Liam Coen is Prepared for Unfortunate Byproduct of His Success

The Jacksonville Jaguars wrapped up the 2025 NFL regular season with an astounding 13-4 record, finishing the campaign with eight straight wins and the AFC South title. Now, they're preparing to host the Buffalo Bills for Wild Card Weekend. Normally, a matchup with Josh Allen in the first round might seem like a daunting task, but this team isn't afraid of anyone anymore.

The Jaguars found more success in Head Coach Liam Coen's first year at the helm than anyone could have seen coming. He should be one of the league leaders in Coach of the Year votes, and deservedly so. In just one season, he took a team that went 4-13 last year and turned them into legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Head Coach Liam Coen, Offensive Coordinator Grant Udinski, Trevor Lawrence, Indianapolis Colts — Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) looks on as head coach Liam Coen talks a play with offensive coordinator Grant Udinski looking on during the first quarter of an NFL football game at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. The Jaguars defeated the Colts 36-19. | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Jaguars staff might get poached

While Head Coach Liam Coen will get the bulk of the credit for the Jacksonville Jaguars' incredible turnaround this season, he's not the only one the franchise brought in that helped bring about this transformation. The Jags completely revamped their staff this past offseason. Out were Doug Pederson, Press Taylor, Ryan Nielsen, and Trent Baalke, replaced by Coen, Grant Udinski, Anthony Campanile, and James Gladstone.

Each has been an instrumental addition to this organization. While the Jaguars and 13 other teams are gearing up for the playoffs right now, 18 franchises around the league have already begun their offseason, and the NFL's coaching carousel began spinning the moment the regular season ended. With the success that Jacksonville has had this year, it's practically an inevitability that Udinski and Campanile will be considered for head coaching positions elsewhere. Coen is bittersweet at the prospect:

This is simply incredible. Anthony Campanile was a fantastic hire by Liam Coen. https://t.co/WVPcmp1OOt
— Hays Carlyon (@HaysCarlyon) January 5, 2026

"It's hard to lose coaches. I saw Sean [McVay] do it every single year. But it is what you want. At the end of the day, you do want to continue to grow the game, and you want to surround yourself with good people. And that's what we did try to do here. And so, this week's focus and mentality has to be on Buffalo and has to be on the job at hand, and then whatever happens after that..."

"You want those opportunities, though, for guys on your staff. It's hard. It's not something you look forward to having to ever replace. But I was really fortunate to be in that situation last year, and you want to support those guys throughout that process, even though it might hurt you in the long run a little bit. It might hurt you in some ways, but that's why we're in this profession is to help guys get opportunities to grow this game to be able to do those things, and you’ve got to keep hiring good people.”

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