Liam Coen Sounds Off on His First Draft as a HC

Under head coach Liam Coen, the Jacksonville Jaguars begin a new era. He explained how his first draft as a head coach went.

Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen, left, talks with the team’s first-round pick, Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver and defensive back Travis Hunter, right, Friday, March 25, 2025 at Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. during a press conference. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] / Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Jacksonville Jaguars hired head coach Liam Coen earlier in the offseason, as they needed an overall reset of the organization, but specifically needed to find a coach who could unlock their offense. Coen is a well-respected offensive mind that had yet to get a head coaching opportunity.

“Yeah, kind of about what I thought in a lot of ways. I was fortunate enough in L.A. You're in and out. You do get the workings of it and the feeling of it, but yeah, when it's ours and when you're a part of it in a different landscape, it was really cool. It was really cool to see this guy work. This is his Super Bowl really in a lot of ways at first. This is the first Super Bowl that's to happen for us really. He was unbelievable," Coen said.

Coen noted a few of the things that stood out to him that were different as a head coach, compared to his days as a coordinator. The first-time head coach was impressed with how general manager James Gladstone handled things in his first draft as a general manager.

"The communication, the resilience, the ability to move around this draft and navigate it the way he did, and the way these guys communicated was really fun to watch. The work was done, and then he went and operated, and the staff went and operated at a high level, it was really cool to see. It's really cool to see the guys, the players' responses, to hear that, because that's what it's all about. Like, when you get them on the phone and you actually get to hear their response and make somebody's dream come true, that's what it's really all about.”

The Jaguars were in desperate need of adding talents like Travis Hunter and the rest of the players they selected. It will take time to rebuild Jacksonville's roster, as it lacks talent in many areas, which will likely make it difficult to regularly compete in Coen's first couple of seasons.

Although it will take more than one offseason to fix the Jaguars, they appear to be off to a good start.

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