Add this one to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ history of being left at the altar, but that doesn’t make it more palatable or even professional. Liam Coen’s exit from the Bucs to become the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars is filled with intrigue.
And breaking his word.
So now it’s part of his job-hopping history that includes some weird timing that leaves people frustrated in its wake.
Way Coen Left ‘Kinda Dirty’
“This happens in the NFL, I guess,” a Buccaneers source speaking about how Coen is leaving the team said Friday morning. “I wish coach all the success in the world. But the way I’m hearing he went about this isn’t right. Kinda dirty.”
According to multiple reports, including from the Tampa Bay Times, and the source speaking to OutKick, this tale includes more twists and turns than a maze:
Coen agreed to remain as the Buccaneers offensive coordinator on Wednesday, in part because he decided going to Jacksonville to be the head coach with Trent Baalke as the general manager didn’t appeal to him.
To keep Coen, the Bucs and their offensive coordinator struck a verbal agreement that would make Coen among the highest paid coordinators in the NFL. The deal was signed off on by the Glazers, who own the Buccaneers.
It was a three-year agreement, and it was well known within the Bucs facility because Coen spoke to multiple assistants and even players, and told him he was staying. The deal to stay, by the way, was contingent on Coen agreeing not to continue speaking with the Jaguars.
Crisis averted in Tampa, right?
Nope.
Shad Khan Made Another Run At Coen
Coen was supposed to sign his new deal late Wednesday. He didn’t.
He was supposed to sign his new deal on Thursday. But no one could find him, and he wasn’t taking anyone’s phone calls.
Seems Jacksonville owner Shad Khan, who decided he wanted Coen so much he fired Baalke on Wednesday afternoon, was making another run at Coen. He called Coen after the firing and asked to meet with him.
Coen, who agreed to the Tampa Bay deal but had not signed it, then flew to Jacksonville to meet with Khan. And no one within the Buccaneers’ organization knew it. The Bucs thought they had secured their offensive coordinator with a juiced up contract.
But that coordinator was in Jacksonville working on becoming the Jaguars’ new head coach.
Messy Exit For Coen
And, a source confirmed, Coen didn’t tell Bucs coach Todd Bowles about it until late Thursday afternoon – after being out of touch for over 24 hours after agreeing to stay.
The Times reported Coen told Bowles he was with his son at a medical appointment. But he was also in Jacksonville discussing the new job with Khan. How those two mesh is unclear and Coen’s wife took to social media to complain the whole episode included a lot of “misinformation.”
This is really messy at best and shady at worst. And Coen may be forced to explain the timeline of him telling the Bucs one thing and doing another at his introductory press conference.
This isn’t misinformation:
The Bucs have been left at the proverbial altar, as they have before. Bill Parcells agreed to become the team’s head coach in 1992 but then backed out. Amazingly, the Bucs made another run at him in 2002, and he agreed again, and then backed out again.
And Coen has left unhappy fan bases in his wake previously.
Kentucky Fans Have Seen This Before
In 2021, he jumped from the Los Angeles Rams to the University of Kentucky. And in 2022, he jumped back to the Rams, only to return to Kentucky in 2023.
The understanding of his 2023 return to Kentucky was that he was committed to the program, per OutKick’s Trey Wallace.
And Coen was committed – for one season.
In 2024, a month prior to the start of spring practice, Coen left to go to the Buccaneers to become their offensive coordinator – a position he filled for only one season before his latest wild jump.
