It didn’t take long for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offseason to start getting chaotic. Less than a few weeks after an unfortunate Wild Card round exit from the playoffs, another type of departure rocked the Bucs in some rather unexpected ways.
Liam Coen left his role as the team’s offensive coordinator to become the next head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. It’s not a bad thing on it’s own, in fact the Bucs losing coordinators to head coaching jobs in back-to-back offseasons is a massive seal of approval for how well the team is at identifying and developing talent at all levels.
What rubbed everyone the wrong way was how Coen left. Rather than do it like an adult he went about it like a teenager sneaking around behind their parent’s back. After initially agreeing to return to Tampa Bay, Coen ghosted the team when it came time to sign his new contract and instead stealthily returned to Duval to work out a deal with the Jags.
It’s all water under the bridge for the most part, but at the time it was an unprecedented event that reportedly left the Bucs fuming. Cooler heads have prevailed, even if Coen is still taking subtle shots, with head coach Todd Bowles essentially tying a bow around the matter ahead of the offseason truly taking off.
Todd Bowles opens up about Liam Coen leaving the Buccaneers this offseason
At the NFL Combine this week, Bowles finally commented publically on everything that went down with Liam Coen this offseason and how he left the staff in Tampa Bay. Much like comments made by Jason Licht, Bowles took the high road and wished Coen well. If anything, he further reiterated that the Bucs have completely moved on and are looking at what’s ahead and not what has already happened.
"Whether it happened differently or happened the same, I'm still looking for a new offensive coordinator," Bowles said. "For those of us who want to say we did things the right way for our whole lives, you can't throw stones at a glass house if everybody else lives in the glass house. He did what was right for him at the time. Obviously, a lot of people in Tampa don't agree, but that wasn't even a factor — the point is, we had to find a new offensive coordinator."
It was about as messy and sloppy an exit as possible for Coen, but at a certain point everyone needs to move on. That’s a hard thing to do when things happened the way they did, but it’s pretty clear at this point that both Bowles and Coen are looking toward the future.
Tampa Bay has bigger fish to fry than remaining mad about Coen childishly leaving his post. Josh Grizzard was promoted from within to replace Coen, a move that has already received overwhelmingly positive reactions from inside the locker room, and there are roster holes that need to be addressed on the other side of the ball.
If the Bucs want to keep making progress, as they have the last two seasons under Bowles, then fixing the pass rush and fortifying the secondary are things that must happen. Offensively the Bucs need to find out how to get Chris Godwin back on a new contract — or figure out a replacement plan if he leaves in free agency.
All of this is to say that the sour taste Coen left in everyone’s mouth might not be completely washed away, but much like his logic in leaving Tampa Bay there are greener pastures ahead worth paying more attention to.
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