As recently as 2023, Liam Coen was coaching at the collegiate level, so he's more or less acquainted with some players of the incoming draft class. Now with the Jacksonville Jaguars, he could look at the program he coached for talent. At least that's what Kay Adams thinks the head coach should do.
Adams made a recruitment pitch for former Kentucky center Eli Cox on her podcast, pointing out that the Jags would be a logical landing spot for the 2024 All-SEC Coaches' Third Team selection due to his connection with Coen.
"In my head, you're going to Jacksonville. I've made my mind up this morning. The football gods are with me. It's too cute," Adams told Cox on her podcast. "You have too many connections. It's like a Disney story here that we're talking about. And let's go over some of them."
Adams continued, "You know Jack's coach now Liam Cohen. [He] got two stints with Kentucky as the offensive coordinator. I need your help here. I need intel from you because all the NFL world right now knows about Liam, outside of all the success that he's had, of course, is that Duval clip of him introducing himself,"
That clip of Coen that Adams is referring to took place when he did a Duval chant during his introduction as the new Jaguars head coach. Later in her exchange with Cox, she asked him what makes his former offensive coordinator thick.
"I think just football, X's and O's is what he's all about. A guy lives and breathes it. One thing I think he was always really good at is, he has that offensive scheme that he comes from that McVeigh and Shanahan tree. But what he does really well is he's adaptable to what his guys do well. And I think you saw last year in Tampa, they kind of got out of that, that mid-zone, wide zone emphasis, and they were really good at running the counter the gap, the inside duo plays, Cox said.
"And I think it's something he does really well, is he's not too prideful about what he likes to run, but he always emphasizes on calling plays that put his players in the best position, adapting the scheme to what his players are good at, and I think he's gonna have a lot of success in Jacksonville."
Cox then said that he would be happy to join Coen in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, Adams took to Twitter to make her case for him to go to the Jaguars.
"I will not rest until Kentucky center Eli Cox is holding a Jags uni, protecting Trevor Lawrence, playing a Sega game featuring him, while singing his own song in a new Waffle House commercial starring HIM, and I will not sleep until that happens," Adams said.
Coen was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Wildcats in 2021. After a stint with the Los Angeles Rams the following year, he returned to Kentucky and held his old position in 2023. Below is Adams' full sitdown with Coen. Her recruitment pitch starts at the 7:33 mark.
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Could the Jacksonville Jaguars use Eli Cox?
You bet. Mitch Morse retired ahead of free agency, but the Jacksonville Jaguars quickly zeroed in on Robert Hainsay to replace him, giving him a three-year deal worth $21 million. Based on the kind of contract he got, he's guaranteed to start at center. That said, the team could use depth at the position.
Luke Fortner is entering a contract year. He hasn't been particularly great, but with him in the mix, the Jags could groom his replacement. Eli Cox would make sense not only because of his connection to Liam Coen but also because he was a pretty good center at Kentucky.
Now, Cox isn't an early-round talent. In fact, Brandon Thorn of the Bleacher Report scouting department has him going in the fifth round. Jacksonville has several picks on Day 3 of the draft, so they could most definitely afford to use one on him.
So what would the Jaguars be getting in Cox? Here's what he says he brings to the table:
"I think one thing I've told a lot of teams and interviews is that what you're going to get from me is just a consistent presence. I'm a grown-up guy. I've been around for a while, and I just always want to tell guys some teams that I'm going to be a consistent presence with my attitude and my effort going off the field. What you're going to get from me every single day? I'm not going to be a what if our next factor hoping to get the best version, I'm just going to give you the best version of myself every day. And however, that can contribute to wins for a football team. I'll be ready to do it."
Of course, the Jaguars won't the only team that could make a run for Eli Cox. Then again, having Liam Coen around could help them land him.