If I were looking to hire a coach, I’d be interested in talking to Liam Coen. He did very awfully impressive work in Tampa Bay.
The Bucs don’t have a franchise-type quarterback along the lines of Mahomes, Allen, Burrow or Jackson; they’re working instead with Baker Mayfield. And at wide receiver, they feature 31-year-old Mike Evans, along with third-rounder Jalen McMillan (replacing Chris Godwin for the second half of the season).
At running back, the Bucs didn’t have a proven top-level producer, instead relying on a combination of Rachaad White and rookie Bucky Irving. No complaints about the offensive line, which includes a franchise left tackle (Tristian Wirfs), three young draft picks who have hit, and a free-agent plug-in at guard.
But Coen helped string it all together. He got 41 touchdown passes out of Mayfield, and McMillan closed the season by catching touchdowns in five straight games. Irving was the most productive of the rookie runners. Tampa Bay was the only team that ranked in the top 5 in both rushing and passing.
It was his work with the running game that was the most impressive. The Bucs in recent years haven’t been able to run the ball, ranking dead last in rushing in the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Under Coen, the Bucs zoomed up to 4th in rushing, coming in behind only three teams that were helped along by running quarterbacks (Ravens, Eagles, Commanders).
RUSHING YARDS PER GAME (last 4 yrs) | |||
---|---|---|---|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
188 Baltimore | 157 Baltimore | 177 Chicago | 160 Philadelphia |
179 Philadelphia | 141 Chicago | 160 Baltimore | 149 Indianapolis |
154 Washington | 141 San Francisco | 160 Atlanta | 146 Baltimore |
149 Tampa Bay | 139 Arizona | 148 NY Giants | 145 Cleveland |
147 Green Bay | 136 Detroit | 148 Philadelphia | 141 Tennessee |
146 Detroit | 136 Miami | 146 Cleveland | 130 Buffalo |
144 Arizona | 130 Buffalo | 140 Buffalo | 127 San Francisco |
137 Indianapolis | 129 Philadelphia | 139 San Francisco | 127 New England |
131 Buffalo | 127 Atlanta | 135 Dallas | 125 Dallas |
131 Atlanta | 121 Indianapolis | 130 Carolina | 122 Arizona |
127 Pittsburgh | 120 LA Rams | 128 Detroit | 122 Seattle |
127 San Francisco | 119 Cleveland | 126 Washington | 121 Washington |
116 New England | 118 Pittsburgh | 125 Tennessee | 119 Denver |
115 New Orleans | 113 Dallas | 124 Jacksonville | 119 Chicago |
112 Houston | 112 Green Bay | 124 Green Bay | 117 New Orleans |
112 Denver | 110 NY Giants | 122 Pittsburgh | 115 Kansas City |
111 LA Chargers | 109 Tennessee | 121 Las Vegas | 114 Minnesota |
110 Carolina | 106 Denver | 120 Seattle | 112 Green Bay |
109 Tennessee | 105 Kansas City | 117 New Orleans | 111 Detroit |
109 Minnesota | 104 Carolina | 116 Kansas City | 108 Carolina |
106 Miami | 102 New Orleans | 114 Denver | 108 LA Chargers |
105 Kansas City | 97 NY Jets | 110 Arizona | 103 Jacksonville |
105 NY Giants | 97 Houston | 110 Indianapolis | 102 Cincinnati |
104 LA Rams | 97 Jacksonville | 107 New England | 99 NY Giants |
102 Chicago | 97 LA Chargers | 99 Miami | 99 LA Rams |
102 Jacksonville | 96 New England | 99 NY Jets | 98 Tampa Bay |
100 Dallas | 94 Washington | 98 LA Rams | 98 NY Jets |
96 Seattle | 93 Seattle | 98 Minnesota | 95 Las Vegas |
95 Cleveland | 91 Minnesota | 96 Cincinnati | 93 Pittsburgh |
93 Cincinnati | 91 Las Vegas | 90 LA Chargers | 92 Miami |
92 NY Jets | 90 Cincinnati | 87 Houston | 85 Atlanta |
80 Las Vegas | 89 Tampa Bay | 77 Tampa Bay | 84 Houston |
Coen also put together successful ground games in both of his one-year stints at Kentucky.
Coen is light on experience. He spent four years as an assistant under Sean McVay, and he was with Kentucky as an offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2023. I don’t know if he has the overall organizational and leadership abilities that teams are looking for. Some coaches are best suited to be coordinators.
But Coen has been successful enough that he’s definitely a guy everybody should be wanting to bring in for interviews. Ben Johnson is the hottest candidate of this hiring cycle, but I’m not sure that Johnson’s work with the Lions has been any more impressive than what Coen has done with the Bucs.
—Ian Allan