Buccaneers front office not happy with Liam Coen leaving for Jaguars in the style he did

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers front office is not pleased with how the Liam Coen situation unfolded.
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA;Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht speaks during a press conference during the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Feb 27, 2024; Indianapolis, IN, USA;Tampa Bay Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht speaks during a press conference during the NFL Scouting Combine at Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Boy is there drama in the Bay.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers season ended not even a month ago and things are already starting to get crazy around the facility. The Bucs knew that there was a high likelihood that they would lose offensive coordinator Liam Coen to a head coaching job this offseason after turning the Tampa Bay offense into a top-five unit in the league this season.

However, after an initial interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars for their open head coach position, the Bucs gave Coen a contract offer that would have made him the highest-paid coordinator in NFL history. That was verbally agreed upon but then on Thursday, all hell broke loose.

It was reported that the Bucs were trying to get into contact with Coen regarding the contract that was offered which was contingent on him not taking the second interview with the Jaguars but they could never get ahold of him. Conflicting reports have suggested multiple different scenarios for what occurred, but the synopsis is that Coen, under secrecy, made his way to Jacksonville while letting head coach Todd Bowles know that he was thinking about reentering the conversation for their job.

However, by the time Bowles was notified by Coen, the Buccaneers had already known about it. While it is understandable why Coen took the job in the first place, what the Buccaneers' upper management and front office see is that he greatly mishandled the situation when all they needed was open communication, per Adam Schefter on the Pat McAfee Show.

READ MORE: Liam Coen's Wife Speaks Out on Report, Attempts to Clear Husband's Name

The story is likely far from over as details regarding the mess that just occurred as both sides seek to find some sort of answer to why things were handled the way that they were. At this point, however, both sides see it from their point of view and aren't budging. Either way, Coen is out in Tampa Bay and now the head coach of the Jaguars; putting the Bucs in a position where they will have to once again hire a new offensive coordinator.

The Buccaneers' organization has consistently stood by integrity and they feel as if Coen didn't represent that by his actions likely causing them to feel the way they do about the situation. The Bucs will now move on and if this doesn't light a fire under the front office and roster then I don't know what else does.


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Caleb Skinner
CALEB SKINNER

Caleb is from Nashville, TN and graduated from Florida State University in 2018 with majors in Sociology and History. He has previously written for an FSU outlet and started covering the Buccaneers in March of 2022. Caleb is an avid sports fan and former host of the Tribeoholics podcast. You can follow Caleb on Twitter @chsnole