Report: Buccaneers set to hire Kentucky OC Liam Coen as new offensive coordinator
Liam Coen has bounced back and forth between the pros and the collegiate level for the past few seasons. It appears he is now likely to do so again based on the latest regarding the current offensive coordinator at Kentucky in connection to the job opening with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Per a report by Mike Garafolo at the NFL Network, Tampa Bay is working out a deal to hire Coen as their new offensive coordinator. This comes after their past season’s coordinator, Dave Canales, became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. The franchise then eventually interviewed Coen and now, less than a day later, he appears to be the man for their job.
Coen has been going back and forth between Los Angeles and Lexington over the past few years. This started with him spending 2018-2020 with the Rams under Sean McVay. He then left to offensive coordinate for the Wildcats in 2021 before returning to LA in the same role for 2022. Finally, after the season, he ended up returning to the bluegrass as offensive coordinator once more. He did so with plans to stay for longer this time around.
That doesn’t look to be the case anymore, though. During the offseason, Coen has come up in job discussions for franchises like Chicago, Cincinnati, and Tennessee. He also came up for other colleges positions such as at Ohio State, Syracuse, and Boston College as well. Now, after working some with Baker Mayfield in 2022, a reunion in Tampa Bay, assuming the team does re-sign him, looks to be the outcome regarding his own job search.
Coen had also made stops at Brown and at Maine during his time on college sidelines.
Still, it was Coen’s time at UK that set him apart, especially with what he did in 2021. In a pair of seasons with the Wildcats, they averaged 30.7 points and 382.5 yards per game with a pair of Top-60 offenses. That included his first campaign in ’21 where they averaged 32.3 points and 425.4 yards a game with one of their best units, especially in the tenure of Mark Stoops, with Will Levis at quarterback.
In his lone season with the Buccaneers, Canales coached a unit that finished 20th in the NFL. They scored 20.5 points per game with 313 yards en route to winning the NFC South and making it to the Divisional Round. However, it was the success from a career year by Mayfield that really did the trick for Tampa. The former No. 1 pick finally found a home as the successor for Tom Brady after three years. He threw for over 4,000 yards with 28 touchdowns, only 10 picks, and a 64.3% completion rate. That was good for the first Pro Bowl selection of his career in the league.
It might be safe to say that those at Kentucky will be none too pleased if this is his decision. It would leave the program looking for a new offensive coordinator for the fourth time in four consecutive offseasons. It’d be even more crippling this time, though, considering some of the team’s additions in the portal on top of his expressed intent to stay for longer.
With that said, their loss would be Tampa Bay’s gain as Todd Bowles looks to be hiring a respected offensive mind in Coen to put on the headset for the Buccaneers in 2024.