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Jul 23, 2025; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen talks to media after training camp at Miller Electric Center. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Liam Coen Explains Massive Impact of New Jaguars Starter

Originally posted on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI
By Zak Gilbert | Last updated Jul 29, 2025 2:00 PM ET

In late January, Liam Coen’s former team reportedly denied his request to interview and hire both the Buccaneers’ primary and assistant offensive-line coaches. Coen then waited six weeks and signed former Tampa Bay center Robert Hainsey.

And while Hainsey started just one game for Tampa Bay last year, he’s been a coach on the field for Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars’ offensive line. Coen isn’t worried that Hainsey had one year in his system, noting that he’s already had a major impact on Lawrence and the Jaguars’ linemen.

“It's huge,” Coen said after the first practice in full pads Monday morning. “Having Robert, it’s been huge to have somebody that has been in the system but also has had to make the adjustments that can occur within the system.

“We have a specific playcall versus a specific front. Well, obviously, the other four guys have not seen that within this play or that concept. So, he has had that experience, been able to make adjustments on the fly, and ultimately communicate what we're trying to get done. So that's been a blessing.”

Hainsey has started 37 games, including playoffs

Selected by Tampa Bay in the third round of the 2021 draft, Hainsey started all 36 games from 2022-23, including both Buccaneers playoff contests, and 37 overall including last year. But after Tampa Bay hired Coen as offensive coordinator in 2024, the team drafted Graham Barton in the first round and he started all but one game.

An unrestricted free agent after the season, Hainsey signed a three-year, $21 million contract to move across the peninsula to Jacksonville. The 6-4, 306-pound center said Monday that Tampa Bay’s ability to run the ball last year, when the Bucs were the NFL’s only unit to finish in the top five in both passing and rushing, was a true team effort.

“Because it takes everyone to run the football,” Hainsey said. “It’s not just the coaches, it’s not just the scheme, it’s not just the players. It’s everything working in conjunction. I do see that here. I see that being the calling card. They’re emphasizing it. That’s what they want this offense to be because it’s important in any offense, but this one specifically, to be able to run the ball to set up everything else, the play action and the pass.”

Hainsey sees encouraging similarities between the transition in Tampa Bay last year and Coen’s installations this season. And as the Bucs went through the ebbs and flows of the season, watching the running game grow was fun, he said.

“It’s not overnight,” Hainsey explained. “It doesn’t just happen. You have to keep going, keep going, keep going. We’re going to have to do that here, no matter what. We don’t know how the season’s going to go, but it’s one game at a time, one play at a time.

“Keep trusting the process, trust each other, the guys around us, the coaches, everything. That’s how you can kind of continue to consistently grow throughout the season.”

Duval news is available 24/7 by following @JaguarsOnSI and @_John_Shipley on X (Twitter). Plus, join the discussion on the Jaguars’ offensive line and run game by visiting our Facebook page, here.

This article first appeared on Jacksonville Jaguars on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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