First day jitters?
It’s been a whirlwind last couple of weeks for former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator and now current Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen. In fact, you could honestly consider the last couple of years as hectic for the 39-year-old football coach. Here’s the coaching timeline for Coen since 2020:
-2020: Assistant Quarterbacks Coach for Los Angeles Rams
-2021: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach at the University of Kentucky
-2022: Offensive Coordinator for Los Angeles Rams
-2023: Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach at the University of Kentucky
-2024: Offensive Coordinator for Tampa Bay Buccaneers
That’s a lot of moving around (cross country) in a matter of five years.
And he’s on the move once again, as Liam Coen was just announced officially as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It wasn’t a simple hire either. Coen reportedly first passed on the job when the Jaguars still had Trent Baalke as their general manager. Once Jacksonville fired Baalke, Coen circled back and took the head coaching position… after he had apparently agreed to sign an extension as Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator.
Long story short, there were a lot of moving parts, but the Jaguars were finally able to hire their second choice (they originally wanted to hire Lions OC Ben Johnson). Liam Coen was introduced today as Jacksonville’s head coach, and so far, it hasn’t gone over all that well… at least when you ask the internet.
At his introductory press conference, Coen was asked if he could give those in attendance his best “DUUUVAL.” Jaguars fan shout the name of the county their team is located in to show support, and the media member evidently wanted to see if new head coach in Jacksonville had what it takes.
Let’s just say it wasn’t a convincing effort:
0-17 pic.twitter.com/p2ouXvtfBC
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) January 27, 2025
OOF…
Fortunately, Liam Coen had another opportunity to shout “DUUUVAL” earlier in the day. Did the clip of that one get made fun of as well? Yes, it did. But admittedly, this “DUVALL” was better than the one he did at his introductory press conference:
Dude is a natural 🗣️#DUUUVAL pic.twitter.com/2dfnF8AFQ2
— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) January 27, 2025
The good news is that he’s got plenty of time to work on his “DUUUVAL” before Jacksonville’s 2025-2026 season kicks off.
The bad news? Coen is going to have to fight through the “this guy is a goody goober” accusations until he can actually prove himself as a head football coach:
Ian gone lie folk ya “DUVAL” need some work https://t.co/ucjEwDw0cw
— Well$Fargo (@904King_Carter) January 27, 2025
my coach awkward as shit we’re gonna hang 70 on everyone 🙏
— Southern Charm Sports (@SouthernCharmSp) January 27, 2025
I had never seen Liam Cohen on camera until today and I gotta say first impression: not a head coach.
— Jaylen Brown Appreciator (@IanJacobson16) January 27, 2025
The suit jacket, shirt & tie combo is unacceptable. Liam Cohen.. brother.. what are we doing? https://t.co/bYscwGZsX1
— JMart (@ItsMaarty) January 27, 2025
Jaguars playing here next year? pic.twitter.com/4JtZros3yt
— Davey Dots aka Jabroni Jones (@DaveyDots17) January 27, 2025
I’m so out on this guy
— slashy (@slaxshy) January 27, 2025
Oh man this ain’t gonna go well😭
— Higgy (@ArielH_53) January 27, 2025
Jags fans deserve better.
— Diamond (@DocDH) January 27, 2025
Jaguars fans can find some hope in knowing that both Nick Sirianni (Philadelphia Eagles head coach) and Dan Campbell (Detroit Lions head coach) were also clowned a bit because of their opening press conferences with their respective teams after they were hired.
Safe to say those two coaches have managed to have plenty of success…
