The NFL’s head coaching carousel is generally a wild ride, but what’s transpired in Florida over the past 48 hours is a notch above what we typically see. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Liam Coen has informed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that he intends to accept an offer from the Jacksonville Jaguars to become their next head coach, putting a bow on a crazy couple of days.
On Wednesday, Coen turned down an in-person interview request with the Jaguars after the Buccaneers and Coen agreed in principle on a three-year extension to make him the highest-paid coordinator in the NFL.
At that moment, Trent Baalke was still the Jaguars’ general manager. It’s been widely speculated that Baalke’s presence in Jacksonville caused head coaching candidates to be uninterested in the job. After Coen turned down Jacksonville’s offer for an in-person interview, and Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn chose the Chicago Bears and New York Jets, respectively, Jaguars owner Shad Khan realized it was time to part ways with Baalke.
Hours after Coen and the Bucs agreed to his extension, Jacksonville announced they and Baalke had mutually parted ways, citing the best interest of the Jaguars. In a statement from Jaguars owner Shad Khan, Ethan Waugh was named interim GM, and Khan said that Waugh, among others, would oversee the remainder of Jacksonville’s head coaching search.
According to Schefter, Jacksonville asked Coen to reconsider his decision with Baalke out of the picture. At this point, Coen agreed and went to Jacksonville to meet with Khan and the rest of the search committee.
Word surfaced Thursday afternoon that Coen had reversed course, and multiple people reported that Coen was essentially AWOL from Tampa Bay, with Buccaneers personnel trying to reach him and his agent with no luck.
In the end, Coen was in Tampa Bay, interviewing with the Buccaneers, and at this point, it appears that he will land in Jacksonville and become their next head coach.
Say what you will, but Coen made a power move and essentially forced the Jaguars to fire their GM to land him, and they played ball with it. People in Tampa Bay won’t be happy, but Jacksonville got their guy, and now he’ll likely play a role in selecting their next GM.
With Liam Coen heading to Jacksonville, here’s how the NFL’s head coaching carousel looks:
- New England Patriots: Mike Vrabel
- Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson
- New York Jets: Aaron Glenn
- Jacksonville Jaguars: Liam Coen
- New Orleans Saints: TBD
- Las Vegas Raiders: TBD
- Dallas Cowboys: TBD
Coen’s departure also means Baker Mayfield will have another offensive coordinator next season.
Wild stuff. Never change, NFL. Never.