The Jacksonville Jaguars are off to a promising start to the 2025 season: Their defense leads the NFL in takeaways, and their running game is clicking. Moreover, several players who underperformed last have turned into key contributors. And all this has been due in large part to head coach Liam Coen.
Since taking over, Coen has done a great job of steering the ship in the right direction. His scheme puts players in a position to succeed, and he's given the Jags something they've missed for years: An identity as a tough team that doesn't allow itself to get bullied.
Rightly, Coen's work in Jacksonville is getting plenty of attention, and if the Jags keep trending in the right direction, he'll be a strong candidate for the Coach of the Year award. Already, he's got the vote of a coach who's won the award twice.
Bruce Arians is hyped up about Liam Coen's work with the Jaguars
Bruce Arians made an appearance on the Kay Adams Show and was asked who his early pick for Coach of the Year was. The Super Bowl-winning head coach says that it may come down to whoever wins the AFC South, but for the time being, Liam Coen got his vote.
"Yeah, I would say that too, if Kyle [Shanahan] was this one with all those injuries. But for me, it's going to be probably Liam Coen," Arians said. "If they continue going, whoever wins that division between those two because what Liam's doing early with Trevor Lawrence, I'm really impressed with bad defense by lights out, and Shane [Steichen] is obviously taking Jim Irsay's death and put it through the whole team that, 'hey, we're going to win this thing for Jimmy.' And I'm really pulling for him."
Later in the exchange, host Kay Adams asked Arians what he thinks Coen is doing to help Trevor Lawrence.
"Yeah, I think he's getting playing at a very calm level, not, you know, take that Superman Cape off. We don't need that [expletive] anymore and just play football. Just play quarterback. And, you know, every now and then he'll get high and hot down the middle, but I think he's in an offense now that they run the ball really well and and that's what he's always had. He had that great running back situation in Clemson. " Arians said.
"So you give him a good running game, give him a great play-action game, but the kid can throw it. I mean, he's the No. 1 overall pick for a reason. I mean, there's, he's no bust. That's for sure."
For the sake of transparency, the Jaguars don't have a "bad defense," as Arians suggests. Quite the opposite. Whether you use traditional or advanced statistics, Anthony Campanile's unit is one of the best in the NFL.
The Jacksonville defense is fifth in points allowed and leads the league in takeaways with 13. It's also top 5 in both DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average) and EPA (expected points added). This is a long-winded way to say that the defense has taken plenty of pressure off Lawrence's shoulders.
That said, Arians made some compelling points, and based on his resume, he's perfectly suited to speak on the subject matter, having won the Coach of the Year award twice (2012 with the Colts, and 2014 with the Cardinals). And if that wasn't enough of a qualification, he coached the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they won the Super Bowl in 2020.
What does Liam Coen wants to do be the NFL Coach of the Year?
As Bruce Arians noted, this could turn out to be a two-way race between Shane Steichen and Liam Coen. Both the Indianapolis Colts and the Jacksonville Jaguars are 3-1, and there's a strong chance one of them will make the playoffs and win the AFC South. Similarly, both clubs are coming from losing seasons.
Now, it's also worth pointing out that there's still plenty of time left in the season, so another coach could experience a massive surge and beat both Steichen and Coen for the award. In the same manner, the Jags could slow as the year progresses, so it's a bit premature to crown Coen.
Having said that, Liam Coen should feel good about his odds of winning the award. Then again, he's probably more interested in turning the Jaguars into a playoff contender in his first season at the helm.