The Jacksonville Jaguars lost out on Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson on Monday, and it appears the franchise is set to pivot to the rest of their candidates.
Among those candidates is Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who is one of three coaches to schedule a second interview with the Jaguars. Coen is set to meet with the Jaguars for an in-person interview this week, and it appears there are some in Tampa Bay who believe Coen is in line to be the Jaguars’ next head coach.
According to Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud, the Buccaneers are preparing for the potential reality of the Jaguars’ brass of owner Shad Khan and general manager Trent Baalke to make Coen an offer to be the next head coach.
“The Bucs are bracing for Coen to be offered the Jaguars head coaching job, possibly as early as Wednesday when he interviews for the second time with the club,” Stroud said.
“Jacksonville also has scheduled second interviews with Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham on Thursday and former Jets coach Robert Saleh on Friday. But there’s a growing belief that it’s Coen’s job to lose. Not only were the Jaguars impressed with the 39-year-old offensive coordinator when he interviewed virtually a week ago, he’s also most equipped to resurrect the career of quarterback Trevor Lawrence.”
Coen, who has been a long-time assistant for Sean McVay and also had success with Will Levis at Kentucky, just wrapped up his first year as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator — a year that saw the offense turn into a top-5 unit. In 2024, the Buccaneers ranked top-five in: total offense, scoring offense, rushing offense, passing offense, third-down percentage, and red-zone touchdown percentage.
“Liam has done an incredible job,” Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield said earlier this month.
“It’s the influence he’s had throughout all the guys teaching the game of football, and I’ve mentioned to you guys like all year, that teaching the details of why we’re doing certain things, why we have certain plays alerted or canned, whatever you want to call it. And he does a great job of that, and then calling the plays with player strengths, that’s what good OCs do. And so he’s done an unbelievable job.”