Why Trevor Lawrence's Connection with Liam Coen will Determine Jaguars' Future

When the Jacksonville Jaguars initially hired Liam Coen as their new head coach, the immediate hope was that he could turn things around for quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Since the team drafted T-Law with the first-overall pick five years ago, he's had a bumpy start to his NFL career.

There's been some incredible highs when he flashed all of the potential that made him a "can't-miss" prospect coming out of Clemson, but he's never been able to put it all together.

He's yet to do that in his first year under Coen, either, but he's been heating up as of late. In Week 14, against the Indianapolis Colts and the elements, Lawrence went out and threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-30 passing to lead his Jaguars to a commanding 36-19 win to take the lead in the AFC South race.

Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Carolina Panthers, Head Coach Liam Coen, Trevor Lawrence — Sep 21, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) shake hands after the game at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images | Morgan Tencza-Imagn Images

Liam Coen is coaxing the best out of Trevor Lawrence

Liam Coen earned his job as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars by leading a top-tier attack for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as their offensive coordinator in 2024. There, he was able to engineer a career season from quarterback Baker Mayfield. Now, he's taken on a different, flawed but talented gunslinger.

Things weren't perfect between Coen and his new project, Trevor Lawrence, to begin the year. It's hard to shake the image of T-Law waving off his new head coach after he chewed the QB out for sailing a pass too high earlier this season. But Coen didn't let that discourage him from whispering in Lawrence's ear and boisterously celebrating his victories.

Lawrence since Coen said "cut it loose and let it rip" after the Week 10 loss

- 8 passing touchdowns (2nd)
- 11.2 average depth of throw (2nd)
- 7.8% big time throw rate (2nd)
- 49 passing first downs (4th)
- 81.9 PFF grade (4th)
- 8.1 yards per attempt (6th) https://t.co/weue7VfzPI
— Gus Logue (@gus_logue) December 7, 2025

He's also been there to pick T-Law up after his stumbles. After the Jaguars collapsed in the fourth quarter against the Houston Texans, in which Lawrence led two straight 3-and-outs, allowing the opponent to mount three touchdown drives in a row to complete the comeback, Coen told him to stop worrying about the process of everything and just play loose. Since then, the Jaguars' franchise quarterback has thrown for 882 yards, eight touchdowns, and four interceptions on 60 percent completion, to go along with 79 yards and another score on the ground.

"YOU did that!" Liam Coen appears to emphatically yell to Trevor Lawrence as he trots off to the sideline after #Jaguars fourth TD of the first half
— Mia O'Brien (@MiaOBrienTV) December 7, 2025

Against the Indianapolis Colts, there was a play in which Lawrence spun out to evade the blitz and threw a dart to Tim Patrick on the run for six. He immediately went to Coen to celebrate and nearly took his coach's head off in the process. Jacksonville media asked him about the exchange and his developing connection with his new mentor:

"Yeah, we have a great relationship. And I've talked about it a lot this season, the dynamic with us. It's been awesome. It's been fun. Like I said, he's brought a little more juice out of me and more energy and intensity. It's been awesome. Obviously, after a big play, we were both pretty jacked up on that one, third down, towards the end of the game, trying to seal it. Me and Tim were able to make a good play there. We were pretty pumped up. It's been fun."

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