Bear Digest

Why Liam Coen Deserves Thorough Consideration for Bears Coach

Ben Johnson is not the only good offensive side coaching candidate for the Bears and there are real reasons they should consider the coordinator who beat Detroit this season.

Gene Chamberlain

Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen talks it over with Baker Mayfield during their run to first in the NFC South.
Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Liam Coen talks it over with Baker Mayfield during their run to first in the NFC South. / Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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Liam Cohen came into the Bears offensive coordinator search in small print last year.

The other big names had already been singled out and apparently Matt Eberflus really had his eye on Shane Waldron, but along the way they tossed Cohen in there almost as an afterthought and he didn't get hired. A week and a half later, Cohen found his way onto Tampa Bay's staff as the offensive coordinator for Todd Bowles.

While numerous rumored reports all point at Detroit's Ben Johnson as a possible Bears head coaching candidate, and the "leader of men" section loves Mike Vrabel, there is a real argument to be made for Liam Coen as the next head coach of the Chicago Bears.

This isn't to say he should be the coach, but that he needs to be one of those considered seriously for the position.

1. Coordinator Success

Coen came to a Tampa Bay team with an underperforming offense last year that was 23rd overall under Dave Canales. They didn't really get a chance to upgrade extensively and yet Coen currently has them third in the league.

Coen's offense has carried Todd Bowles' team, which is 28th on defense. Coen has put together a balanced attack that is sixth in passing, eighth in rushing and did it with Baker Mayfield at quarterback.

When Coen was offensive coordinator at Kentucky the first time, they last time they had won more games (10) was in 1950 (11). They beat Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.

He's a proven play caller based on his two college years as offensive coordinator at Kentucky and also this season with Tampa Bay.

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2. Succession

This is critical for Caleb Williams. One of the big concerns over developing Williams was the switch in offenses and coordinators in his second season. It's feared all the change would work in a negative fashion, much like happened to Mitchell Trubisky and Justin Fields.

Whether that's a valid worry or not, it's virtually rendered unimportant with Coen as head coach because he brings in an attack largely influenced by the same person who developed this Bears offense—Sean McVay. Coen was McVay's coordinator one season after Kevin O'Connell left.

Coen didn't necessarily get fired. McVay told all his coaches to feel free to explore other opportunities because he wasn't sure he was coming back after the 2022 season.

So Coen did and went back to be coordinator at Kentucky before Bowles hired him this year. Coen was on the Rams staff as long as Bears interim coach Thomas Brown. He was there from 2018-19 as wide receivers coach, then 2020 as quarterbacks coach, then left for the year they won the Super Bowl to have a chance to call plays at Kentucky. He returned for a year as Rams coordinator without play-calling duties under McVay and now is obviously a success calling the plays with Tampa Bay.

For Williams, it wouldn't be a huge stretch offensively to pick up what the new coach wants him do do since it's almost the same thing. And the Bears could even keep Brown on staff as the offensive coordinator if both he and they wanted, although he wouldn't be a play caller.

3. Offensive Head Coach

This is the preferable matchup for both Williams and for the future of the franchise.

The ideal situation is to have a quarterback operating the same offense year after year the way Patrick Mahomes gets to do in Kansas City. The problem with hiring a defensive-oriented coach or "leader of men" type or even a special teams coordinator as coach is their offensive coordinator could then be hired away and the continuity is lost, that quick comfort the quarterback has from operating the same scheme for years is changed each time the attack is altered.

This isn't to say it's the only way to win. Bill Belichick wasn't an offensive side coach with Tom Brady. But Belichick had the same offense and coordinators for long periods of time. Josh McDaniel was OC from 2006-2008, then 2012-2021. Brady was well established then. At the outset of his career, he had Charlie Weiss as coordinator from 2001-2004.

If you want prolonged success with a QB, the way to do it is unquestionably with an offensive-side head coach and Coen fits.

4. Comparison to the Competition

Coen's offense outperformed Ben Johnson's offense in only has second game as an NFL play caller. In Week 2 this year, the Buccaneers went to Detroit and handed the Lions their only loss, 20-16.

Coen doesn't have the dominant offensive line in the league paving the way for his offense. He doesn't have a quarterback who has been in his system for three years the way Jared Goff is for Johnson. He took castoff Baker Mayfield and put together the third-best attack in the league.

Vrabel does know defense but his style of defense would require the Bears to dump a lot of personnel and return to a 3-4, like they had under Vic Fangio, Chuck Pagano and Sean Desai.

In seven years, one as a coordinator, Vrabel always ran the 3-4 and it requires different types of defensive linemen than the Bears now have. They'd need different types of edge rushers, different sized defensive ends and a nose who hunkers down. In short, it's going to require Ryan Poles to spend a good deal of their draft picks and salary cap space to acquire defensive help when they obviously need offensive line help.

As an offensive coach, Coen could be flexible in finding a 4-3 coordinator. There are plenty who become available. Robert Saleh is available and was coordinator for the 49ers' defense that ranked second in scoring and fourth overall while going to the Super Bowl. There will be plenty of candidates who fit this ability.

The only candidate Coen would have trouble matching up against is Kliff Kingsbury because of overall experience, an offensive system Caleb Williams knows well and a year of prior experience. But Kingsbury's record as a head coach shows opponents figure out what he's doing or even something worse -- that he can't maintain success.

In 2014 he lost four of his last five games at Texas Tech. In 2015 he lost four of his last six. He lost six of his last eight in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 he lost the last five games. In 2019 with the Arizona Cardinals as head coach, he lost seven of the last nine. In 2020, he lost six of the last nine, in 2021 he lost four of the last five and in 2022 he lost the last seven straight and was fired. 

This year he's not a head coach but the Commanders had a 7-2 record after beating the Bears on a Hail Mary and then the Giants the next week. They then lost three straight, including one by eight at home to Dallas.

They did right the ship in their last game, but were playing one of the NFL's worst teams, the Titans.

They do have Dan Quinn's 12th-ranked defense there to help prevent another fade, but still, there are signs of another fade.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.