Liam Coen was recently announced as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator was expected to stay in Tampa Bay for another year, but after the Jaguars fired general manager Trent Baalke, Coen accepted the AFC South team’s enticing offer to become the head coach.
Coen has no prior experience as a head coach in the NFL, so it might take him some time to be good at things other than football. Today, he had his introductory press conference, and his way of saying the “Duuuval” chant went viral on social media for the wrong reasons.
Fans React to Liam Coen’s Viral Moment in Introductory Press Conference
Coen decided to give his own touch to the chant, which became awkward for many fans on social media platforms. Here are some of the reactions:
I’m so out on this guy
— slashy (@slaxshy) January 27, 2025
“Horrifying. Why Are Half Of These New Hires Just Complete Do**s? Imagine Being A Jags Fan? You’re Doomed!” said a fan.
“Jacksonville is never gonna fill their stadium,” wrote one fan.
yea he’s not gonna be good https://t.co/q8MHIO0kbK
— Isaac (@imr__01) January 27, 2025
“Praying for Jaguars fans out there,” added a fan.
Another fan added, “They’re going 0-18 Next season.”
I already miss when I didn’t know anything about Liam Coen and just knew him as the fairly anonymous offensive guru for the Bucs https://t.co/IcsExm3y9c
— Brandon Carney (@BenchwarmerBran) January 27, 2025
Coen isn’t the first head coach who didn’t excel during his introductory press conference, and he will not be the last. The same thing happened with Nick Sirrianni and Dan Campbell when they became head coaches, and both of them have had immense success.
Nobody knows how good the Jaguars head coach will turn out to be, but it’s not fair to judge him from his way of saying a chant. Coen brought the best out of Baker Mayfield this past season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and he can do the same with Trevor Lawrence.
Jacksonville is coming off a season in which they finished 4-13 and had to part ways with both their general manager and head coach. The decision to bring Coen as the head coach was an aggressive move from the team’s owner, Shahid Khan. He hopes that the Jaguars will be able to have similar success as the Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles, as their head coaches also had an awkward moment in their first press conference as the team’s head coaches.
Coen Has Some Good Pieces To Work With in Jacksonville
The Jaguars have the fifth overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and the new head coach will be in the position to get an impactful player of his choice. Moreover, the team already has talented players on offense, like Lawrence, Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Etienne, Tank Bigsby, and Evan Engram.
With how great the Buccaneers offense looked this past season with Coen as the offensive coordinator, the Jaguars’ offense should be even better as they arguably have better players available.
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Mayfield had a career year with Coen, and now Coen has the responsibility to bring Lawrence’s career back on track. The Jaguars quarterback was limited to just 10 games in 2024 due to injuries, which was a big reason why the team struggled and led to the departures of Doug Pederson and Baalke.
Lawrence was viewed as a generational talent coming into the NFL, but so far has failed to live up to the expectations. The franchise’s decision to hire Coen shows how desperate they are to help the quarterback, and now it’s up to him to get the best out of this opportunity and cement himself among the best players in his position. Hopefully, Lawrence and Coen will be able to produce exciting football, and the Jaguars will make a run at the AFC South division title in 2025.