UPDATE: On Wednesday morning Liam Coen took his name out of the running for the Jaguars job and signed a deal to return to the Buccaneers. This story was written before that news occurred.
It's starting to look like a bridge no Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan wanted to cross will require exactly that, as the end appears to be nigh for Liam Coen. He's not so much walking the plank as he is jumping ship, as all signs are pointing toward the Jacksonville Jaguars hiring Coen away to become the team's next head coach.
This would mark the third straight season the Buccaneers need to hire a new offensive coordinator and the second in which the guy leaving is doing so for a head coaching job. Last year Dave Canales was one-and-done, exiting his role in January to become the Carolina Panthers' head coach and now it seems Coen will be parlaying his one year of success into what he's described as a dream job.
Coen danced circles around the offense that Canales created -- which is not a knock on Canales -- which seems to suggest that he's as good as gone if his predecessor was able to land a top gig. There's still a chance that Coen pulls a Ben Johnson and returns for one more season to further boost his stock, but doing that comes with siginficant risk.
Just ask Bobby Slowik how running things back went for him over in Houston.
There are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs in the world, which means Coen is more than likely going to cash in on his chance to land one. If that happens, the Bucs will have the tall task of trying to replace him knowing that the stakes are as high as ever.
7 potential offensive coordinators Buccaneers could target
The Bucs are not in the same place they were back in 2023 when Canales was hired to replace Byron Leftwich. The job Coen did elevated the Bucs to a new level on just about every front, including making the job more attractive than it's ever been.
Canales and Coen becoming head coaches after just one season telegraphs that Tampa Bay is a springboard to a top job. That's a massive selling point the team didn't have when it was getting passed over by every candidate two years ago, and means Todd Bowles and Jason Licht should have no shortage of candidates.
Picking the right one is a whole different story. If Canales leaves, at least seven names should be on the list of candidates the Bucs bring in for interviews.
Coach | Position | Team |
|---|---|---|
Klint Kubiak | Offensive Coordinator | New Orleans Saints |
Alex Van Pelt | Offensive Coordinator | New England Patriots |
Mike LaFleur | Offensive Coordinator | Los Angeles Rams |
Nick Cauley | TE Coach/Passing Game Coordinator | Los Angeles Rams |
Grant Udinski | Assistant Offensive Coordinator | Minnesota Vikings |
Josh McCown | QB Coach | Minnesota Vikings |
Tommy Rees | TE Coach/Passing Game Coordinator | Cleveland Browns |
One thing the Bucs did in hiring Canales and Coen was give guys who hadn't yet been handed the keys to an offense a chance to flex. Part of that was out of necessity but it also showed that Bowles and Licht know how to mine for gold in places that aren't obvious.
Licht has mastered this with his draft strategy over the years and Bowles has proven his ability to find the right coaches. This is what could lead them to someone like Nick Cauley or Tommy Rees, both of who have worked for top offensive minds and are in the Canales tier of simply needing the right opportunity to prove themselves.
Josh McCown also fits into this mold as well, esepcially since it seems he's been getting earmarked as a potential head coach for years. He was a surprise interview candidate for the Houston Texans job a few years ago and has bounced around to varying degrees of success since. He was part of Kevin O'Connell's rennovation and ressurection of Sam Darnold las season in Minnesota, which seems to suggest he'll know how to take what Baker Mayfield is doing and continue to build on the success.
With all that said, it could be that an even better sales pitch can be made for Grant Udinski who was the assistant offensive coordinator for the Vikings and also part of the team's success. He's even further along in the org chart, and feels like the type of on-the-cusp hire that Liam Coen was last year.
Speaking of last year, the Bucs could wind up with one of the candidates they had on their radar. Alex Van Pelt was ousted in favor of Josh McDaniels as part of the Patriots' regime change this offseason, which means he could find his way down to Tampa Bay to try and prove New England wrong.
He struggled with schemes, which is something that frustrated fans with Canales in 2023 but that could be more a product of a poorly constructed roster than a shortcoming for Van Pelt. He chose the Patriots job after interviewing with the Bucs last year so perhaps things will come full circle.
If we're talking about revenge candidates, then Klint Kubiak could make a lot of sense. He's probably not coming back as part of New Orleans' new regime, and hopping over to Tampa Bay to make the Saints sorry about that decision would make any success he had this year that much sweeter.
Of course the Bucs could stick close to the Liam Coen track and dip back into Sean McVay's staff with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur. He didn't overlap with Baker Mayfield in 2022 but could bring a similar system to what Coen was running with some extra dosage of McVay-ness. The Rams once again had another successful year on offense and any fears about the run game taking a step back without Coen would be calmed knowing the guy who turned Kyren Williams into a stud was coaching Bucky Irving.
Ideally we get a miracle and Coen comes back for one more year, or the Bucs find a way to keep him. This could either be with a fat raise or by moving Todd Bowles to a front office role and making Coen his replacement -- something we saw with Bruce Arians back in 2023. If that doesn't happen and Tampa Bay loses their offensive guru, there are plenty of candidates who could help the team make it three years in a row of making successful offensive coordinator hires.
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