The Jacksonville Jaguars just beat one of the NFL's best teams on the road. Despite the hurdles Trevor Lawrence had ahead of him going into the 2025 season, the young gunslinger developed into one of the best quarterbacks in the league right before our eyes. That's great news for Jags fans, because it means Shad Khan's controversial investment in Liam Coen has already produced amazing dividends.
Unfortunately, there is a way to suffer from success. All season, people like me have been worried about Anthony Campanile getting poached from Jacksonville after his masterful retooling of the defense. However, Lawrence's mid-season revival has resulted in Grant Udinski becoming a rising candidate for head coaching interviews as well.
Why the Jaguars could lose Grant Udisnki next offseason
Once upon a time, Grant Udinski was interviewed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to replace Liam Coen as the team's new offensive coordinator. The young assistant was an attractive prospect because he learned under Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell.
In only 15 games, he's proven that everyone was right to be enthralled with him. However, we've already reached a point where it's time to scout who could replace him if he mimics Sean McVay and gets a head coaching job at age 30. With this in mind, here are a few candidates to replace him.
Thad Lewis could be the Jaguars' best chance to continue Trevor Lawrence's development
Thad Lewis has served as an offensive assistant for the Bucs since 2020. In 2020, he worked as a general offensive assistant during the Bucs' Super Bowl championship season. From 2021 to 2022, he coached wide receivers like Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to 1,000-yard seasons, which means he has a history of working with high-end talent and keeping them in good shape.
Lewis' stewardship over lower-level tasks and Tampa's wideouts gave him the opportunity to work directly with Baker Mayfield after the journeyman's arrival in 2023. Since becoming the man in Mayfield's ear, two different offensive coordinators have gone on to become head coaches in the NFL.
In 2026, Coen could view Lewis' body of work as evidence that the versatile position coach is ready to lead an entire meeting room to greatness.
Spencer Whipple may have been Liam Coen and the Jaguars' backup plan all along
Fair warning, the next two options will be internal candidates. Head coaches are notoriously loyal to their guys, so there's no reason to expect Coen to ignore the candidates he's already invested time and resources in. Also, some of the assistants on Jacksonville's staff coached with or against the former Los Angeles Ram once upon a time. In Spencer Whipple's case, it's the latter.
Whipple spent six seasons with the Arizona Cardinals before becoming the Jaguars' QB coach in 2025. In Arizona, Whipple's most recent role was passing game specialist. This gave him an opportunity to work with everyone on the offense in one way or another; and his teaching methods helped Marvin Harrison Jr. put together a 52-catch, 885-yard season. Trey McBride was a great student under Whipple as well, as the tight end gained 1,146 yards on 111 receptions and earned his first Pro Bowl nod.
The Jags' current QB coach should get just as much credit as I'm willing to give Thad Lewis after working under two future NFL head coaches. One could say that both positions coaches benefited from the great players and coordinators around them. I would say that every leader is only as good as the followers under them.
John Van Dam could be the best wild-card option for the Jaguars
Maybe you've already noticed by now, but my mindset in this article is to keep the Jaguars' passing game as consistent as possible. While John Van Dam may not be a name you're familiar with, Liam Coen is definitely aware of the offensive pass game specialist's capabilities.
The Jaguars' official website states that Van Dam spent six seasons in Tampa Bay in various roles. One of these seasons overlapped with Coen's time with the Bucs and gave the future HC a chance to see Van Dam's teaching style firsthand.
One of the former Bucs' assignments in his prior stop was to coach tight ends. In 2021, Rob Gronkowski was the third-best tight end in the NFL in terms of receiving yards per game (66.8). In 2022, Cade Otton led all rookie tight ends with 42 receptions.
Brenton Strange is one of the Jaguars' most important players, and he was sorely missed when he was injured for a few weeks. Since his return, the former Nittany Lion has been a major boost for the Jags offense and solidified a passing game that was struggling beforehand.
So who will be the Jacksonville Jaguars' next offensive coordinator?
Each of the men mentioned in this article is qualified for the job, but I think Spencer Whipple should be the favorite.
Whipple's worked with a former No. 1 overall pick (Kyler Murray) and helped multiple skill position players reach their best performances as professionals. Also, I don't think Liam Coen would hire him as Jacksonville's QB coach over John Van Dam unless the former Cardinal had the goods.
In any case, Coen proved his offensive acumen and elite play-calling ability. The next offensive coordinator will be a calming voice for the offense and a stellar mind for the head coach to bounce ideas off of while gameplanning during the week. This seems to be the best structure you can hope for in the modern NFL, as an offensive-minded HC who calls plays gives you a level of security most teams envy.