The Jacskonville Jaguars have tentatively reached an agreement with Liam Coen to make him their next head coach. On paper, it sounds pretty straightforward, but the process had several twists and turns, and most of them happened in a period of 48 hours. In that span, he shunned the Jags and was set to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be their offensive coordinator. But he then resumed talks with the Jacksonville brass.
Along the way, there was chatter that Coen had ghosted the Bucs when he talked to the Jags, and observers weren't pleased with how he went about things. However, his wife is setting the record straight about the whole ordeal.
Ashley Coen took to Twitter to say that their son was in the hospital the same day Coen was engaging in conversations with Jacksonville.
"I hate that I even have to say this, but when people are negative about my kids, I will not be silent," Coen said on Twitter. "Our son is sick, we were at the hospital yesterday seeing a specialist for his autoimmune disease. Please don't spread misinformation and assume because you heard one side."
I hate that I even have to say this, but when people are negative about my kids, I will not be silent. Our son is sick, we were at the hospital yesterday seeing a specialist for his autoimmune disease. Please don’t spread misinformation and assume because you heard one side.
— Ashley Coen (@ashleyfordcoen) January 24, 2025
The timeline is a bit messy, but Coen is bringing clarity to a situation that didn't have great optics. Jenna Laine of ESPN had reported that the Buccaneers hadn't heard from their offensive coordinator all day until he got in touch with head coach Todd Bowles about 40 minutes before got to the interview with Jacksonville.
Liam Coen called Todd Bowles about 40 minutes ago about the Jacksonville job, I’m told. So this is why the Bucs front office did not hear from him all day, and why Coen said he did call Bowles.
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) January 23, 2025
Dianna Russini of The Athletic reported that Tampa Bay reached out to Coen several times but got no answer.
Multiple text messages and phone calls were made to Coen and I’m told Tampa Bay has heard nothing. https://t.co/fgoCLPlUM1
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 23, 2025
How did things unfold between the Jaguars and Liam Coen?
Liam Coen had already interviewed once for the Jaguars job, and they came impressed with his knowledge of football beyond the offense and his leadership skills. He was set to have a second meeting but changed his mind and decided to return to the Buccaneers on a new deal that would make him one of the highest coordinators in the NFL.
But following the embarrassment of losing two candidates because of Trent Baalke, owner Shad Khan at last pulled the trigger and fired the embattled general manager.
Once Baalke got the boot, Coen resumed talks with the Jags. It also helped that they sweetened their original offer and gave him a deal that will pay him around $12 million per year.
Had Coen not engaged in negotiations again, the Jaguars might've pivoted to either Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh. They had scheduled interviews with both of them.
Once Saleh caught wind of the news, he didn't make the trip to Jacksonville. On the other hand, it looks like Graham did meet with the team, but didn't know that the Jags were already having conversations with Coen, according to a report from Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.
Maybe Graham's interview with the Jags was legit, and they wanted to have a Plan B in case they missed out on Coen. Maybe they didn't, but it's hard to give an opinion without having the full details.
In the end, it was a path that had several bumps and bruises, but the Jags at last found their guy. On top of that, they got rid of Trent Baalke, so it's fair to say that things played out the way they wanted.