Liam Coen was named the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday. It was the end of a bizarre two day saga for Coen. Coen originally turned the job down and decided to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as offensive coordinator but after the Jaguars fired former general manager Trent Baalke, Coen decided to revisit the opening and he got hired as the new Jaguars head coach. 

It is a dream come true for the Warwick, Rhode Island native and son of long time high school coach Tim Coen. The elder Coen coached his son at LaSalle Academy where he was a state out quarterback and won a state title before committing to UMass.

While at UMass, Coen started for Don Brown for four seasons from 2005 to 2008. He was a redshirt senior captain in 2008. The Minutemen were 37-14 overall and 25-7 in conference play (2005 – Atlantic 10; 2006-08 – CAA) during Coen’s four seasons as the starting quarterback.

Coen led UMass to the 2006 NCAA FCS National Championship Game by going 69-of-109 for 837 yards with six touchdowns during the playoff run. He also led the Minutemen to an NCAA postseason appearance in 2007 and won conference championships in 2006 and 2007.

Coen holds career records at Massachusetts for passing yards (11,031), pass attempts (1,303), pass completions (830), touchdown passes (90), completion percentage (.639), passer efficiency (152.92) and yards per pass attempt (8.47).

After his playing career was over, Coen followed in his father’s footsteps and got into coaching. In 2010, he was hired as quarterbacks coach at Brown University. From there, he spent the 2011 season as quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator at Rhode Island. He returned to Brown in 2012 where he once again served as quarterbacks coach for two seasons.

In 2014, he returned to UMass this time as pass game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Coen left after the 2015 season to become offensive coordinator at Maine for current Massachusetts coach Joe Harasymiak.

Coen broke into the NFL in 2018 as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Los Angeles Rams. After spending three seasons in L.A, he returned to the college game in 2021 as offensive coordinator at Kentucky before returning to the Rams as offensive coordinator in 2022.

A desire to call plays again led him back to Kentucky in 2023 before he returned to the NFL to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense in 2024.

A student of the modern west coast offense, Coen will now have the opportunity to lead his own team for the first time. Judging by the way things went down in Jacksonville, he will have a lot of power within the organization. He is going to pick the new general manager along with owner Shad Khan.

Coen is a terrific football coach. Having watched him at clinics and talked ball with him, he has the knowledge, temperament and experience to lead the Jaguars back to playoff contention. He was the right hire. 

In a statement released by the team, Coen is looking forward to the opportunity to rebuild the Jags.

“Becoming the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars is an opportunity of a lifetime, and one that I am going to run with to instill a championship culture and winning tradition here in Duval. This doesn’t happen without the support and opportunities that my family and I have been afforded throughout my career, especially during this past season in Tampa Bay. We thank Todd Bowles for his continued support and the entire Buccaneers organization for the experience, and know they will have success ahead.

“Most of all, we are grateful to Shad Khan for his belief in what we will bring to the Jaguars. We will work tirelessly to reward his confidence. As head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, I will hire a first-class coaching staff, establish a distinctive and effective brand of football on both sides of the ball, and our players will live for the black and teal. Shad and Jaguars fans should expect nothing less, and that’s what we plan to deliver and more. My wife Ashley and our family are honored to be here and a part of the Jacksonville community. We are ready to get to work.”

Coen’s work ethic is built on New England values and it is those values that helped succeed on the gridiron and will him succeed as a head coach.