There's been a twist of events in Florida.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are hiring Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen as their next head coach, multiple reports said late Thursday night.
Liam Coen has informed the Buccaneers that he is taking the Jaguars’ head coaching job, per @JennaLaineESPN. pic.twitter.com/zY5KZgY8jy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 24, 2025
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Coen was initially set to stay in Tampa Bay for at least another season and become the league's highest-paid coordinator after Baker Mayfield posted career-high numbers.
But after the Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke on Wednesday, the front office reached out to Coen one more time to ask if he'd reconsider, NFL Network's Tim Pelissero reported.
The Bucs tried reaching out to Coen and his camp Thursday, but did not hear back as the coach traveled to Jacksonville to finalize the deal, ESPN's Adam Schefter added. Coen eventually got back to Bucs head coach Todd Bowles to inform him of the interview with Jacksonville, Schefter followed up.
Former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh was seen as a potential top fit for the Jacksonville job, but now a defensive-coordinator reunion with the San Francisco 49ers appears likely.
NFL
Coen has never been a head coach in the NFL, primarily serving as a positional coach or coordinator for various college and teams in the league. He spent one season as the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator in 2022, left for the same role at Kentucky (which he also held in 2021) before joining Tampa Bay.
The Jaguars have highly paid quarterback Trevor Lawrence on the roster but haven't succeeded in platforming his abilities.
A short stint with Urban Meyer failed, prompting Doug Pederson, formerly of the Philadelphia Eagles, to join in 2022. Pederson led the team to a wild card win in his debut season but it was steadily downhill after that, as Jacksonville finished 2024 with a 4-13 record.
Jacksonville is set to pick No. 5 overall in the upcoming draft and have several needs on both sides of the ball, primarily on defense.