The fact that Liam Coen is officially the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars isn't surprising, given it's been an expected outcome for weeks, but how it all happened is where the plot thickens and twists.
Over the course of 36 hours:
- Coen dropped out of the running to be the Jaguars head coach
- Accepted an offer to return to Tampa Bay as the highest-paid coordinator in NFL history
- Ghosted the Bucs when it came time to sign his contract
- Secretly flew back to Jacksonville to meet with owner Shad Khan
- Agreed to become the Jaguars head coach after receiving an obnoxious amount of money and power
All of this seems to have hinged on the Jaguars firing general manager Trent Baalke, which honestly should have happened when Doug Pederson was dismissed. Had that happened, we might have avoided what has become one of the messiest divorces in NFL history.
Coen ghosting the Buccaneers and leaving them on read is where the line seems to be drawn here. Having a billionare owner so painfully desperate to hire you that he's the one jumping through hoops for you has to be a fantastic feeling and nobody faults Coen for playing along. In fact, had the other stuff not happened, Coen would be celebrated as a hero for getting one over on the Big Guy, but unfortunately, the other stuff did happen, and it's a tough beat.
Leaving the Bucs twisting in the wind the way he did has left a sour taste in everyone's mouth back in Tampa, and the fallout is getting ugly as the mud starts to fly.
In his first official statement since everything went down, Coen kindly thanked Bowles and the Buccaneers for all that they did for him. However, that came after Adam Schefter gave a report on the Pat McAfee Show that paints a very different picture of Coen's feelings.
Liam Coen sure sounds like he's throwing Todd Bowles under the bus
Part of what is driving this whole controversy is the fact that Coen cut the Bucs out and refused to communicate with them what he was up to. Throughout this entire saga, not a single soul has been mad at Coen for taking another job or having a change of heart; rather, it's the shady way he snuck around in secret and ghosted the team that has everyone so fired up.
On that point, Schefter passed along word that Coen's camp is emphasizing that Todd Bowles was contacted about what was happening, which sounds a lot like throwing him under the bus. This feels fishy in more ways than one, up to and including the fact that it was sort of debunked in the moment on Thursday.
Bowles was indeed contacted by Coen, that part is true. When he was looped in is where things get tricky, as multiple reports stated that communication didn't happen until after Coen was in Jacksonville and working toward finalizing a deal there.
Coen's camp knows what it's doing by being vague about when Bowles was looped in. All season long, a growing portion of the fanbase wanted Coen to replace Bowles as head coach; framing how the communication played out this way is a pretty transparent attempt to stoke those coals and turn the heat back around on a guy fans are already after.
Despite the discourse all year, Coen's exit and the way he went about it has actually united most Buccaneers fans against him. Perhaps that's his parting gift, because kindness and professionalism certainly doesn't be a part of what he's leaving behind.
It's a real bummer that things ended this way, too. Coen was a golden child and his time with the team would have been remembered as almost flawless. All of the good things he did on the field are still there, but the stuff off it is going to be a big part of his legacy.
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