JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Jaguars hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen as the eighth head coach in franchise history Friday, capping a covert operation that included team owner Shad Khan moving on from general manager Trent Baalke and Coen reversing course with his previous team.
The sides officially agreed to terms a day after Coen called Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and others to tell them he planned to sign with the Jaguars.
“To repeat my message earlier this week, I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville,” Khan said in a released statement. “I also believe in being judged by action, not words. That’s why I took swift and decisive action this week to hire Liam Coen as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
How he made it happen will be remembered as one of the wildest coaching searches in NFL history.
Khan surprisingly fired Baalke on Wednesday to clear a path for Coen to wind up in Jacksonville. Coen initially declined an in-person interview with the Jaguars because of Baalke, a 60-year-old GM who has a less-than-ideal reputation in league circles and talked Khan into firing Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson after his third season in Jacksonville.
Coen instead agreed to a new, three-year contract with Tampa Bay that would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator, although it was contingent on him not taking a second interview with the Jags. But Coen never showed up to sign the deal — he avoided his Tampa colleagues’ attempts to contact him for hours — and secretly traveled to Jacksonville to meet with Khan, interim general manager Ethan Waugh, former Jags star and Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle Tony Boselli as well as others Thursday.
The Jags met with Coen after a sit-down with former Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, a second interview that was needed to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule policy.
Coen left Jacksonville without a deal, but everyone considered it was done.
It had been trending that way for days. Coen seemed to be the owner’s top choice, especially after Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson took the job as head coach of the Chicago Bears.
Baalke proved to be a roadblock, though, one Khan realized he needed to remove to secure an up-and-coming offensive mind to pair with promising quarterback Trevor Lawrence and standout receiver Brian Thomas Jr. for the foreseeable future. And anyone questioning Khan’s commitment to winning in Jacksonville can look at his behind-the-scenes efforts to get Coen.
“Becoming the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars is an opportunity of a lifetime, and one that I am going to run with to instill a championship culture and winning tradition here in Duval,” Coen said in a statement referring to the county.
Khan said earlier this month he wanted a head coach who would bring more creativity to Jacksonville, saying “being unpredictable is, I think, modern football, and we have to be able to show that on the field.”
The 39-year-old Coen was the architect of one of Tampa Bay’s most productive offenses in its history in 2024 as the Bucs ranked third in the NFL in yards (399.6 per game) and fourth in points (29.5) this season.
Coen became the first NFL coordinator in at least the last 25 years to average more than 28 points a game, average more than 6 yards a play, convert more than 50% of the time on third down and score touchdowns 65% of the time in the red zone (inside the 20-yard line). Tampa Bay was the first in nearly 800 offenses since 2000 to accomplish the feat.
He was so impressive with veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield and rookie running back Bucky Irving this season that even some diehard Bucs fans suggested moving the 61-year-old Bowles into another role and handing the reins to Coen to keep him in Tampa.
Instead, Coen relocated four hours north to Jacksonville.
Some obvious questions to be answered next: What kind of coach/GM structure will Khan employ moving forward? Will Waugh stick around as GM, or will Coen bring in his own guy? Will Khan hire an executive vice president — Boselli would make sense — to help the first-time head coach?
Regardless, the Jaguars believe they had one of the best NFL jobs available, especially with Baalke out of the picture.
They have a young quarterback (Lawrence), a budding star at receiver (Thomas), a few defensive building blocks (cornerback Tyson Campbell and pass rushers Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker), a relatively new practice facility, a $1.4 billion stadium renovation upcoming and a hands-off owner with deep pockets.
They have the fifth overall draft pick in April and roughly $50 million in salary cap space for 2025, play in arguably the NFL’s weakest division (the AFC South) and work in a state with plenty of sunshine and no income tax. They also went 3-10 in one-score games, an indication it could be a quick fix.
It’s up to Coen to make it happen.