After missing out on Ben Johnson, it looked like the Jacksonville Jaguars were zeroing in on Liam Coen to become their next head coach. In fact, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were bracing themselves for the possibility of losing their offensive coordinator to the Jags. But in a shocking twist of events, he's withdrawing his name from consideration and getting a new deal from the Bucs.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that Coen is taking himself out of the running for the Jaguars' vacancy, noting that he'll stay in Tampa Bay on a new contract that will make him one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the NFL. Other outlets also confirmed the news.
Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is taking himself out of the running for the Jaguars’ head coaching job to stay in Tampa on a new contract that now will place him amongst the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 22, 2025
Bucs are keeping their OC. pic.twitter.com/PWy5GP2uTy
The news came just one day after Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reported that the Buccaneers expected Coen to become the next Jaguars' head coach. However, things are always fluid. Maybe he got cold feet. Perhaps the Buccaneers came to the realization that they couldn't afford to lose their offensive coordinator.
Either way, the Jaguars will now need to redirect their coaching search after losing two of their top candidates for the job. The issue is that they may have trouble landing a viable candidate as long as general manager Trent Baalke is around.
Trent Baalke's presence deterred Liam Coen and Ben Johnson from taking the Jaguars job
Early in the hiring cycle, a prominent candidate for the Jacksonville Jaguars' vacancy said that he was less inclined to take the job because of Trent Baalke. Later in the process, Ben Johnson appeared to be the favorite to fill the opening. However, he didn't think they had the setup he needed for his first head-coaching job.
Observers quickly pointed out that Johnson wasn't enthused to work with Baalke and was the reason he chose the Chicago Bears. Something similar happened when Liam Coen withdrew his name from consideration.
Insider Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports points out that it's an open secret that Jacksonville was going to have trouble landing top-tier candidates as long as Baalke is the general manager.
It’s been no secret around the NFL since the season ended that the #Jaguars would have a hard time attracting a top head coach if they kept Trent Baalke. They stuck with him — and here we are. https://t.co/pEd5T6TJRq
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 22, 2025
John Shipley of Sports Illustrated goes as far as saying that the Jaguars' coaching search is going off the rails.
#Jaguars were all in on Liam Coen. What a massive blow to a coaching search that, IMO, has now gone off the rails.
— John Shipley (@_John_Shipley) January 22, 2025
It's not hyperbole to say that this could've been avoided if owner Shad Khan had dismissed Baalke when he ousted head coach Doug Pederson. However, he continues to trust his general manager despite the fact that he's actively hurting the team.
Granted, the Jaguars are still scheduled to meet with Patrick Graham and Robert Saleh for their opening, but it's hard to tell how thrilled they'll be to take the job when they're seeing other candidates drop out.
Sure, Graham and Saleh could turn out to be good head coaches, but the truth is that the Jaguars' coaching search isn't going the way they're planning. Maybe this will be enough for Shad Khan to realize that he needs to get rid of Trent Baalke. Then again, nothing indicates that he will, so don't hold your hopes too high.