Jason Licht Reacts To Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen’s First Weeks With Bucs
March 28th, 2024
Liam Coen chatter.
One of the fun things to witness when the Bucs begin OTAs, minicamp and then training camp later this summer will be how the Bucs offense grows.
If personality means anything, Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht seemed to hint that new playcaller Liam Coen’s offensive will be fun and aggressive.
Licht was asked to give a brief critique on Coen, who replaces Dave Canales as the new Bucs’ playcaller.
“He’s very passionate,” Licht said with a big smile. “He was born to coach. You can tell that.
“He is always very eager to present new ideas. He has that offensive staff working to be innovative.”
Well, this is a breath of fresh air. Outside of when Bucco Bruce Arians was around, did you ever hear of the Bucs’ offensive being “innovative?”
“Looking forward to seeing once the players get into the building what [the offense] is going to look like,” Licht said.
If Coen’s offense is anything like his former NFL boss’s, Sean McVay, it could be a trendsetting offense.
Joe is just going to throw this out there: Joe doesn’t think Coen will keep slamming Rachaad White up the middle as if he’s Marshawn Lynch. And running constantly up the middle also just happened to be where the Bucs’ offensive line was most vulnerable.
March 28th, 2024 at 12:34 am
Very excited if he can bring it. He is firey dude
March 28th, 2024 at 12:48 am
One advantage of a new coordinator is they won’t be able to analyze his patterns, he will be unpredictable.
Canales obviously did a lot of good things, but his play designs never had a wow factor.
I am hopeful of a quicker starting offense, maybe even scoring on a 1st drive!!
March 28th, 2024 at 2:14 am
I’m still in shock that Canales got a HC job already. That was the fastest ascent from a QB coach to a HC in NFL history. And his play calling was horrible for over half the season. His unimaginative runs up the middle were like watching a train wreck. And talk about slow starts. Who would have believed that we wouldn’t score on an opening drive all season long
March 28th, 2024 at 2:15 am
IMO all I am worried about is tomorrow night. I trust Licht, however the choices that might end up in his lap are straight Trick or Treat stuff possibly. Latua will probably be gone along with Verse and maybe Robinson too. Will that leave Coleman or one of the other premier WRs open?
I don’t know but I will postpone my March Madness for tomorrow night until the Bucs Pick!
GO BUCS!!!!!
March 28th, 2024 at 2:16 am
Forget about trading up for De Jean! We don’t have the balls for that.
Edge is on their radar I believe.
March 28th, 2024 at 2:36 am
No worries .
Todd will make sure all the creative innovation is wiped from the playbook by week 1.
He needs to keep his defense fresh for those 9 minute drives he likes to give up.
March 28th, 2024 at 4:26 am
Innovative and new ideas. Love it!
March 28th, 2024 at 5:48 am
Meanwhile, Dave Canales will trick us by running on first down to the left side seven times a game. Genius!!!
March 28th, 2024 at 6:57 am
You’ve heard me harp on this…..but the offense needs an injection of talent…..we have used 5 of our 7 last top draft picks for defensive players….
We could use a C/G or both….a WR, RB & TE
I suspect we may pass some of them up for an edge rusher, ILB & CB
March 28th, 2024 at 7:08 am
Todd says – “Meanwhile, Dave Canales will trick us by running on first down to the left side seven times a game. Genius!!!”
Gave me a good laugh this morning.
My fear is that he is really going to trick us knowing what we all know.
March 28th, 2024 at 7:16 am
Imagine the Bucs scheming players open! Give White some open field and he can do some damage. Still need a RB that can pound that rock though.
March 28th, 2024 at 7:31 am
@ Dave Pear your a very negative person constantly. Please think long and hard about leaving this site and never returning. You are a Debbie Downer for sure. I’m glad I’m not living in your house or apartment or trailer because I couldn’t handle that negativity on a daily basis. Id murder you in your sleep. Have a good day
March 28th, 2024 at 8:11 am
What do you want to bet “innovative” means run up the middle on 1st down?
March 28th, 2024 at 8:54 am
I have little doubt that he will be a big upgrade over Canales. Canales was way over his head for most of the season and we won when he left and won when he took over a division rival. Panthers will be bad.
March 28th, 2024 at 8:57 am
SB what is tomorrow night?
March 28th, 2024 at 9:00 am
Jeremy Goins – bet ‘Dave Pear’ has followed the Bucs much longer than you have. He tells it like it is. By the way, I have had season tickets since the Buc’s second season and agree with most of Dave’s comments!
March 28th, 2024 at 9:35 am
Coen under McVey threw the ball around 58% of the time. When Coen ran the Kentucky’s offense in 2023 he passed 52% of the time. Difference could be in what the HC wanted the offense to look like and Coen implemented it.
Good OC’s go to another OC position with teams that are contenders or take HC positions. Steichen went from Philly to Colts as a HC. Canales went from OC of the Bucs to HC of the Panthers.
Guy’s that go from OC of the Rams to OC of the Kentucky Wildcats make me question their worth.
Bucs receivers don’t need innovation or scheme to get open. Innovation that will help the team win? Innovate a way to knock out 3 -5 yards rushing on 1st or 2nd down. Without that Coen will be taking calls from Ball state in 2025.
March 28th, 2024 at 9:38 am
Oh, Jeremy, thank you for being irritated! Perfect. Even more incentive to amplify Todd’s failing performance.
March 28th, 2024 at 10:17 am
Let’s face it, the success of the offense falls squarely on Bakers shoulders. Two respected Offensive Coordinators in 2 years. Baker is surrounded by talent and hopefully Coen incorporates more of a McVey and Rams style versus a more conservative Canales and Seahawks style. I don’t think Canales was the perfect fit for us. He did okay but not sure how many years it would take him to get that offense of his going. It never felt dangerous or explosive on that side of the ball so I’m looking for more up tempo with some juice.
And D Cone, McVay ran that Rams offense any way you slice it. Doesn’t mean it’s an automatic Arians/Leftwich situation. He learned and moved on for career growth. A la Canales. Coen has coached Mayfield before and it’s a brilliant move by Todd to bring him in so we can WIN NOW without a rebuild. If it’s a trainwreck, Bowles is gone anyways so it’s a “mini” rebuild.
March 28th, 2024 at 10:20 am
Coen needs to fix the run game, red zone scoring, and 1Q scoring. I have more confidence in Coen than OL coach Carberry.
Carberry’s resume’ doesn’t give me a lot of confidence, except he worked with Bill Callahan at Washington. Maybe we can be effective on the mid and wide zone runs that Edmunds mentioned. I would expect that Carberry evaluated our two new FA’s on the OL. I’m hoping he’s successful!
March 28th, 2024 at 10:54 am
Just run plays using what your guys are GOOD at and it will be a vast improvement. Canales was disappointing IMO. Hoping Coen is s what we thought Canales would be. Should equal a couple more wins if so.
Interested to see what speed they add and to what position.
March 28th, 2024 at 12:11 pm
We have so many playmakers on offense it will be exciting just hope we can retain this man for a 2nd season
March 28th, 2024 at 12:43 pm
Dude is an upgrade over Canales. Very used to calling plays (at least in the SEC, McVay kept play calling for himself). Canales learned the McVay system from Shane Waldron as QB coach 1 or 2 years. Coen was on McVay’s staff for i think 4 years, 2 as the OC. You aren’t going to see the learning curve from a rookie OC, and i highly doubt the offense goes into a 6 game slump. 11+ wins distinct possibility if they fix issues at C and Edge
March 28th, 2024 at 12:44 pm
SB
You hitting the sauce?
March 28th, 2024 at 12:45 pm
And i think the whole thing with Coen bouncing between LA and UK was….McVay didn’t give up play calling. Just a hunch.
March 28th, 2024 at 12:58 pm
TF Says:
And D Cone, McVay ran that Rams offense any way you slice it. Doesn’t mean it’s an automatic Arians/Leftwich situation. He learned and moved on for career growth. A la Canales.
Calales> QB Coach>OC Bucs> HC Panthers.
Kevin O’C > Rams OC> Vikings HC
LaFleur> Rams OC > Packers HC
Zac Taylor Rams QB Coach> Bengals HC
Staley> Rams DC > Chargers HC.
Morris> Rams DC > Falcons HC.
Coen> Rams OC>Kentucky OC> Bucs OC (Maybe he just needed a paycheck and took the job @ KY)
Both Mayfield and Coen were not what the Rams Needed or Wanted. One man’s junk….
Maybe lightning strikes twice and Bucs can reinvent a second guy in just as many years.
Don’t mind Licht Dumpster Diving for talent as long as it doesn’t end up a dumpster fire.
March 28th, 2024 at 1:47 pm
Couldn’t have said it better myself Joe. However, you needed to that Baker Haters expected Baker to succeed under these circumstances, lol.
March 28th, 2024 at 1:56 pm
SB you’re a month early buddy lol
March 28th, 2024 at 2:25 pm
Jeremy Goins…going…gone
March 28th, 2024 at 3:34 pm
@D Cone
It’s been stated in numerous reports since the Bucs began interviewing him that Coen went back to KY because he wanted to call plays and McVay was not going to give him the opportunity to do so….nor was there an NFL opportunity available to him at the time to move to.
March 28th, 2024 at 4:56 pm
It’s an easy google search away to find out that Coen was Rams asst. WR & QB Coach in the years before he took the UK OC job…(for opportunity to run an SEC offense & call plays)…& that he returned to the Rams to be the OC because McVay but McVay kept playcalling duties…Which led to Coen returning to UK, as he missed being the guy to fully run the offense & call plays…Which is what he knew he needed to get back to, if there was ever going to be a real NFL OC job in his future.
Had Stoops not flittered with the TX A&M job, Coen likely would not have been open to taking an NFL job in 2024…But he felt slighted that Stoops lured him back to LEX under the guise that his 2nd stint would = the offense being 100% his baby, but Stoops wanted reassurances that Coen would be in LEX for multiple years – which he got from Liam….But then Stoop went & played footsie with College Station before the Bowl Season was even underway.
That set off a chain of events in Lex that led to multiple staff changes at UK & Coen chasing NFL OC jobs immediately! (If Stoops wasn’t 100% all-in on staying in Lex…Why should Coen be all-in on staying in Lex??)
March 28th, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Gotta say, I’ve never been threatened with murder on a football forum before. Jeremy’s Groin really steps out. Such a macho boy.