JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Liam Coen ushered in a new era of Jaguars football on Monday, promising to rebuild the culture of a broken franchise and help guide Trevor Lawrence and the offense to new heights.
The former Buccaneers offensive coordinator said all the right things — even if his “Duuuval” chant needs a lot of work— during his meet-the-public moment at the Miller Electric Center. The biggest task for Coen and the new regime is helping remake the culture of a franchise that has been the league’s worst in Shad Khan’s 13 years of ownership. Last season’s team, the most expensive in franchise history, bottomed out at 4-13 and led to the firing of head coach Doug Pederson.
Recommended Videos
Some of the notables of Coen’s first day on the job:
Fix the culture
Coen mentioned the word culture numerous times on Monday and said that communication is at the root of what he’s looking for. Culture is as big a buzzword here as it’s ever been. Pederson talked about locker room culture and having the right guys, but that was difficult to see over the last season and a half. Losing wears athletes down and the Jaguars have been the NFL’s best at losing games. During Khan’s period as owner (2012-present), Jacksonville is 64-148 in the regular season. That’s the worst record in the league by 10 full games over the Browns (73-138-1) and Jets (74-138).
“How do we go from winning games to not losing them? I think that’s something we’ve got to address, and that’s got to be in our veins and our DNA, the culture of winning,” Coen said.
The Rams angle
Sean McVay’s success as the head coach of the Rams has made NFL teams chase coaches and assistants from the McVay tree. Coen spent four years working under McVay in Los Angeles, three as an assistant receivers and quarterbacks coach, and another as the offensive coordinator. Coen said that time remains his blueprint for how an organization needs to line up.
“When I walked into the Los Angeles Rams building in 2018 I had never felt anything like that before in my life,” Coen said. “It was a different introduction to coaching. And you saw a building, every single person that was in that building and a part of that thing was in alignment. And I think that’s the key.”
Big fan of Trevor
Lawrence’s first four years in the league have been erratic. The No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft has a $275 million contract (which doesn’t start until 2026, by the way) but has been physically beaten up the last two seasons. For Jacksonville to get back to the playoffs, they need a healthy and productive Lawrence. He was neither of those in 2024.
“How do we make Trevor Lawrence and this offense as dynamic and explosive as we can be? We’ve got to build it around him as well, right? We’ve got to make every part of this about improvement, and he will be a part of that process,” Coen said. “He’s earned that right. I cannot respect his toughness, mentality, and work ethic more than I do already from afar. And this will all be about Trevor right now.”
Baalke decision not a factor
Khan’s decision to fire general manager Trent Baalke on the afternoon of Jan. 22 was thought to help clear the deck for Coen’s arrival. Khan said he made the decision after some reflection following the team’s 10 virtual interviews. The timing of Baalke’s firing came just hours after Coen pulled his name from the Jacksonville coaching search, but the head coach said it wasn’t the reason for his pivot.
“This was completely about an opportunity to work for an owner and a group of people with a group of players that needed some help, and that’s what coaching is, right, that’s what coaching is all about, is trying to go help people and be around people,” Coen said. “So no, that was not, that was not the factor.”
He will call the plays
Coen was asked early in the press conference about playcalling duties, if it would be him or an offensive coordinator.
“Yes … absolutely, I’ll be calling the football plays.”
Despite a preference by Khan that Pederson take playcalling duties back, Press Taylor stayed in charge of running the offense. It was one of the league’s worst, something that Khan said played a role in his decision to fire Pederson.
Family changes things
Coen has bounced around as a coach, mainly on the college circuit. He’s coached at Brown, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The NFL was the ultimate goal. His first NFL job was under McVay with the Rams. Coen was in Los Angeles from 2018-2020, then left to be the offensive coordinator at Kentucky in 2021. He returned to the Rams in 2022 and served as the offensive coordinator before going back to Kentucky in 2023, again as the OC.
Coen and wife, Ashley, have two young sons, Jackson and Callahan.
“Things have changed in the landscape of college football, right? We all know that,” he said. “And when you start to have a young family, things change. Your priorities change. And the National Football League does provide a little bit more of an opportunity to be a father and a husband and a friend, and that’s kind of why we’ve done the back and forth for the last few years. But I’ll be in the NFL hopefully for a while.”