Liam Coen likes how the offseason has gone for the Jaguars and he can’t wait to get out on the field.
Coen met with the media during the NFL league meetings on Monday in Palm Beach and covered the gamut of topics, from free agency to the draft to Trevor Lawrence and Travon Walker as a new regime looks to change Jacksonville’s fortunes. The team can begin its offseason workout program on April 7, two weeks before other NFL teams who didn’t hire new head coaches can begin.
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And Coen is ready.
“Guys want to get better. We’ve felt that. We’ve felt that throughout this offseason. Guys are eager to get in the building as we are as coaches. It’s happening fast,” Coen said. “Really excited about the collaboration we’ve had with some of the Draft, some of the free agency and our current roster. Things are going well so far.”
The Jaguars hit the reset button again and overhauled everything. Coen (38) is the youngest head coach in franchise history. New general manager James Gladstone (34) is the franchise’s youngest hire in that position. And executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli is in his first stint in a front office role.
All of that youth and newness won’t matter if the Jaguars can put a good product on the field, something it has struggled to do consistently. Former coach Doug Pederson had back-to-back 9-8 seasons before the bottom fell out in 2024 (4-13). Since Shad Khan bought the team in 2012, Jacksonville (64-148 in the regular season) has the worst record in the NFL.
Coen has been apart of success in the NFL in both Tampa Bay and during two stints with the Rams. His time in Los Angeles, where he crossed paths with Gladstone, has served as the blueprint for how he wants things to function in Jacksonville. Coen credits head coach Sean McVay for the massive culture change with the Rams, and said he wants to infuse that same authenticity here.
“When I walked into that building in 2018, I had never felt anything like that before,” Coen said. “Just the continuity, the positivity, the true like, man, ‘Hey, how are you?’ It actually really meant something. I just felt like he stepped in that building, was truly himself every single day.”
So, how does a new coaching staff usher in a new culture to a locker room that clearly spiraled under Pederson? Former safety Andre Cisco said after a loss last October that he saw “a lot of quit” in the team in a loss to Chicago to the Bears.
“It’s just incrementally inputting the culture. It’s not just culture overload on day one when you’re like — as a player, coach and staff — man, that was way too much, this is a lot,” Coen said. “Culture is how we truly just are. How we talk to each other, how we hang out with each other, the way we hold meetings and gatherings together.”
Much of the focus in hiring a quarterback-centric coach in Coen has been tapping into Lawrence’s potential. The No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft, Lawrence is now on his third head coach in the NFL and facing a massive crossroad in his career. The team paid him elite quarterback money with an extension last offseason, and Lawrence never looked comfortable.
His season ended with Lawrence on injured reserve. Four seasons in, will this finally be the year where Lawrence puts things together and plays like a franchise quarterback?
“We’ve had some really good conversations. I haven’t been able to work with him quite yet, but we’ve gone out to dinner a few times, and I saw the vision,” Coen said of Lawrence. “Talked to a guy that I know right off the bat is physically and mentally tough. I believe that about him. That’s why I’m excited to work with him about it.”
The Jaguars are segueing into draft mode and Coen is getting an up-close look at Gladstone in his new role. Both men came from the Rams pipeline, and Gladstone’s work under Les Snead made a mark on Coen during his time in Los Angeles. The Jaguars have the fifth pick in the draft, with Michigan defensive lineman Mason Graham a popular pick to the Jaguars during mock draft season. Coen said that Jacksonville will address the defensive line at some point in the draft to address one of the team’s most inconsistent spots.
“We’ve spent almost every waking minute together throughout the last few weeks, honestly. It’s really just been us together with the help of some others as well that have been part of this process, but it’s so easy to talk to him,” Coen said. “I mean, he breaks things down to such an elite level of simplicity for me because he’s a lot smarter than I am, and so he’s able to break down the Draft, understand it as well as anybody I’ve heard have these conversations.”
Other topics Coen addressed on Monday:
Free agent class
The free-agent class included some notable contracts, but Jacksonville largely went after role players and low-end starters. That was a big shift than what ex-GM Trent Baalke did, notably in a woeful 2024 class that was big on guaranteed money and low on production.
“I think at the end of the day what we looked to do was try to continue to raise the floor of the organization. How do we continue to get better? Consistency, good, sound football players that love to play the game. … I think we’ve done a nice job with being able to get those players that’ll help settle things in and be able to create that balanced football flow that we’re looking for.”
News on Travon
On if there’s been any conversation about a contract extension for edge Walker, who is eligible for a hefty pay raise this year. There have been multiple erroneous national media reports that the Jaguars have had conversations about trading Walker. The team has until May 1 to pick up Walker’s fifth-year option.
“Yeah, we’re having open conversations, and at the end of the day, we’ll continue to have those. James and Tony and I will have those conversations as we go, for sure.”
