Jaguars reportedly land Liam Coen as new HC after wild saga

Coen had emerged as a candidate for the Jaguars' job earlier this week, but he appeared to be returning back to Tampa Bay on a deal that was supposed to make him one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the history of the league.

But then everything got turned upside down on Wednesday when the Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke, re-opening the door for Coen.

He reportedly met with the Jaguars all day on Thursday — with minimal contact with the Buccaneers — before finally accepting the job. 

There are a lot of layers to this, but the most important one is the apparent toxic nature of Baalke's presence in Jacksonville. 

The Jaguars initially refused to make a front-office change after another disappointing season, making the controversial decision to keep the same GM in charge. But with the way the head-coaching search was going — and failing — with candidates not wanting to take the job, and Coen seemingly being prepared to remain as an assistant in Tampa Bay, the Jaguars finally made the changes they probably should have made at the start of the offseason.

That change was apparently enough to get Coen to reconsider the Jaguars job. 

Given how poorly Baalke's tenure went in Jacksonville in terms of success, and how this head-coaching search played out with Coen, it is hard to imagine Baalke getting another chance as a general manager anytime soon. 

Now Tampa Bay is in the market for a new offensive coordinator, and the Jaguars get the coach they wanted. 

Coen spent one season as the Buccaneers offensive coordinator and helped build a top-five offense during the 2024 season. He takes over a Jaguars team that has a huge investment in quarterback Trevor Lawrence and needs to figure out a way to help him develop into the franchise player they are paying him to be.