Liam Coen has helped elevate the Buccaneers offense into one of many top-scoring items within the NFL. The offensive coordinator might be able to parlay that efficiency right into a promotion. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, Coen has been “gaining traction” for head teaching gigs. On the very least, the coach is predicted to be closely concerned within the interview circuit.
After spending a few years in the college ranks, Coen made a name for himself working alongside Sean McVay in Los Angeles. Coen first served as the Rams wide receivers coach, when he helped guide Cooper Kupp to his breakout season in 2019. Coen later labored intently with Matthew Stafford because the crew’s assistant QBs coach.
Coen left for Kentucky in 2021 to change into the college’s offensive coordinator, however he returned to the Rams in 2022 to exchange Kevin O’Connell as OC. Coen went again to Kentucky for a second stint in 2023 earlier than getting employed as Dave Canales‘ substitute in Tampa Bay forward of the 2024 marketing campaign.
Whereas the Buccaneers already had a formidable offense, Coen has helped take the unit to a different stage. The offense is averaging greater than 28 factors per sport regardless of Chris Godwin being misplaced for the season and Mike Evans lacking a handful of video games. Coen has additionally helped flip across the crew’s working sport; after rating in the direction of the underside of the NFL in 2022 and 2023, the Buccaneers presently rank second in yards per carry (5.2) and fifth in speeding yards (2,021).
Contemplating Coen’s success in a number of stops, it’s not an enormous shock that he’ll be a sizzling identify on the teaching carousel. The offensive coordinator shall be comparatively new to the HC interview cycle, and contemplating his restricted observe report, some longer-tenured coordinators will probably get the primary crack at open jobs. Nonetheless, it’s a constructive growth for Coen’s profession trajectory that he’s already being thought-about for some of these gigs.
As Fowler notes, Coen received’t be the one well-liked identify in Tampa Bay. Assistant GM John Spytek will as soon as once more be thought-about for GM jobs, and fellow assistant GM Mike Greenberg may be a preferred identify (with Fowler particularly pointing to the Jets gig). Fowler additionally factors to vp of soccer analysis Jacqueline Davidson and director of participant personnel Rob McCartney as names to observe, even when they don’t get lengthy appears to be like this offseason.