While there are a number of questions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers need to answer this offseason, perhaps none is bigger than what happens next with Liam Coen. The architect of one of the league’s best offenses is unsurprisingly getting a ton of head coaching buzz, and the bridge we’ve all been watching off on the horizon for most of the season has finally come into the foreground.
Coen interviewed with the Jacksonville Jaguars this week, the first of what could be many head coaching interviews he receives in the coming days. There are five head coaching vacancies remaining after the New England Patriots hired Mike Vrabel, and Coen makes a lot of sense for each one.
As crazy as it sounds, it also makes a lot of sense for him to stay the course and skip the head coaching cycle this year.
Liam Coen returning to Tampa Bay next year might be his best move
Buccaneers fans have been in a panic over potentially losing Coen, and rightfully so considering how important he was to improving the offense. That’s a major reason why a return isn’t out of the quesiton and might actually be the best thing for Coen moving forward.
It’s not that Coen won’t eventually get a head coaching job, because he absolutely will. The arguement is that he would likely benefit from waiting to cash in his chips until next year when he potentially has more control over where he goes.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson did this last year and his gamble paid off. It’s sort of like when and Aaron Judge bet on himself in a contract year and proceeded to hit the most home runs in New York Yankees history this earning himself a $360 million deal. Johnson opted to return to the Lions this year and only improved his stock, which is the position Coen could be in if he decides to bypass a job this year.
It’s a hard thing to pass on, as there are only 32 NFL head coaching jobs in the world and there’s no guarantee he’ll get one next year. To assume that, though, is to assume the Buccaneers would regress under Coen which sort of takes the wind out of any arguement being made about how he’d be a better coach than Todd Bowles.
Coen helped coach Baker Mayfield to a career year, fixed the run game and turned it into a top rushing attack in the league, and morphed Tampa Bay’s offense into a top scoring unit. The Bucs averaged almost 30 points per game, finishing fourth in the league and Coen did it without Chris Godwin for half a year and both Mike Evans and Cade Otton for large stretches.
That’s absolutely insane stuff, and it’s a sign that Coen getting a full deck on offense could produce even better results.
Of course, the flip side of the coin is Bobby Slowik. He was a top candidate last year alongside Johnson but hasn’t been anywhere near the head coaching cycle this time around after the Texans offense regressed.
That’s the risk involved if Coen decides to come back, but it still feels like his best chance at truly securing a successful future as a head coach is to spend one more year honing his skills in Tampa Bay. He’d get another year with Baker, a fully healthy offense, and potentially new weapons to play with.
There’s even a chance he gets his shot at being a head coach with the Bucs. If Todd Bowles either retires or is fired after next season, Coen makes natural sense as a successor. He’d get a major raise if he returned but might also get assurances that he’d be to Bowles what Bowles was to Bruce Arians in 2023.
Jacksonville has its upside but it’s hard to argue that it’s greater than what’s happening in Tampa Bay. Dave Canales rushed off for the first job he could get, and more power to him for cashing in when he did. That first year in Carolina was rough, though, and Ben Johnson passing on a gig last year has given him the pick of the litter a year later.
Coen would be wise to bet on himself — and the Bucs — by coming back for one more year and taking his stock even higher than it already is.
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