How Liam Coen went from UMass record holder to Jaguars coach

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- If it's imaginable to find erstwhile Liam Coen archetypal started reasoning similar a coach, it mightiness day backmost to the autumn of 1989.

Coen was a regular astatine his father's practices erstwhile Tim Coen was the caput manager astatine South Kingstown High School successful Wakefield, Rhode Island. To support his lad occupied during after-practice meetings with the coaches, Tim fto Liam doodle connected the chalkboard.

"One of the coaches looked down and said, 'Look astatine that,'" Tim Coen said. "And we look, and astatine the clip we were moving the wishbone erstwhile I archetypal started, [Liam] drew 11 guys successful a wishbone enactment precisely wherever they were expected to be.

"It was great."

Liam Coen was conscionable 3 years aged astatine the time, and it was 1 of the archetypal signs that helium was highly funny successful football.

Now the Jacksonville Jaguars' first-time caput coach, Coen has ever been a shot junkie. As a kid, helium watched his dad's crippled films alternatively of cartoons and diagrammed plays alternatively of gathering with Legos. Hide and seek? He'd alternatively enactment connected diving catches with his dad.

"That would spell connected and on," Tim Coen said. "He was similar that aureate retriever that you propulsion the shot to that doesn't stop."

Those signifier days translated into Liam being named Rhode Island's 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year astatine La Salle Academy, mounting the vocation records for passing yards (11,031) and passing touchdowns (90) astatine UMass Amherst, and embarking connected a 15-year coaching vocation that includes stops astatine UMass, the University of Kentucky, the Los Angeles Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the 39-year-old has jumped from coaching occupation to coaching occupation -- ne'er spending much than 3 consecutive seasons astatine immoderate halt -- helium has developed a estimation arsenic 1 of the agleam violative minds to travel from the Sean McVay coaching tree. Now he's acceptable to found his ain squad playbook and civilization with the Jaguars utilizing what helium has learned on the way.

"He's conscionable 1 of those guys that gets it," Tim Coen said. "He was a person and a astute quarterback. He knew wherefore we were moving plays. It wasn't similar helium conscionable knew the play. He knew the intent of it."

LIAM COEN'S FIRST foray into the NFL was unofficial, but it was capable to get him focused connected an NFL caput coaching job.

Mark Whipple had been UMass' manager from 1998 to 2003 and recruited Coen, but Whipple near UMass to go the quarterbacks manager for the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier Coen arrived.

Seven years later, Whipple was the quarterbacks manager for the Cleveland Browns, and Coen -- who had kept successful interaction -- asked if helium could sojourn and spot what it was similar to manager successful the NFL.

Whipple took Coen to the Browns installation implicit a three-day sojourn and fto him beryllium successful connected meetings and spot however the Browns ran their offseason program. Coen loved it, Whipple said.

"He was conscionable a idiosyncratic [and] wanted to larn astir the NFL and things of that nature," Whipple said. "I fto him travel into meetings and everything other successful outpouring that spring, and it benignant of catapulted him."

Whipple had been pursuing Coen's vocation -- quarterbacks manager astatine Brown successful 2010, passing crippled coordinator and quarterbacks manager astatine Rhode Island successful 2011, and quarterbacks manager astatine Brown again successful 2012-13. And erstwhile UMass rehired Whipple successful 2004, helium hired Coen to go the Minutemen's walk crippled coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Coen's quality to thatch the discourtesy and enactment with the quarterbacks impressed Whipple.

"I coached [six seasons] successful the NFL and truthful we utilized worldly that I learned from Mike Holmgren and Andy Reid successful the walk game," Whipple said. "He [Coen] conscionable handled the backmost country truly well. I didn't truly spell successful determination and coach. I called the plays, but helium handled that concern and taught [QB Blake Frohnapfel] the discourtesy and conscionable did a really, truly bully job."

Whipple said the players responded good to Coen due to the fact that of his knowing of antithetic offenses, his inheritance arsenic a quarterback, his straightforward attack and his genuineness.

"He's honest, archetypal of all," Whipple said. "And past players tin consciousness that bully grip of equilibrium successful betwixt the tally and the pass, and helium believes successful both. And I deliberation helium stays connected an adjacent keel. But I conscionable deliberation he's a listener. He listened to his dad. He's listened to each the radical he's worked with and taken things from each of them."

WHEN RAMS COACH McVay was looking for an adjunct receivers manager to adhd to his unit successful 2018, Rams choky ends manager Shane Waldron urged him to telephone the energetic, agleam young manager helium worked with portion helium was the violative enactment manager astatine UMass successful 2014-15.

McVay listened, met with Coen and hired him to assistance retired receivers manager Eric Yarber. It didn't instrumentality agelong earlier McVay was impressed, and helium stopped by Coen's bureau 1 evening to archer him that.

"He walks by my office, comes in, and he's like, 'Hey, man, you're doing a large job. I admit you being here. I'm truly blessed you're here,'" Coen remembered. "Then helium was out. I was like, 'Oh, OK. You tin beryllium told you're doing a bully occupation successful this sport.' Because each the different places I'd been and however I'd grown up, it's like, you conscionable bash what you're told erstwhile you're told, and you don't bash it due to the fact that somebody's saying bully job. You bash it due to the fact that you're a coach, and you've got a small spot much of a worker mentality.

"It was conscionable a antithetic feeling. You're like, oh, OK, it's OK to archer guys, 'Hey, man, I emotion you.' It's OK to unfastened up and beryllium really a quality being, too. And truthful that was ever the civilization wherever you felt like, each right, I person to beryllium astatine a precocious level portion I'm here, but I tin beryllium myself."

That stuck with Coen passim his three-year tenure with the Rams, with the past play spent arsenic the adjunct quarterbacks manager moving with Jared Goff. Coen said that acquisition was "like getting my Ph.D. successful coaching" due to the fact that helium learned a caller mode of being a person from McVay.

"When I walked into that gathering successful 2018, I had ne'er felt thing similar that before," Coen said. "Just the continuity, the positivity ... like, 'Man, however are you?' It really truly meant something. I conscionable felt similar [McVay] stepped successful that building, helium was genuinely himself each azygous day.

"... If everybody does that, bully things typically happen, and you physique bully relationships, and that's what he's ever done."

McVay besides reinforced what Coen learned from his begetter and Whipple astir the value of an violative strategy that creates confusion.

"I get to the Rams and I perceive the nonstop connection of the illusion of complexity: Same plays, but we're making them conscionable look antithetic [by utilizing antithetic formations, motions and misdirection]," Coen said.

He near the Rams successful 2022 to instrumentality a playcalling occupation astatine the University of Kentucky. But helium returned to Los Angeles 1 play aboriginal due to the fact that McVay called again and asked him to regenerate Kevin O'Connell -- who was hired arsenic the Minnesota Vikings' caput manager -- arsenic violative coordinator. Coen has said that moving with McVay again was an accidental helium couldn't walk up, adjacent though McVay remained the playcaller.

The Rams went 5-12 that play successful ample portion owed to injuries to backmost Matthew Stafford, receiver Cooper Kupp and antiaircraft tackle Aaron Donald. Four quarterbacks started games for the Rams successful 2022, including Baker Mayfield, who was claimed disconnected waivers from the Carolina Panthers successful December.

"Liam and I went done what was, I've talked astir it before, the astir challenging twelvemonth that I've ever had successful coaching," McVay said. "And astatine the clip it was not fun, but I deliberation we would some accidental truthful overmuch maturation occurred for america some having to spell done immoderate truly hard worldly ... I cognize that was truly hard connected him, and I could person done a overmuch amended occupation of being the person that our squad but [also] helium deserved arsenic the violative coordinator.

"We're a batch person for having gone done it. It made america some stronger."

IN JANUARY 2024, Buccaneers caput manager Todd Bowles needed a replacement for violative coordinator Dave Canales, whom Carolina had hired arsenic its caput coach. After interviewing 7 candidates, helium chose Coen, successful portion due to the fact that of his erstwhile narration with Mayfield portion they were with the Rams -- but besides due to the fact that of Coen's acquisition moving with McVay.

Bowles was impressed with however thorough Coen was successful explaining the discourtesy helium wanted to tally and however helium would accommodate if it wasn't working.

"It's not conscionable [scheme]," Bowles said astatine Coen's introductory quality conference. "Everybody's going to person a strategy coming in. It's not the strategy that attracts you to him. It's knowing your scheme, and past if idiosyncratic stops it, past what bash you do? Can you deliberation aft that?

"And tin you acceptable successful arsenic good with the players and the coaches and the civilization we person connected our team? And that takes a portion to do. Unless you spell done rather a fewer guys, you're not going to truly know. You tin guess, but erstwhile you spell done each that, and erstwhile I went done that with Liam, I knew helium was the close fit, truthful it was precise casual to prosecute him."

Coen helped Mayfield enactment unneurotic the champion play of his vocation -- 71.4% completions and 41 TD passes -- and improved the Bucs' crushed crippled from the worst successful the NFL to 1 of the champion with assistance from a brace of rookies successful halfway Graham Barton and moving backmost Bucky Irving. Tampa finished 4th successful the NFL successful rushing (149.2 yards per game) 1 play aft finishing past (88.8).

Before the 2024 play adjacent began, Mayfield was praising Coen's scheme, peculiarly the state and options it provides the backmost astatine the enactment of scrimmage. Mayfield said during grooming campy helium ne'er felt handcuffed astatine the enactment of scrimmage and ever had an reply to what the defence was showing.

"Liam taught the crippled of shot to each of our violative guys and helium helped maine retired tremendously with pre-snap adjustments and being capable to destruct and process accusation quickly," Mayfield said. "And truthful Trevor [Lawrence is] going to person a feline that's truly going to turn into him and thin into that and assistance him out. And not conscionable connected the tract but disconnected the field."

Lawrence said the aforesaid happening aft the Jaguars' archetypal organized squad enactment connected May 19.

"I truly similar [that the offense] has a batch of answers," helium said. "It's great. I mean, it puts a batch connected the players. You person to cognize your stuff, but it gives you each the answers. You don't consciousness similar you're stuck successful a play that's not acceptable up for success.

"It's decidedly dissimilar immoderate strategy that I've learned before."

Jaguars halfway Robert Hainsey, who was a backup successful Tampa Bay past season, liked the mode Coen was consenting to accommodate to what the Bucs did well.

"One happening helium does truly good is helium focuses connected our strengths arsenic players," Hainsey said.

"I deliberation that's a immense diagnostic for a shot manager to have. You privation to beryllium capable to perceive to your players and enactment them successful the champion presumption to win."

NOW IN HIS archetypal accidental arsenic a caput coach, Coen knows however important establishing a civilization is -- particularly connected a squad that was lacking it previously. It's wherefore he's utilizing a 2010 University of California-Berkeley probe survey to assistance him bash it.

A brace of scientists studied each squad successful the NBA implicit the people of the 2008-09 play and determined that the teams that had players who touched each different the astir -- high-fives, pats connected the back, hugs, etc. -- won the most.

Coen called it the powerfulness of interaction and says it is simply a captious portion of squad chemistry.

"You conscionable look astatine connection, and nowadays transportation is truthful hard to really make due to the fact that truthful overmuch of our lives are connected a phone," Coen said. "Just having interpersonal conversations and also, conscionable the aged fist bump, the high-five, the thorax bump -- that helps bring radical together.

"Like arsenic a kid erstwhile you were taught to celebrate. What did that look like? That's what we're yet trying to get to, is bringing the squad together, bringing the coaching unit unneurotic to bash thing that ultimately, we've ne'er done before."

Since making the postseason successful 4 consecutive seasons from 1996 to 1999, the Jaguars person had pockets of occurrence -- playoff appearances successful 2005, 2007, 2017 and 2022 and back-to-back winning seasons doubly (2004-05 and 2022-23) -- but thing sustained. Only the Cleveland Browns (17) person had much seasons with double-digit losses than the Jaguars (15) since the 2000 play began.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Coen's priorities connected the tract are implementing his offense, improving the tally crippled and getting Lawrence to play astatine a consistently precocious level. If the caller caput manager uses what helium has learned since helium was 3 years old, there's nary crushed the Jaguars can't instrumentality to competing for the playoffs.

"[Coen is a] truly astute guy, knows however to communicate, has a large mode astir himself with the players," O'Connell said. "And I deliberation that's conscionable going to modulation to him successful this role. And arsenic I've told him, it doesn't truly substance however anybody other has done it, guys he's been around, whether it's Sean, myself, Todd [Bowles].

"He's got to spell beryllium himself and bash it his way, and he'll person a batch of occurrence if helium does that."