What Could the Buccaneers Do if OC Liam Coen Leaves?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had one of the best offenses they've had in franchise history under offensive coordinator Liam Coen — it might have been too good, because teams around the league are interested in potentially making him their next head coach.

Coen had an interview with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Wednesday and is expected to have more around the league in the coming weeks. His departure would be rough for Tampa Bay after he led a top five offense in almost every metric. If he does leave, the Buccaneers will need to come up with a way to replace him — or convince him to stay in a most dire manner.

Here are three options for Tampa Bay, should Coen end up jumping ship:

Hire From Within

There are a few options that the Bucs could pursue in this realm if Coen were to leave. Tampa Bay's passing game coordinator Josh Grizzard would be an option here, but he was hired with Coen and thus could follow him to a new head coaching job. Buccaneers quarterbacks coach Thad Lewis was retained this offseason in between regimes and could be an option, while passing game assistant Jon Van Dam has been around since 2019 and could be an option here as well.

Hire Externally

The key to making an external hire would be to find a coordinator within the McVay tree, as it would keep the offense similar to how it has been the last two years to make it the most effective. Additionally, the team's offensive coordinator spot might be coveted if Coen leaves, as it will be the second year in a row that the person who had it became an NFL head coach. For example, the Bucs could go with what worked with Coen and hire Rams offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who could get his chance to call plays for the first time in the NFL much like Coen did with the Bucs.

Additonally, the Buccaneers could look to the college level to hire a coach much in the same way they did when Coen was at Kentucky. There could be a few options there — perhaps Will Stein at Oregon, who has led both Bo Nix and Dillion Gabriel to huge seasons at Oregon the past two years.

Promote Him to Head Coach

If Coen is about to leave for a head coaching job, there is a potential nuclear option in firing Todd Bowles and promoting him to your head coaching position. The Buccaneers are unlikely to do this — Bowles has a lot of support in Tampa Bay's locker room, he's won the NFC South three years in a row and the last time Jason Licht did something similar — firing head coach Lovie Smith in favor of offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter — it didn't work out. Don't expect this to happen, but it is an emergency option should Tampa Bay feel the need to do so.

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