The Jacksonville Jaguars launched Liam Coen as its new head coach on Monday.
The chance for a long-term partnership with quarterback Trevor Lawrence definitely appealed to Coen in the course of the hiring course of. “I used to be telling Trevor this the opposite day,” Coen mentioned, “I’ve watched him play reside as a freshman in highschool.”
“It was Buford Excessive Faculty towards—Carrollwood? Cartersville. Excuse me. Sorry, I used to be in Georgia, that’s all I knew. I used to be seeing this freshman in highschool play the place at a excessive stage, standing tall, making throws, delivering. I walked out of there, ‘Man, that is completely different. I had no thought who he was.’ Then you definitely fast-forward to now. How can we make Trevor Lawrence and this offense as dynamic and explosive as we could be? We’ve bought to construct it round him as properly. We’ve bought to make each a part of this about enchancment, and he will probably be part of that course of. He’s earned that proper. I can’t respect his toughness and mentality and work ethic greater than I do already from afar. This can all be about Trevor proper now.”
Everyone within the Jaguars’ constructing believes in Lawrence, and everyone on the earth is aware of the franchise’s future success hinges on his growth. However the X-factor of this new period will be the 22-year-old star huge receiver who shattered workforce rookie data on his method to the Professional Bowl.
Coen expressed his pleasure over Brian Thomas Jr. to a small group of reporters following the introductory presser. “I used to be so pleasantly shocked watching his tape this yr,” Coen mentioned through Jaguars on SI. “We didn’t actually consider — I watched him as a result of we had been watching huge receivers, however we weren’t taking a wideout within the first spherical. I noticed a man who clearly had the talent set to go vertical. I didn’t know he had the flexibility to do what he did within the slot. I didn’t most likely consider him onerous sufficient, but additionally they did a very good job getting that proper.”
“So to have the ability to put him in a slot and run lookie, run alternative, run the choice routes, run the center of the sphere a bit of bit. After which additionally be capable to throw screens to him and he’s going to go do one thing with it. An offense can run by that.”
Underneath Coen’s watch final season, Coen helped quarterback Baker Mayfield break the Buccaneers’ single-season franchise data for completion proportion and passer ranking. Large receiver Mike Evans tied Jerry Rice’s file for many consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. Working again Bucky Irving recorded the third-highest common yards per carry by a rookie in NFL historical past (min. 200 carries).
Coen will get probably the most out of his gamers. Now that he’s working with Lawrence and Thomas Jr., the sky is the restrict.