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Why will Liam Coen work as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach? One Jag has seen him in action
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- Why will Liam Coen work as Jacksonville Jaguars head coach? One Jag has seen him in action
Jacksonville Jaguars center Luke Fortner is excited to welcome a familiar face to the franchise.
The Jaguars recently hired Liam Coen as the team's head coach. In 2021, though, Coen was part of a different program as the offensive coordinator for Kentucky , Fortner's old stomping grounds.
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Forner was drafted out of Kentucky in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
In his career, he's started 36 games for the club, including the postseason.
In a phone interview with the Times-Union on Tuesday, Fortner said it was sad seeing Doug Pederson and Trent Baalke go, but now, he's ready to continue his career in Jacksonville with his former OC.
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"Super excited to have Liam [Coen] now as someone who has worked with him before and been around him, I know what he brings, so I'm really excited to be with him," said Fortner.
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Though Fortner admitted that transitioning to a new coaching staff will come with initial challenges, Coen's traits will help make it easier.
"His youthfulness, his energy, his enthusiasm, those are all going to make it easier, right? And I truly believe that the group of guys we have is set up to work really hard and win football games. You combine what he's bringing to the table and what has been set in place, I think it's gonna be exciting," said Fortner.
At Kentucky, Coen helped lead an offense that ranked fifth in the SEC in rushing with 199.5 yards per game and fifth in points with 32.3 points per game. The offense totaled 452.2 total yards per game and led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record and a Citrus Bowl victory over Iowa.
Kentucky's 10-win season marked its fourth in program history and first since 2018.
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Fortner exuded excitement for Coen's approach to football , noting that his passion and energy stand out and it's something that can translate to the team and franchise as a whole.
"You might be able to tell, but he's got a lot of energy, he's got passion. He's pretty young for a head coach but, and don't tell him I said this, I think he thinks he's younger than he is, too," Fortner said of his new, old coach with a laugh.
"He loves having juice. He's flying around. He's animated, he's just a fun guy to be around. And he's gonna tell you how it is, good or bad, but he does everything with such energy and passion and I think that's what's exciting about it."
Liam Coen will connect with Jaguars players beyond football Xs and Os
Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen answers questions as the Kentucky Wildcats offensive cooridnator in 2021 at the Citrus Bowl
Coen's ability to re-energize an offense is well-documented.
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In addition to his time at Kentucky, with the Buccaneers , Coen transformed the offense into one of the league's powerhouses. After fielding one of the worst rushing attacks in the league in 2023 (90.4 yards per game), Coen helped make it one of the best in football, ranking fourth in 2024 with 149.2 yards per game.
The offense also went from 20.5 points per game in 2023 to 29.5 this past season.
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But it isn't just what Coen can do for the offense on the field that Fortner says can help the Jaguars in the long run.
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"He's always talking with the guys, he's getting to know guys. He cares about them as people. He's obviously a mastermind when it comes to football, but I truly think he loves his job, and he loves being there every day," Fortner said.
"I think that kind of shows to the guys when he's coming up and asking about all aspects of life. He loves getting to know his guys, loves being around them and loves winning football."
The approach by Coen helps instill trust in his players. He builds the relationship, coaches them up and tells them what he thinks they should do and how they do it. Because players are comfortable with him, Fortner said, they have a lot of trust and faith in him.
"It's easy to go out and execute come game day. So, I think that relationship is a vehicle for his football knowledge, which he has a lot of," Fortner added.
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Part of that is Coen's ability to teach all aspects of the offense. Though he played quarterback and was primarily a quarterbacks and receivers coach throughout his coaching career, Fortner said Coen is "very hands-on with all positions on offense."
"It goes back to that trust of, as a player, if your offensive cooridnator is coaching up your position, you know he knows what he's talking about. That every play he puts in, he understands what has to happen to each position," Fortner explained.
"So, just that level of detail, and not necessarily sticking to just scheme, but also stepping in and saying 'Hey, this is how I'm seeing [it], this is what I was thinking,' and so that ideal of, OK, if coach Coen knows exactly what I'm supposed to be doing on this play, he's not putting in a play where he thinks I'm going to fail."
Fortner noted that Coen leaves no stone unturned, always ensuring he has answers for everything.
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"I remember a couple of different meetings in Kentucky where he called me and we'd watch a bunch of clips together and, it's like, in the moment, you're like, 'Okay, this feels like... this is a lot. Why are we so hyper-focused on this?' But, then you see the results on the field and you realize, 'okay, he's got it all covered,'" Fortner explained.
"That level of detail, that focus, and you can't have as much detail if you don't have the energy he has, and the willingness to put in the time like he does."
Coen understands urgency to correct Jaguars offensive, defensive lines
Jaguars offensive line coach and run game coordinator Phil Rauscher gives his players instructions during the second day of an NFL football training camp practice session Thursday, July 25, 2024 at EverBank StadiumÕs Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla.
Last season, the Jaguars were forced to pass the ball more due, in part, to a lack of rushing attack, passing on 58.3% of the plays, the 13th-highest rate in the league.
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By comparison, according to NextGenStats, the teams slated to play in the Super Bowl — the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs — ranked 32nd and 10th in pass percentage. The difference? The Eagles were among the top rushing teams with 179.3 rushing yards per game (ranked second), finishing with the third-highest EPA per rush in the league at 0.08.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, were one of the top passing teams in the league despite not putting up the otherworldly numbers observers have grown accustomed to in recent years. According to NGS, Kansas City ranked ninth in total EPA/play at 0.03, while their passing offense ranked 10th at plus-0.04 EPA/pass.
Jacksonville ranked 19th in EPA/play and EPA/rush at -0.08 and was 21st in EPA per pass at -0.08.
Still, Jacksonville's offensive line wasn't all bad. They were stout in pass blocking, allowing pressures at a lower rate than most of the league at 27.4% (fifth best).
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Defensively, Jacksonville's efforts in pass rush left plenty to be desired. The team struggled to get to the quarterback, with a total quarterback pressure percentage of 28.3%. The defense as a whole also graded poorly against the run, allowing an EPA/rush of 0.03, the fourth-worst in the league.
Jacksonville's EPA/pass allowed was the worst in the league at 0.14.
Though the team boasted Josh Hines-Allen and Travon Walker , the duo combined for 18.5 sacks. The team totaled just 34 the entire season, leaving 15.5 sacks from the rest of the unit.
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After Hines-Allen (eight sacks), rookie defensive lineman Maason Smith was third on the team with three, while linebacker Devin Lloyd , rookie cornerback Jarrian Jones , linemen Jeremiah Ledbetter , Roy Robertson-Harris and Arik Armstead rounded out most of the group with two a piece.
Robertson-Harris was traded after the team's Week 6 loss to the Chicago Bears .
Coen emphasized the team's need to address the units and underscored their importance to the success of the franchise. He isn't ignorant that Jacksonville's offensive line has struggled.
"I think we would all agree that it needs to improve, right? I think, first and foremost, when you look at the offensive side of the ball, you want that unit and that group, it's the first thing when you break the huddle that the defense sees. I want that to mean something," Coen said at his introductory press conference on Monday.
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"We want that to mean something. And it will. And that's a mentality. That's personnel. That's scheme. That's technique. That's fundamentals. That's attitude. That's something that we need to make sure we instill."
Plenty of work can be done on the defensive line, too, he said, looking to put them in positions to be successful. Part of that will come with Arik Armstead's move back inside, something Coen noted.
"On the defensive side of the ball, I think we all know that we've got some talented dudes there. We've got some guys that can really go. How do we continue to ensure the inside, but we've got multiple guys up front that can do some good things. We've got to put them in a position to be successful. That's our job," Coen said.
"The guys are there; we can continue to add in that room, right, add multiple different positions as well, but that's where it starts, as you mentioned. To go into playoff games and to go do it, you've got to be able to run the football and stop the run, first and foremost."
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And play like savages .
Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Why Jacksonville Jaguars' Liam Coen is total package for offense
