The Jacksonville Jaguars have hired a new head coach, and team owner Shad Khan celebrated the move with a strongly worded statement.
Liam Coen has finalized a deal to become the new head coach of the Jaguars following a bizarre series of events. The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator was viewed as the favorite for the job, but he informed the Jaguars on Wednesday that he was removing himself from consideration. At that point, Coen reportedly agreed to a new contract with the Bucs to make him one of the highest-paid offensive coordinators in the NFL.
The Jaguars then fired general manager Trent Baalke, and Coen had a change of heart. That was not a coincidence, according to reports.
In a statement he issued on Friday, Khan seemed to confirm that he did whatever was needed to close the deal with Coen.
“To repeat my message earlier this week, I am deeply committed to building a winner here in Jacksonville. I also believe in being judged by actions, not words. That’s why I took swift and decisive action this week to hire Liam Coen as the new head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars,” Khan said, via ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “I am pumped that Liam is accepting the challenge and opportunity to build the winner that Jaguars fans and partners fully deserve. I know our players feel the same.”
We can only speculate as to what Khan meant by “swift action,” but he was probably referring to his decision to fire Baalke.
Baalke had been with the Jaguars since 2020. He previously served as the San Francisco 49ers’ GM from 2011-2016 and won a power struggle with Jim Harbaugh, who was let go by the team. Baalke has a reputation for being difficult to work with, which is why many people were surprised when Doug Pederson was fired and the GM survived.
Khan believes in Coen so much that he was willing to fire his GM to hire the 39-year-old coach. It sure seems like Khan wants everyone to know that.
