Liam Coen Talks Todd Bowles’ In-Game Feedback

September 12th, 2024

New Bucs playcaller Liam Coen.

So is Todd Bowles the secret sauce behind the Buccaneers’ new offensive explosion?

Let’s not get carried away. Bowles is the head coach/defensive playcaller who likes giving his offensive coordinator a load of freedom.

However, Bowles is eager to give in-game feedback, Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen explained today. And Coen said he sees it as valuable, helpful and something he’ll rely on.

“I kind of ask him what he’d almost be thinking in some instances. Like, ‘Do you think they’ll zero [blitz] me here? Would you be thinking zero here?'” Coen said. ” … We had some good dialogue. I bounced some things off of him in those moments. Maybe I would tell him what we’re running. ‘Hey, we got a run here.’ Is it a possible four-down situation? … He just provides great insight. You know, you might as well use him as a tool. … He’s somebody to learn from. … I’m going to lean on him as much as possible.”

Very cool to hear, mainly because Coen is a super smart dude with a lot of freedom with the offense. He obviously likes what he’s hearing from Bowles and wants to come back for more — a lot more.

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32 Responses to “Liam Coen Talks Todd Bowles’ In-Game Feedback”

  1. AlabamaBucsFan Says:

    Even with only one game under Coen’s belt, he appears to be much better than Canales.

  2. Cleanhouse Says:

    Love this!

  3. PanhandleBuc Says:

    Tapping into the mind of a DC to help pick the best play on offense is genius! Way to utilize your resources…like GC14!

  4. David Kilmer Says:

    Confident people are not afraid to ask others. Great sign. Really like the new O C, think he is a step up for the team and great for Bowles, and the team. He was a super hire in my opinion!!!

  5. PanhandleBuc Says:

    *CG14 (lol)

  6. HC Grover Says:

    Like…Bowles/Coen 24

  7. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Todd, keep staying in your lane…

  8. GoneGator Says:

    This guy is such a friggin upgrade at OC – wow.

  9. J Says:

    TBBF, if last Sunday was any indication of what Bowles insight can impact, then I want him in oncoming traffic.

  10. Defense Rules Says:

    Joe, this is the kind of ‘behind the scenes’ insight I wish we’d see more of on JBF. So many JBFers have vehemently accused Bowles the head coach handcuffing the offense. Pieces like this show that exactly the opposite is true: Coen has full control of the offense.

    It also shows though that our OC is intelligent enough (and confident enough) to see in-game feedback from our defensive coordinator. What a unique concept: two coordinators coordinating with each other.

  11. A Bucs Fan Says:

    Good. We never got anything like this about Byron or Dave. Proof that Liam and Todd work well together.

  12. Beeej Says:

    Even if Bowles DID handcuff the offense in the past, he’s showing he’s capable of being convinced he’s wrong in various things

  13. Baking with Coen Says:

    Maybe Bowles had reasons to handcuff previous OC. Hmmm
    Nevertheless I like the tandem we have this year.

    LFBake!!!

  14. Crickett Baker Says:

    This is terrific. I hope Coen realizes this is his dream job (like Spytek seems to) and sticks with us.

  15. Rod Munch Says:

    I already know what Bowles said … ‘run the football, it’s still 1970 in my head’.

  16. OrlandoBucsFan Says:

    Did he just call Bowles a tool ???

  17. Dave Pear Says:

    Reading this gives me such a case of the warms, I’ve worked up a sweat. And Orlando — LOL!

  18. TombsEN Says:

    It seems like Joe mentioned that Bowels handcuffed the offense with Leftwhich and now that’s what everyone is running with, without anyone actually saying that. But hey I guess that’s the world we live in now. People just run with anything without any actual facts.

  19. Rod Munch Says:

    I’m not a big fan of Bowles as HC, but it wasn’t Bowles telling Leftwich to run up the middle on every first down. That was 100% on Leftwich, and it has to do with him being a complete and total idiot.

    Now with that said, when he hired Canales, he certainly told him what he wanted – and that was to run the ball like it’s 1970, regardless of the results. And I’m 100% certain he told Coppertop the same thing as well – and we’ll see how that plays out once the Bucs start playing some real NFL defenses.

    But Bowles had very little to do with Leftwich, when Bowles got the job, it was pretty much understood he was being handed a SB roster, all he had to do is to do his job on defense and stay out of the way. What Arians always underestimated, however, is how stupid and awful Leftwich was – which is why he doesn’t have a job despite being the alleged OC for a top offense in the NFL. Everyone knows it was Arians who was keeping Leftwich in line, not letting him call the same trick play only a few plays apart – and without Arians we saw what happened.

  20. BucsFanSince1996 Says:

    Rod Munch Says:
    I’m not a big fan of Bowles as HC, but it wasn’t Bowles telling Leftwich to run up the middle on every first down. That was 100% on Leftwich, and it has to do with him being a complete and total idiot.
    ———————————————————————————–
    I’m not convinced that it was 100% on Leftwich. Why would Leftwich run the offense that way after years of running BA’s No-Risk-it-No-Biscuit offense?

    Even if it WAS all Leftwich’s idea, Bowles and the other coaches needed to do an intervention.

  21. Drunkinybor Says:

    Dave ( Tony Robbins) Canales is a joke. Baker got him paid. Carolina to you, thank you and your moronic owner and leadership. We might still be stuck with that SchmuckAmaJuck. I’m glad Bowles.and Licht really took the time to interview alot of OC candidates. My favorite line by Coen is ” When in trouble think players not plays.” In one sentence that shows hes humble, intelligent, thoughtful, and savvy. He also said something cool about the players ” players will play for thier families, for each other for themselves, and at some point in a game or a season I would like them to see me and say hey I want to play for that guy.” Not exact quote but the gist of it is. When tour as smart as he is and tour still humble all your doing is sharpening that blade more and more and more. Great hute

  22. ManzielMadness Says:

    Love to hear this, hopefully Coen sticks around a few years. As far as Canales goes, the Panthers ran a total of 20 times for 58 yards last week…. Feels a lot like the Bucs running game last year…

  23. DavidBigBucsFan99 Says:

    The man saw we could’ve put up 50 points and was excited, changed my mind about him! Would be nice to see a Bucs offense out up over 50 points since we’ve seen it happen to our defense a few times

  24. ChiBuc Says:

    “you might as well use him as a tool.”

    Maybe not the best quote to put out there about your boss

  25. ChiBuc Says:

    “Like peas and carrots”

  26. infomeplease Says:

    So far so good.

  27. David Says:

    Whatever it is, it worked. But this is going to be a very different test against the Lions. The O Line needs to clean it up a little they gave up a lot of hits in the backfield and runs. Protection looks great. The D line… I don’t know. They need to be healthy along with the DBs.

  28. orlbucfan Says:

    Coen means tool as extremely useful. He sure isn’t dissing Bowles! He knows Todd Bowles’ rep on NFL Defenses. Coen has the complete respect of his players. That speaks mountains! It gives me reasons for hope next Sunday. Let’s go Bucs!! Man, I sure hope the run-up-middle-on-first-down days are OVER!!

  29. Not Says:

    Todd has been a tool for most of his HC career !

  30. Rod Munch Says:

    BucsFanSince1996 Says:
    I’m not convinced that it was 100% on Leftwich. Why would Leftwich run the offense that way after years of running BA’s No-Risk-it-No-Biscuit offense?

    ———-

    Because he’s literally one of the dumbest people on earth. Running the same playbook is not the same thing as running the same offense, and if you watched the games and the playcalling, it was very very very different. Dramatically more predictable and less aggressive.

    Leftwich is the same dummy that turned down the Jags head coaching job because he seriously believed he was so good – that with Arians gone he’d show the NFL what he could do and he’d have his pick of the litter in 2023. That alone should make him hated with Bucs fans, had he took the Jags job the Bucs would have at least got a 3rd round pick out of it, with the NFL’s racist scheme or rewarding teams based on the color peoples skin.

    If you go back and listened to Arians over the years, in particular early on with the Bucs, he said he’d have to get on Leftwich to get him to open things up, that he got too conservative, too comfortable with the same plays. We saw that in 2022, when he got his chance, he just called the same stuff over and over and over. Again, I’ll point to the Ravens game, where the Ravens players on the field were mic’d up and they were mocking the Bucs play calling, saying it was the same plays over and over again, just out of different formations. They were literally sitting on the play calls because they knew what was coming.

    If Leftwich was any good he’d have a job right now and wouldn’t be sitting at home collecting a check from the Glazers.

  31. Let ‘em bake Says:

    One wonders how canales would’ve fared with Barton under center… me thinks the entire approached would’ve been different. Barton is going to be a pro bowler as a rookie. He’s that good. Won’t be surprised if the bucs jump to top 15 in the run game this year.

  32. BucsFanSince1996 Says:

    @Rod Munch, thanks for your response to my message. You pointed out a couple things I had been unaware of.