Two years after a hot finish to the 2022 season and an unexpected trip to the divisional round of the playoffs, the Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves looking for a new head coach.
They fired Doug Pederson after he was unable to build on that promising campaign, which was his first with them.
Now, they reportedly have a top candidate to replace Pederson, who was let go following a 4-13 season.
“Bucs’ Liam Coen emerging as strongest candidate for Jaguars job,” Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times wrote on X.
Bucs’ Liam Coen emerging as strongest candidate for Jaguars job https://t.co/WiWA0DyTmp
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) January 21, 2025
Coen was offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season.
He was an assistant for multiple college teams until he started his NFL coaching career as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Los Angeles Rams in 2018.
He became Rams offensive coordinator for the 2022 season, and following a year at the University of Kentucky, he joined Tampa Bay under head coach Todd Bowles.
The Jaguars finished toward the bottom of the NFL in many offensive metrics in 2024, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence doesn’t resemble the rising star he looked like two years ago.
Coen has to get at least some credit for helping Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield raise his game again this season, which resulted in him throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns while completing 71.4 percent of his pass attempts.
A similar bump in Lawrence’s production would be very welcome for Jacksonville, but at the same time, the Jaguars need an infusion of talent at the skill positions to help him improve.
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