The Jacksonville Jaguars have been embarrassing on and off the field for the last decade. It looked like that was not going to change by keeping GM Trent Balke and scaring off hot young coaching candidates. Ben Johnson had decided to go with the Chicago Bears and Liam Coen had turned down a second interview to stay with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In a shock to most of the Duval residents, Shad Kahn listened to the people and finally fired the highly criticized Balke. Things moved quickly in reverse and now Liam Coen has accepted the Jaguars Head Coaching position.
Owner Trouble
Many say that Shad Khan is a terrible owner. The numbers do not lie and his record since owning the team is 62-144. Not only that but the head coaches he has hired are Mike Mularkey, Gus Bradley, Doug Marrone, Urban Meyer, and Doug Pederson. Two of those coaches lasted under a full season. Khan has never been shy about dishing money out for free agents and trying to improve the Jacksonville downtown area. The problem is he has listened to the wrong people and made some mistakes in hiring. Did he wait too long to fire Trent Balke? Yes of course but atleast he finally saw the light. It was a debacle and a strange road, but they finally got the guy they wanted. A young offensive minded coach to help Trevor Lawrence and the offense reach their potential.
Why did Pederson Not Work
After the Jaguars fired Urban Meyer, the team needed a calming force to bring order and straighten the organization out. Doug Pederson did a good job early, of bringing the team together. The first half of the season showed promise but the Jaguars could not get out of their own way. They finally caught fire the second half of the year and won the division on their way to the playoffs. The playoff game against the Chargers was a microcosm of their season. Horrible beginning but a furious finish. The Jaguars would end up losing the Chiefs on the road but things were looking good.
2023 started off strong as the team began the season 8-3 but had a horrible collapse. The injuries to Trevor Lawrence did not help but the team never hit their stride on offense. 2024 was a make or break year and it was mostly broken. The Jaguars would get leads but would not be able to close games. The lone bright spot was the spectacular play of rookie Brian Thomas Jr. The offense never exploded consistently like it should have and always made costly mistakes. Many offense get easy plays for its quarterback but Lawrence and the offense always had to work so hard for everything. There were upset fans about Press Taylor never getting fired from offensive coordinator and inevitably that cost Pederson the team and his job.
Why Coen and The Offense Moving Forward
There were rumors inside the Jaguars building that they were looking for a young offensive mind. Once Ben Johnson took the Bears job, Liam Coen was on the top of the list. Coen took the Buccaneers offense from 31st in rush yards per game to fifth. He also improved the scoring offense from 19th in 2023 to fifth in 2024. In comparison, the Jaguars finished 26th in both points per game and rushing yards per game. The offense has struggled to get Trevor Lawrence easy completions and the offensive line has been an issue. Screens are a huge help for both issues but the Jaguars only threw screens 33 times for 180 yards with no touchdowns. In comparison Baker Mayfield threw 95 screens for 696 yards and five touchdowns.
Coen improved the NFL’s worst-ranked rush offense in 2022 and 2023 to a ground game that finished 3rd in yards per rush (5.3) and 4th in rush yards per game (149.2) in 2024.
The offense improved from 23rd in total yards per game in 2023 (313.0) to 3rd in 2024 (399.6). pic.twitter.com/szABxYOWHS
— JaguarsPR (@JaguarsPR) January 24, 2025
The Jaguars have a good one two punch with Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby. They both have differing styles that can be utilized but they only received 61 targets last year, while the top two backs for the Buccaneers had 109. There were also 269 attempts between Rachaad White and Bucky Irving. The offense should feature them more effectively to take the pressure off Lawrence. Brian Thomas Jr. showed what he can do in a bad offense so, he should continue to be a star in this new offense. The slot was a big part of Coen’s offense, before injury Chris Godwin was averaging six yards after the catch per reception. In comparison Christian Kirk and Parker Washington both were four yards or under. Kirk could be a cap casualty so Washington could be in for a huge target increase. Another possible option is if the Jaguars go after Godwin in the offseason. Evan Engram had a disappointing 2024 season, so the new offense shew revitalize him as Cade Otton had a great season with over 80 targets and 600 yards.
It was a weird journey but the Jaguars hired a coach to breath some life in the franchise and hopefully help Trevor Lawrence reach his potential.
Brandon Haye
Brandon grew up in Jacksonville, Florida and works as a health insurance data analyst. He has no children, but two fur babies - Squirt and Brownie. He and his wife, Katie, spend their time playing poker and enjoying time with their pups. Brandon is a huge Michigan Wolverine and Jacksonville Jaguars fan. He at one time was in 77 fantasy leagues and loves the game of football. Brandon started writing for The Leauge Winners in 2021.