How Buccaneers Laid Blueprint For New Jaguars' Direction

The Jacksonville Jaguars have a clear model to follow.

As the Jaguars push for renewed offensive success under first-year head coach Liam Coen, the Jaguars know they have a point of reference they can continue to hark back to.

While the Jaguars' roster and circumstances are not exactly 1A to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 1B, there are plenty of similarities -- from Coen to a quarterback who needs help meeting the expectations of his draft slot, and even to the crew of running backs on the roster.

"Pretty juiced up about the fact that we've got four running backs who we feel very confident in. Obviously, as you think about what Liam deployed in Tampa Bay, it was a committee approach, and we look forward to bringing that to life here in Jacksonville and making sure that everybody gets the ops that they deserve in a way that contributes to a successful outcome for us," Jaguars general manager James Gladstone said this week.

Jacksonville Jaguars general manager James Gladstone spins a football in his hand after the Jacksonville Jaguars’ third mandatory minicamp Thursday June 12, 2025 at the Miller Electric Center in Jacksonville, Fla. [Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union] | Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"But each of those guys has a role right here and now, and that will continue to shape itself over the course of the season. Obviously, knowing we're going to run the ball, the idea of attrition isn't a stretch to think shows itself, and the fact that we have four guys that we feel confident in, trust in, is a really good thing. Excited about where it's at, excited to see where it goes.

Tampa Comparison

As for where the Jaguars are in relation to where the Buccaneers were this time a year ago, there are some similaraties and also some key differences. But the important thing is that, right now, it is too early to know if the Jaguars can find the same success Coen found with Tampa Bay last season.

Dec 29, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) runs with the ball against the Carolina Panthers in the third quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

“We're making progress. It's so hard to truly judge it going into week one because you've only had really the one joint [practice] and then the few preseason reps that you get with the first group. I think if you look at the entirety of it throughout training camp, the physicality in which I think we practiced for the majority of the time when we would go, I do believe was showing progress throughout that time," Coen said this week.

"Then you look at some of the preseason ops even with maybe the second and third groups in there, being able to be physical in the run game and finish people and the backs doing some different thing. Are we there yet? It's hard to say."

For Tampa Bay, the fix and flip into one of the NFL's top rushing offenses didn't happen overnight. And Coen won't expect any different in Jacksonville.

"We didn't get good in the run game in Tampa really until after week four last year where I think we rushed for about, like 90 yards, almost a hundred yards week one. We rushed for, like 40 yards week two against the Lions. We weren't really moving it, running the football at all and it was getting better. You could see it kind of trending but after week four, we kind of made a tweak and started doing a few things differently, and it kind of took off," Coen said.

"So, ultimately, it may take a few games to truly see what that evolution is because running the football takes all 11. It takes all 11. Whereas a pass play, yes, it takes all 11, but sometimes you just need the protection to work, the quarterback to throw it to the guy, and then you need him to catch it. You need everybody to be at the right spot to the right time and execute their routes and concepts exactly right. The run game, it takes a little bit more detail and all 11 being involved.”

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