When the Jacksonville Jaguars ousted Doug Pederson, they ran an extensive search to find his successor. They showed interest in candidates like Ben Johnson and Robert Saleh but ultimately zeroed in on Liam Coen.
At the time, the Jags came close to missing out on Coen, but they made a strong push that included firing general manager Trent Baalke to ensure that they got their guy. Fast forward to Week 4 of the regular season, and the decision looks great in retrospect.
With Coen at the helm, Jacksonville is 3-1 to start the season for the first time since 2018. Couple that with the fact that players are buying in, and it's fair to say that the organization hit it out of the ballpark.
Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars will play hard for Liam Coen
Following the vindicating 26-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers, Trevor Lawrence was asked if the team was extra motivated after Robert Saleh's accusation that they were legally stealing signals. Below is his response.
"I mean, just his passion, I think, has been awesome to see his players. Brought a lot of energy to our team, the way that he talks, when he speaks, and then the way that he just lives it and acts every day, Lawrence said. "You can tell he loves what he does. He does. He cares a lot about it, cares about us as players. So I think that shows he puts a lot of work in, but he's like that every week."
Lawrence continued, "Honestly, I wouldn't say there was necessarily more than normal, but it's a good football team that we beat today, so we're all pretty fired up after getting that way. Yeah. I mean, definitely you use everything you can, right? And if they're going to give you free fuel, you take it. So that's something that you always do."
"But at the end of the day, you gotta go play the game. That stuff doesn't really matter. You gotta go take care of business and execute and find a way to win the game, which we did today. So it feels great. But you try to use anything you can, for sure, it's motivation."
Coen tried to downplay Saleh's remarks, noting that he was focused on beating the 49ers. That said, you could tell in his demeanor before and after the game — especially after a heated exchange — that he wasn't thrilled. Rightly, he put his head down and made the 49ers eat crow by beating them on the football field.
"His passion has been awesome to see as players... He loves what he does, he cares a lot about it."@Trevorlawrencee on Coach Coen. pic.twitter.com/jwASqm4OXm
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 29, 2025
Liam Coen is quickly turning the Jaguars culture around
Feisty isn't a word you associate with recent Jaguars teams, but Liam Coen, along with general manager James Gladstone, is bucking the trend. From the get-go, he put an emphasis on acquiring intangibly rich players: Players who were tough and loved to play football.
So far, the approach is paying off, as the Jags are now winning games they would've lost in the past. That's mainly been thanks to Liam Coen. Now, he and the team must build off of their strong start to the season if they want to undergo a full turnaround in Year 1 of the new regime.