5 winners and 4 losers from the Jaguars hiring Liam Coen as the head coach

It's not official yet, but after an unorthodox search, the Jacksonville Jaguars are finalizing the details of a deal to make Liam Coen their next head coach. For a brief moment, it looked like he was going to be back as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but the Jags made him an offer that he couldn't refuse. It also helped that general manager Trent Baalke got his walking papers.

Jacksonville now has a head coach who can steer the ship in the right direction and take it to the promised land. Sure, Ben Johnson was the favorite to get the job early in the search but Coen is no slouch.

In his first interview for the opening, the former Buccaneers offensive coordinator impressed the Jaguars' brass with his knowledge of football beyond his side of the ball and leadership qualities. This begs the question who will benefit the most from his arrival in Jacksonville? Who are the biggest losers?

With that in mind, here are the biggest winners and losers of the Jags' decision to hire Coen as their next head coach.

Winner: QB Trevor Lawrence

Trevor Lawrence played like a top-10 quarterback in 2022. However, injuries and inadequate coaching held him back the past two years. Granted, he didn't always make great decisions, and his mechanics were inconsistent last year. Nevertheless, the former Clemson Tiger needs someone who can get the best out of him. Coen is that coach.

Under Coen's tutelage in 2024, Baker Mayfield set new career bests for completion percent (71.4 percent), passing yards, (4,450), passing touchdowns (41), and touchdown percent rate with 7.2 while throwing a manageable 16 interceptions. Lawrence is now poised to have a bounce-back season.

Winners: Tank Bigsby/Travis Etienne

The Jaguars have a dynamic backfield tandem in Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby. However, the running back wasn't that great because of the blocking scheme. Leaving aside the personnel, Jacksonville had trouble toting the rock last year because of the system they had.

By the time either Etienne or Bigsby had reached the line of scrimmage, they had several defenders already in their faces.

Coen can fix that. After ranking dead last in rushing yards and 28th in rushing touchdowns in 2023, the Buccaneers improved to fourth and 14th, respectively. Etienne and Bigsby should experience a similar boost in production next season.

Winner: Chip Kelly, Jaguars next offensive coordinator?

Chip Kelly caught the NFL by storm in the NFL with his creative play design when he became the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2013. However, the league quickly adapted, and he wasn't able to adjust.

After being fired by the Eagles, Kelly got another chance with the San Francisco 49ers in 2016. However, he flamed out and moved to the collegiate ranks, where he's been since then. However, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports said in a now-deleted tweet that Liam Coen could bring him with him to Jacksonville as his offensive coordinator.

It's not confirmed yet but if Kelly joins the Jaguars' staff, it would signal his return to the NFL after a nine-year absence.

Winner: WR Brian Thomas Jr.

Brian Thomas Jr. had an impressive rookie season, registering 82 catches for 1,282 yards with 10 touchdowns. What makes his success more amazing is that the coaching staff didn't really know how to use him until fellow receivers Gabe Davis and Christian Kirk suffer season-ending injuries.

In retrospect, it's fair to say that Thomas' numbers could've been better. However, Coen knows he's got a game-changer and will look for ways to make him an integral part of the offense. Moreover, the Louisiana native will be even better, so expect him to be even better in his sophomore campaign.

Loser: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers thought Liam Coen was going to be their offensive coordinator in 2025 after offering to make him one of the highest-paid assistants in the league. However, he never signed the deal and secretly talked with the Jags behind their back.

Coen never told Tampa Bay that he resumed talks with the Jaguars to become their head coach after originally declining his second interview. All things considered, he didn't go about the situation the right way, and the Bucs must not be pleased with how he dealt with the situation.

Loser: Baker Mayfield

No Buccaneers players benefited more from Coen's mentorship than Baker Mayfield. As noted before, the first overall pick in the 2018 draft posted new career bests for several meaningful categories. The issue is that he'll have trouble building off an impressive 2024 season without Coen.

Now, Mayfield will have to play for his ninth coordinator in his career in 2025. It's hard to find consistency when you have to adjust to a new coordinator nearly every year. Then again, that makes his success look even more impressive.

Loser: Trent Baalke

Trent Baalke isn't particularly bad at drafting talent. You can even say he's decent. However, he's difficult to work with, and will routinely belittle head coaches to make himself look good. That was the case with the 49ers and it was the case with the Jags.

Baalke routinely found ways to survive, winning power struggles with Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer, and Doug Pederson. However, the Jaguars couldn't stand the embarrassment of being shunned by Liam Coen after watching Ben Johnson go the Chicago Bears and fired the embattled general manager.

At last, Baalke lost.

Loser: Robert Saleh

After firing Trent Baalke, talks between Liam Coen and the Jaguars heated up. That's great news for a team that wanted to course correct. Not so much for Robert Saleh, who was scheduled to interview with Jacksonville for the second time.

There are conflicting reports but Saleh apparently was on his way to meet with the Jags. Imagine he made his way to Jacksonville only to be told that they had already filled the vacancy. Fortunately, it looks like he didn't make the trip.

The silver lining is that Saleh will be coveted for defensive coordinator positions. Still, Saleh would've surely liked to have another head-coaching gig but was stood up by the Jags.

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