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'It was critical to keep that continuity together' - Liam Coen says what needed to be said about overlooked part of the team

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Justin Churchill | Last updated Jun 22, 2025 7:16 PM ET

It's so often overlooked, but the special team's side of things in the NFL is very important, especially when you're a team like the Jacksonville Jaguars, who seem to have lost a ton of games over the last decade or so, due to special teams miscues.

I don't have to point them all out, or even a few of them -- you have been scarred enough, and you don't need me bringing them up and triggering your PTSD again. But, it's more than important that a team, especially one fighting to be back at the top of the AFC South, dethroning the Houston Texans and holding off the Indianapolis Colts.

And with this new regime, you have to get the little things right when it comes to rebuilding, and that includes special teams. So, it's certainly safe to say that keeping some continuity there through a rebuild is important.

“Yeah, it was important after talking to people once I actually got the job, and then you start to watch a little bit more film on special teams and watch our specialists and how they operated," Liam Coen said. "You start talking to people in the building, not only about Heath [Special Teams Coordinator Heath Farwell] and Luke [Assistant Special Teams Coach Luke Thompson] but obviously about the guys and just the professionalism, the way that they practice, the way that they go about their business.

"Obviously, when you turn the tape on and you see the weapons that they are as specialists, that’s part of the game that, man, when you don’t have those assets, it’s a difficult game at times. Especially when you’ve got to be able to flip the field and play field position when you need to be able to get points from a longer distance. So, that was really important. It was critical to keep that continuity together, and so far, I’ve been nothing but pleased with these guys.”

Pro Football Focus has the Jaguars with the fifth-best special-teams unit in the league last year. So, yes, the continuity would be a smart thing. The Jaguars have to find a way to close the gap between them and the teams with which they need to compete with to get back near the top. And, special teams, when your unit was good last year, is a good start.

But had they not brought back that continuity, there is no telling what the unit would be like in 2025 if they didn't bring some of that continuity back. So, that may have been one of the first great decisions that Coen made in his young head coaching career.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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