about Liam Coen during Monday’s Pewter Report Podcast. Check out the video below for our opinions about it.
