The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their offensive coordinator last season and didn’t want to go through the same thing again.
Liam Coen was reportedly leading the race to be the Jacksonville Jaguars’ next head coach.
However, he removed himself from consideration to return to Florida.
According to a report by NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Bucs head coach Todd Bowles knew he had to take some desperate measures.
He reportedly contacted the team’s owner to ensure Coen received a substantial salary increase to incentivize his retention.
The #Buccaneers felt a “significant amount of concern” regarding the potential loss of Liam Coen, as one source told me.
HC Todd Bowles advocated to ownership and front office for his offensive coordinator to return — and Coen was rewarded with a big pay bump as well. https://t.co/pEd5T6TJRq
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 22, 2025
He will now be one of the league’s top-paid assistant coaches.
Whether he would’ve made more money in Jacksonville hasn’t been disclosed.
Then again, this speaks volumes about the current status of the Jaguars organization.
A report by Dianna Russini of The Athletic claimed that Ben Johnson didn’t want to take the job due to the current setup, as there are major concerns about GM Trent Baalke.
Team owner Shad Khan had Baalke’s back again and brought him back for another season.
That could make it tough for them to find a new head coach.
NFL head coaching jobs are scarce, so they’re highly coveted.
So, watching assistant coaches rather stay put instead of taking the job and leading their own teams is a true indictment of the state of the organization.
With most top-tier candidates already finding new homes, seeing how the Jaguars overcome this impasse will be interesting.
NEXT: Liam Coen Has Made A Decision About His Future
