On Friday, the Jacksonville Jaguars officially announced that Liam Coen would be the team’s new head coach. The path to get there, though, was far from linear: Coen agreed to join the Jaguars during a secret second interview on Thursday, after already verbally agreeing to an extension as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator.
In a messy saga, Coen and the Buccaneers came to an agreement on a new extension that would have made Coen one of the highest-paid coordinators in the league. But the next day, Coen secretly traveled to Jacksonville to meet with the team for a second, in-person interview.
The Jaguars keeping Coen’s second interview under wraps may have served multiple purposes, according to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. The secrecy allowed Coen to keep Tampa Bay’s offer alive while he went to Jacksonville. But, per Breer, keeping the meeting quiet also kept Jacksonville in compliance with the Rooney Rule, an often controversial rule that requires teams to interview with at least two minority candidates for any open position.
Prior to Coen’s meeting on Thursday, the Jaguars had only interviewed one candidate that would qualify: former New York Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who had interviewed in person earlier this month. Under the rule, Jacksonville needed a second in-person interview in order to satisfy the requirement. The team’s other minority candidate, Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham, was scheduled to come in for a second interview on Thursday.
Per Breer, the Jaguars did not want word of their meeting with Coen to get out, because they did not want Graham to cancel his interview. After interviewing Graham, the team cancelled Saleh’s second interview, which was supposed to take place on Friday.
Coen’s side of things was similarly messy. After verbally agreeing to the deal with the Buccaneers, Coen reportedly kept putting off his final decision by multiple days, and put off actually signing the contract until Thursday morning. From there, Tampa Bay reportedly struggled to contact him, with Licht, assistant GM Mike Greenberg and head coach Todd Bowles all attempting to reach out to Coen.
Coen finally reached out to the team, saying that he was dealing with a personal matter, and then called Bowles in the evening on Thursday. During the call, per Breer, Coen mentioned that things had changed in Jacksonville, and that he was going to speak about the opening with the team in person. However, per Breer, a staffer with the Buccaneers was tipped off by someone in the Jaguars’ facility that Coen was already there, less than an hour after that phone call.
Coen’s renewed interest in the team came one day after team owner Shad Khan fired general manager Trent Baalke. Per multiple reports, Coen is getting a chance to effectively pick his GM as part of taking the position — nearly unheard of for a first-time head coach.
But the road to get there has taken many twists and turns, and may result in further issues down the road. Brian Flores, now the Vikings defensive coordinator, sued the league for racial discrimination in 2022 under similar circumstances. In the lawsuit, Flores alleged that the New York Giants only interviewed him to satisfy the Rooney Rule despite already having a candidate — Brian Daboll — in mind. That lawsuit is ongoing.
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