One of the biggest storylines of the offseason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was offensive coordinator Liam Coen leaving to become the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach. That's an incredibly reductive way of putting it, though, as the way Coen left put him on the wrong side of Bucs fans who had not long before been begging for him to replace Todd Bowles.
Coen ghosted the Bucs after agreeing to return as the highest-paid coordinator in NFL history. There was a weird cat-and-mouse game where Coen snuck around like a teenager trying to avoid his parents, and ended with Tampa Bay reportedly as furious as any team Adam Schefter has covered in his career.
All of that is to say the expectations were high for both Coen and the Bucs coming into the year, and while there wasn'ta rivalry between the two there's a soft quiet Cold War to see who wins the ugly breakup.
So far, that seems to be the Bucs -- and specifically Baker Mayfield. Coen and the Jaguars laid an absolute dud of a game in London against the Rams in Week 7 that seemingly confirms that it's been Baker making the careers of his offensive coordinators and not the other way around.
Liam Coen's Very Bad day in Week 7 confirms that Baker Mayfield was the secret sauce all along
Jacksonville's offense looked lifeless on Sunday, and pretty much all the blame is on Coen for trying to overcorrect. To be fair, there were some mind-bogglingly bad drops by Jaguars receivers all afternoon, but it was Coen's bizarre play-calling that seemingly did the team in.
Rather than take points while in field goal range, Coen decided to go for it on fourth down three different times -- none of which worked. The result was Jacksonville leaving nine points on the field in a game that would be been cut to two scores had he made the right call.
Is Liam Coen on Fraud Watch?
— lindsey ok (@lindseyyok) October 19, 2025
Liam Coen is another product of “hey, this guy could be a good OC, but not head coach material.”
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) October 19, 2025
There’s a reason he’s bounced around so much. Good offensive mind, nothing that can’t be replaced and you’re seeing that with how well the Bucs are playing this year.
This is a growing theme with Coen, who has shown some flashes as the Jaguars head coach, but for the most part it feels like it might have been empty calories. Meanwhile, Baker is rumbling to the front of the MVP race while carrying the Bucs on his back in more than one way.
So far this season Baker is averaging almost the same amount of yards as he was last year under Coen but he's playing even better in other key areas. His clutch metrics are unreal, and he's riding an impressive 12-to-1 touchdown to interception ratio through the first six games.
The way Baker has been able to will the Bucs into victories is perhaps the greatest differentiating factor in the debate. Whether it was Monday night against the Texans, the comeback against the Jets, or the shootout win over Seattle we've already lost count of the amount of times Tampa Bay has won games -- or nearly won them in the case of the loss to Philly -- specifically because of Baker.
That's not Dave Canales nor is it Liam Coen or even Josh Gizzard. It's all Baker and it's further proof that he's been the secret sauce in Tampa Bay's offensive success all along.