Is Liam Coen Poised to End Demeco Ryan's Division Dynasty?

Should Liam Coen and the Jacksonville Jaguars fulfill their promise and move back to the top of the AFC South and into the NFL's upper echelon, it's going to be the Houston Texans that they bypass, led by the current gold standard in the division, Head Coach DeMeco Ryans.

On his recent podcast, Jaguars on SI Beat Reporter John Shipley gave credit where it was due.

"First up, I think when you look at the AFC South, the first coach, first team that you have to talk about right now is the Houston Texans and DeMeco Ryans," said Shipley. "And that isn't any way inflating what the Texans have done. They were flawed, but the best team in the AFC South last year. They took the league by storm in 2024, [like in] '23, DeMeco Ryan's rookie season at the helm."

"I think when you look at just what they've done over the last two seasons, again, winning the AFC South, it's not necessarily the hardest thing to do. It's in a lot of ways, it's like being the skinniest kid at fat camp. In terms of NFL divisions, there hasn't been a true dominant division winner in several years now."

"When you look at how this division is constructed and what the Texans had to do to climb back into relevancy, I don't think there's any way you can say anybody but DeMeco Ryans is the top coach in the AFC South right now. Now, of course, we still haven't seen Liam Coen."

"But DeMeco Ryans, I think if you just look at where the Houston Texans were before he got there. The [David} Culley era, the Lovie Smith era. They were a preposterously bad team, a preposterously bad franchise, and they had so many things going on in the front office, off the field, etc."

"Obviously, the Deshaun Watson debacle, etc, became a very big talking point. They ended up making out very well from that situation, which, of course, has helped DeMeco Ryans as he's become a head coach."

"Now, has he taken the Houston Texans from worst to first in a stacked division? No, he hasn't. If there's any division over the last few years that you can go from worst to first, it's the AFC South; the Jags did it. The Houston Texans did the next year. It's very possible. I don't anticipate the Tennessee Titans doing it, but I'm not going to act like this wouldn't be the division to do it. They wouldn't do it in the AFC North. They wouldn't do it in the NFC East, but in the AFC South, at least that door is open."

"I don't think DeMeco Ryan is a Top 10 head coach in the NFL. I'm not sure I'd go that far, because you have some great head coaches. You have Harbaugh, you have Andy Reid, you have Mike Tomlin, you have Sean McVay, you have so many great coaches up and down the NFL that I'm not sure he's a Top 10 coach. That's also because the Houston Texans haven't proven to be a top 10 team."

"But I do think he's a very good head coach, and as of right now, has the best resumé of any head coach in the AFC South. Now, whether that will remain the case, we'll see how that goes over the next couple of years. Now you know that they have the target on their back. Now that they're seen as the top dog in the division."

"That's why I think, as of right now, he's the best head coach in the AFC South, the guy who I think very quickly can show he's the second and even make an argument for first, I'll say, Liam Cohen."

It might not be this year, but just winning one of the two games in which the Jaguars play the Texans in either Week 3 or Week 10, Liam Coen could start making that claim, and a coaching rivalry like the long-running battle in the AFC North with Pittsburgh's Tomlin and Baltimore's Harbaugh could commence.

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