The Jacksonville Jaguars were informed on Jan. 22 that Liam Coen was taking himself out of the running for their head coaching job to return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
A few short days later, Coen accepted the Jaguars head coach position anyway after the team parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke. On Monday, Jan. 27, Coen had his first press conference with Jacksonville media and it was … something, sparking social media reactions along the way.
Liam Coen’s First Jacksonville Jaguars Press Conference Was Cringey at Best
NFL Notifications on X (formerly known as Twitter) didn’t overexplain, hitting Coen with the “-1000 aura” comment when reposting a video of Coen’s introductory press conference.
Liam Coen has -1000 Aura 🤣
— NFL Notifications (@NFLNotify) January 27, 2025
During his introductory press conference, Coen made a reference to a common Jaguars chant “Duval,” referencing the county that Jacksonville resides in. Coen’s version was cringey at best and has inspired countless jeers at his expense.
Included among these reactions was Gregg Rosenthal, referencing Dan Campbell’s opening press conference with the Detroit Lions when he said his team would be biting people’s kneecaps.
it’s unfair but I watched this live and thought oh that’s the biting kneecaps of this cycle pic.twitter.com/vCUbs7oVrH
— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) January 27, 2025
The people in the room can be heard laughing, but we’ll never know if it’s because they actually thought it was funny or because it was their only response to a super awkward situation.
The replies to the chant have not been kind.
0-17 pic.twitter.com/p2ouXvtfBC
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) January 27, 2025
The Coachspeak Index — an account known for its analysis of coaches’ press and media interactions — was not the only one to make a worst-team-in-the-NFL joke at Coen’s expense.
LMAO with the 1st pick of the 2026 draft the jaguars select: 🤣
— ⚜GAMESHOW KENNELS⚜ (@DKGameShow) January 27, 2025
Another social media user said what a lot of people were thinking:
This is gonna be brutal, isn’t it? 🤣
— Michael Hauff (@TheFFRealist) January 27, 2025
Regardless of how you feel about the Jaguars’ hire of Coen, there is absolutely no denying that this reference to the Jaguars chant is super awkward. Coen might turn out to be a good football coach, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished fourth in the NFL in total touchdowns in 2024 with him as the offensive coordinator and third in PFN’s Offense+ metric, but the introductory vibes are far from immaculate.
The Chicago Bears are having a lot more fun introducing Ben Johnson as their new head coach, with their GM even issuing a “warning” to the rest of the NFL.
However, Coen’s introduction called to mind not just Campbell talking about biting kneecaps but also Nick Sirianni bumbling through his recipe for a “smart” football team when being introduced by the Philadelphia Eagles.
Going back to when the New York Jets were introducing Adam Gase as their head coach, fans joked that Gase looked like he was troubled by being appointed as head coach of the Jets with how wide-eyed he was.
Therefore, Coen is not the only new, incoming head coach to make a very awkward first impression, but he is the latest and as such is the freshest in the minds of NFL fans. Surely Coen cannot wait until there are some other positive pieces of Jaguars news to help sweep this awkward interaction under the rug.
