Jaguars Going in Bold New Direction With Liam Coen

The Jacksonville Jaguars have never gone with the young wunderkind route at head coach. Now, they are trusting Liam Coen to make it work.

Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen enters the stage Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla. Jaguars fans got a chance to see the new head coach speak and give a warm welcome at the stadium. / Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

More than anything, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has wanted to turn the Jaguars into a winner.

During his 13 seasons as owner, they have only had three winning seasons and two playoff trips, an ineffective run that has clearly worn on the franchise. But is not due to a lack of trying from Khan.

Khan has seemingly tried everything to turn the Jaguars around. He hired a first-time head coach and general manager in Gus Bradley and Dave Caldwell to begin a rebuild. He hired an experienced coach and experienced football czar in Doug Marrone and Tom Coughlin. He has gone back to the college ranks for a big-name coach in Urban Meyer, and he hired a respected former Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson.

But while there have been glimmers of success for Khan and the Jaguars, none of these dynamics turned into consistent winning. Up until now, there was only one thing Khan hadn't tried: hiring a young wunderkind offensive mind.

With new head coach Liam Coen, Khan has finally followed the path that teams like the Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers have turned to with success. Khan has hired offensive-minded coaches before, but none like Coen who were known as scheme masters and truly up-and-coming coaches.

"When we interviewed 10 remarkable candidates for the positions, two things became clear to me. Number one, that this wasn't a moment of regret for the Jacksonville Jaguars—this was a moment of progress, optimism and confidence that we will achieve the ultimate goal as long as we have the right man; and, number two, that man was Liam Coen," Khan said at Coen's introductory press conference last month,

"Why? Liam's outstanding body of work speaks for itself. Quarterback development is the bedrock of modern NFL, and Liam has delivered that wherever he's coached. His outstanding reputation preceded our first interview on video, and everything we heard about him from top people throughout football—solicited and otherwise—was confirmed when we met Liam here last week. Liam was bright, prepared, ambitious and he inspired us. I knew then that Liam was our man, and we got our man."

Coen is a bold new direction for the Jaguars and Khan. But they have tried everything else to no avail; now, it is time to see if a new path is the right one to take.

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