Interesting Facts About Liam Coen
February 2nd, 2024
Kentucky OC Liam Coen.
So Joe did some quick digging about Liam Coen, who seems to be on his way to Tampa Bay as Dave Canales’ successor at offensive coordinator.
First, he’s already worked with Mayfield. He was Mayfield’s offensive coordinator last season with the Rams. It was there Mayfield began showing signs of life that got him on Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht’s radar.
The rest is history.
Coen had a good offense when he first went to Kentucky in 2021. He took a Penn State, banana-peel-eating castoff in Will Levis and molded him into an NFL quarterback.
Then the following year he demonstrated with the Rams that Mayfield had a pulse.
But at Kentucky in 2023, Coen had a mixed bag of success and Joe doesn’t know if that is more Kentucky coach Mark Stoops (an old school run-the-ball, play-good-defense, don’t-turn-the-ball-over guy) or not.
Per Jon Hale of the Lexington Herald-Leader, Coen’s offense at Kentucky last year was miserable. The Wildcats were eighth in the SEC in points scored and ranked 100th in the nation in yards per game (339.5).
Interestingly, Kentucky was 12th in the SEC in rush attempts (1660) and 10th in passing attempts (2751). So Joe isn’t sure if all the passing is because Kentucky was losing or not.
Joe does like the run-pass ratio.
Coen didn’t do nearly as well with North Carolina State transfer quarterback Devin Leary as he did with Levis (or Mayfield, for that matter). In Leary’s last full Raleigh season in 2021 (he was hurt last year) compared to last season, all of his numbers were down except for interceptions. They exploded. He had 12 picks in six games.
Before working with Coen, Leary never had more than five interceptions in a season.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:41 am
Only interested in what Taylor Swift says about the hire, since the NFL thinks she deserves so much attention.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:41 am
the other thing with the 2022 campaign with Baker at the rams seldom talked about was how injured the team was
They didn’t even have Kupp
So there was a lot of getting the most out of bit players, creativity and moving the ball around.
Like this hire and think he should be better than Canales.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:42 am
I hope for the best but for some reason I’m not overly optimistic over this hire. No supported facts . Just a feeling.Hope I’m wrong. Go Bucs!
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:42 am
I like his resume and he has been a OC in both college and the NFL and has also called plays. I think it’s a good hire but I do have questions. 1st he just signed a 3 year contract with Kentucky. Will the Bucs end up compensating Kentucky? 2nd. He told the fan base there he wasn’t leaving no time soon. Will the Bucs grasp him as untrustworthy
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:44 am
To argue for his offense at Kentucky last year, it looks like his team’s “Points per Play” was 12th in the country and “Yards per Play” was 38th. Seems to me that his offense was doing relatively well when they were able to actually run some plays. Smells like to me their defense was giving up a lot of long time consuming drives that kept the offense off the field and when they were on the field, they had to pass to catch up.
I’m not worried about it, to get decent production out of Kentucky as a small basketball school fish in an SEC football pond is impressive. And McVay clearly thought very highly of him to bring him back again. I think he’s a good fit, should be hungry at his first real chance to be a complete OC in the NFL, and I’m guessing Baker gave his endorsement.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:45 am
“Coen didn’t do nearly as well with North Carolina State transfer quarterback Devin Leary as he did with Levis (or Mayfield, for that matter).”
————
why would he? He had Baker for five games and with about 48 hours notice.
Apples and Oranges.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:47 am
At least he’s not wasting time developing a QB.
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:49 am
KC Buc Says:
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:44 am
And McVay clearly thought very highly of him to bring him back again.
—-
This! you leave McVay and he takes you back says quite a bit of what Mcvay thinks of him
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:55 am
????????
Facts are there. Plain as black and white.
February 2nd, 2024 at 10:19 am
Really have a good feeling. Lots of experience. No one is perfect. Hire him!
February 2nd, 2024 at 10:42 am
Maybe this is oversimplifying it, but offensive production seems to have a LOT to do with how talented your offense is and how hungry they are. Bucs did well with the talent they had last year, largely because the guys really wanted it. With an infusion of some new talent this year, we should do even better on offense.
You’ve gotta have the horses, and the right team driver.
February 2nd, 2024 at 10:46 am
“Mark Stoops (an old school run-the-ball, play-good-defense, don’t-turn-the-ball-over guy)”
Why did this sound familiar? Oh yeah…
February 2nd, 2024 at 10:56 am
Oh great. We’re gonna suck hard, again.
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:07 am
Joe Says:
February 2nd, 2024 at 9:55 am
No supported facts . Just a feeling.Hope I’m wrong.
????????
Facts are there. Plain as black and white.
Joe. I admit to one or 2 extra personalities in my head but I’m confident your not one of them! We have standards. Again, JUST A FEELING. Not based on your facts piece nor supported by any actual facts I’ve read about him. I still am not feeling this hire. I hope I have your permission if I simply feel this way. lmao.. Go Bucs !
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:40 am
and this why I have no confidence in Todd Bowles because nobody that matters does. We are in the bottom of the barrel searching for an OC. Tampa is not a premier destination with Bowles as Head coach. It does not matter what happened to Canales. We are talking now. The people that matter know that Todd Bowles has minimal chance of sticking around as he is on borrowed time now. It was a thin margin that allowed him to remain on the job. 2024=not good
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:44 am
and this why I have no confidence in Todd Bowles because nobody that matters does. We are in the bottom of the barrel searching for an OC. Tampa is not a premier destination with Bowles as Head coach. It does not matter what happened to Canales. We are talking now. The people that matter know that Todd Bowles has minimal chance of sticking around as he is on borrowed time now. It was a thin margin that allowed him to remain on the job. 2024=not good. Hope I am wrong, last year I was negative on Baker, now I am a convert. Just feels like anyone even remotely associated with football has an excellent chance at that job. Get Ira an application then I’ll feel better.
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:45 am
This team has been such an enigma during the Bowles regime. No job security, and if you succeed as an OC, you just springboard to a better gig on another team, and Bowles remains to rinse and repeat. No way he ever hires an OC that could threaten his job as HC. We see a pattern here?
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:47 am
If Joe told you two weeks ago Bowles was going to hire a Sean McVay offensive coordinator you’d be screaming how it was a home run hire, right?
Joe heard the same arguments against Canales (nobody wanted him). He was so rotten he got a job as a head coach after one year as an offensive coordinator.
February 2nd, 2024 at 11:58 am
I did some digging too; i believe his offense will have enough similarities to what Canales ran it will be a smooth transition. You don’t know until you see it, but right now i doubt it will take half a season for the O to gel
February 2nd, 2024 at 12:03 pm
Just wondering if he will stick around. My guess is he got itchy feet with the Rams because McVay didn’t give him play calling. We will see. Would love to see the Bucs go deeper in playoffs next year and Coen pull a Ben Johnson; unfinished business
February 2nd, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Food for thought as Rams OC they were 32nd in yards per game and 27th in points per game thats why he went back to Kentucky just saying.
February 2nd, 2024 at 12:45 pm
Allbuccedup Says:
February 2nd, 2024 at 12:23 pm
Food for thought as Rams OC they were 32nd in yards per game and 27th in points per game thats why he went back to Kentucky just saying.
Underlying stats actually show they had some of the worst injury luck for their offense in the 2022 season. You can’t minimize that in the NFL.
It included all but one of their offensive lineman, 3 wide receivers and their 1st and 2nd string QB. Really too much for anyone to overcome.
February 2nd, 2024 at 2:34 pm
Plus – Been an OC before, called plays before, worked with Baker before, McVay guy, Gets along with Baker (assumption)
Minuses – Doesn’t stay anywhere long
February 2nd, 2024 at 3:08 pm
You’re right “Allbuccedup,” I already knew those numbers from that one season in LA, bc (as a UK season ticket holder since birth) I was warning all the people in Kentucky to “slow their roll maybe, just a tad” Haha, since they were ALL already, ‘anointing’ HIM as THE BEST OC in the ENTIRE nation (etc.), after it was announced that he was coming back to LEX LoL… They were ALL seriously, freaking-out over it like you would not belieeeeve!!!! I remember looking at both rushing and passing numbers and he/they were BOTH like in the ‘bottom-8’ in the LEAGUE. And, they were all saying that HE ‘left’ THEM because he just missed LEX soooo much and wanted to be back at UK LoL. I know they had A LOT of injuries, etc. BUT HE didn’t have a choice… It was already, a DONE Deal and everyone already knew-it that he was NOT going to be back in LA. And, that his buddy McVay was really doing him a favor until he had another job, by holding off on any public announcement(s)… He didn’t just decide to leave all on his OWN. He had no choice. Period. With that said, it didn’t take those same UK-Fans very long to begin ‘pumping the breaks” on Cohen last season. Lit was an absolute DISASTROUS Season. It was VERY hard to watch and soooo slow and boring… LAST in the NATION in total plays ran. I could never make ANY sense of ANY of it… And they even knew-it too, since it was a CONSTANT discussion week after week, since WEEK-3!!!! It was just horrible. Leary and the entire Offense could never get or find ANY kind of a ‘rhythm’ whatsoever, & when you have your big 300lb linemen having to hold their stance for 17-22 seconds (after ‘huddling-up’ first EVERY play) every time, they’re going to ‘jump’ sometimes, AND the Defense IS going to be able to pin their ears back and DESTROY YOU, when you wait to snap the ball (sooo predictively) with between 1-4 seconds left on the play clock. It was just soooo brutal. STOOPS “D” was horrific tho, and could NEVER get off the field. It was just baaaad… All around. Hopefully, it works out MUCH better in TB!!!! I think it can. He now has A LOT a great experience (at BIG-TIME football, NFL and THE SEC)… Actually ‘calling’ plays too, which Canales did not & both Offenses looked about the same to me!!!! I wish him well and will definitely be rooting for him and My Bucs 💯. PACE and TEMPO tho, we gotta have PACE AND TEMPO… Take Advantage and Wear The DOWNNNN, then PUNISH THEM in the 4th Quarter with “Sweet Baby Ray” DAVIS and Rachaad WHITE!!!! Give ‘em a lil “R & R” in Da Bay… Rachaad & Ray, Baby!!!! Let’s Gooo!