An already important offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got off to a dramatic start thanks to the whole Liam Coen situation. It seems to have gotten lost in the discourse, but how Coen went about leaving the Bucs has left a sour taste in everyone’s mouth and the decision-makers in Tampa still seem irate enough to not pull any punches.
We saw that this past week when Tampa Bay blocked Coen from hiring a handful of position coaches away from the team to add to his staff in Jacksonville. It might seem like a petty move, but it’s more of a message — see also: a giant middle finger — that lets Coen know that things won’t be hunky-dory anytime soon. Blocking Coen was more about protecting the talent the Bucs have in-house, but it was a not-so-subtle response to comments made by the team’s former offensive coordinator that amounted to him feeling like Jason Licht would simply get over how things went down at the end of his tenure.
It’s pretty clear the team has other feelings, specifically negative ones, about Coen despite what he thinks. His comments about Licht and him eventually being ‘good’ weren’t the only ones he made that raised blood pressure and eyebrows in Tampa Bay. While he continuously preaches the power of communication and honesty, with a straight face no less, Coen went on record as saying Baker Mayfield endorsed him leaving to take the Jaguars job.
Like most of the communication from Coen the message was mixed, and it left Bucs fans fuming over the idea that he’d use Baker to justify the way he left. It didn’t take long for Mayfield to set the record straight and weigh in on how he really feels about the whole situation.
Baker Mayfield comments on Liam Coen leaving the Buccaneers
While speaking with the media at the Pro Bowl, Baker was asked about Coen leaving the Buccaneers and seemed to set the record straight. Specifically he was addressed comments that were made by Coen that suggested Mayfield encouraged him to take the Jaguars job at the last minute.
#Bucs Pro Bowl QB Baker Mayfield on Liam Coen FaceTiming him and the OLine in the Bahamas to tell him he was taking the Jaguars HC job. “I left him on red a little bit,” he said. But Mayfield understood it was an opportunity Coen couldn’t pass. pic.twitter.com/6mQPiCXbjq
— Rick Stroud (@NFLSTROUD) February 1, 2025
It seems that the flame is dying out on all of the rage that was induced by Coen’s messy exit. There are very clearly still hurt feelings on Tampa Bay’s end, and rightfully so, but Baker tying a bow around things the way he did is yet another reason the Bucs are lucky to have him.
Nobody has ever faulted Coen for leaving to take another job that sets his family up for life. Had he not ghosted the team and acted like a teenager trying to hide something from his parents, his move to the Jaguars would likely have been widely celebrated by Bucs fans. Instead, thanks to the way he sloppily left everyone in the dust, it’s a stain on his otherwise successful time in Tampa Bay.
That’s what Baker seems like he wants to remember, and it’s a good reminder of the human element behind these sorts of stories. There’s no excusing the way Coen ducked and ran, but bygones eventually have to be bygones and Baker is once again leading the right charge to keep everyone in the building focused on the right tasks at hand.
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