Press Pass | Jaguars HC Liam Coen Talks Roster, Staff at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine

Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen meets with the media at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, first and foremost super excited to be here. I
mean it's been a couple of years since I've been
able to get here. Uh, this has been a great
opportunity for our staff to really kind of get in
the weeds with each other. We just really kind of
finalized this staff, and it's been a great op for
us to be able to get into the weeds. We're
really just we're working from Indy. That's we've taken our

(00:23):
whole process what we would be doing in Jacksonville right
now and taking that to Indy and so man, we're
doing obviously some of the free agent meetings, going through
the draft, and then also obviously doing some scheme, some
football and getting with the coaches. So it's been a
great transition so far. And really kind of really happy
to be here. Rookie regular and kind of constantly by

(00:49):
press shot right, we're shot three hundred rogins game. Did
you see that? There's not many better, you know, people
than Bucky in terms of the way his process went.
I mean he was first one one of the first
guys in the building five am meeting with Tom Moore
on our staff. In terms of just getting some of
that experience he was one of the last guys to leave,

(01:12):
So you saw a player that was already mature beyond
his years, and then okay, he comes in and has
the impact that he had both in the run, the
pass got much better in the past, protection as the
year went on, dynamic in space. Just have so much
respect for Bucky, both as a competitor and as a person.

(01:33):
Wish him nothing but the best, and hopefully we can
continue to get some of that production out of the
guys we have because there are a lot of similarities there.
More fact, wow, that's a great one. The time you
look at these quarterbacks specifically coming out in the last
few years, Well, you're in Pop one or football and

(01:55):
you're in a no huddle shotgun system, and then you're
in high school and you're in a no huddle shot
gun system. Okay, you go to college, that may have
the same been the case. We've got to have patience
with these guys because the communication piece that you miss
with the no huddle offenses, not the knock it, it's just, hey,
we have to take that into consideration when we're going

(02:16):
through the longevity of a quarterbacks career. I think when
you're ready to move on I think that it's pretty
clear to a lot of people in terms of the building,
the staff, the players. If the cliff is falling off,
it's it's typically uh, you know, something you can see
with the with the naked eye, but it's more the development,

(02:36):
the fundamentals, the technique. If that's all still there, then
you can continue to win with that player too. When
you went through all those quarterback yeahs change. That's a
great question because it really came up last year in
a different way, right. We were decimated in twenty two.
Last year we lose two of our best receivers in

(02:59):
Tampa and credit the process to just kind of, hey,
put our heads down. It's our job as coaches to
go play with the best the players that we have
and be able to pivot. That was the learning experience
that we had there that we have to be able
to pivot, be able to supplement that production. Maybe with
a different group of players. It might be you know,

(03:20):
Mike and Chris's production ended up having to become a
little bit more uh, you know, developed through the receiver,
the running back room, the tight end room, obviously the
quarterback being able to playoff schedule. So we learned so
much from that year, and it was really just do
we have the ability to pivot and be able to
kind of supplement some of that production through different avenues

(03:42):
and different players. Yeah. Grants a guy that I've followed
now for for the last few years. Obviously being very
close with Kevin in that process, understanding that it's a
similar process and the way we do things, the way
that we want to operate, the things that we're looking
for throughout the work week, getting ahead of those things.

(04:04):
He's an elite communicator really obviously high level intelligence football
i Q. He's all ball. Grant is all ball, uh
no ego, rides around the Hana, the CRV and just
wants to live as close to the building as he can.
And and that's what's always stood out is the ability

(04:25):
his passion for the game. And you all you've ever
heard is positive things about him. And you see in
this past cycle how much he got and how much
he was in There was no surprise to me there
and getting yeahs receiver and bringing your offer. Yeah, that's

(04:47):
a great one. He he's so dynamic, being able to
move him around where you saw him in LSU, maybe
not do some of those things right where he was
mostly outside running more linear routes, vertical posts, some overs
and then this stop. You know, so the ability for
him to snap down, get in the slot, be able

(05:08):
to run some of the choice routes lookie routes, and
then oh, by the way, you can throw him a
screen and he can go do something with it. You know,
our pass game will run through him. And super excited
to get to work with him. I know it's on
the defensive side of the ball in Tampa, but do
you have any insight on Casey Rodgers as a coach? Yeah,
I have a ton of respect for Casey first and
foremost as a man. As a leader, he had phenomenal

(05:33):
communication skills within the building, just a steady eddie really
just never too high, never too low. I know there
was a ton of respect in that room for him.
And then just upfront, I mean he's he's done a
nice job over the course of the last few years
and having to again pivot with some injuries that we
did have at the position. Up front, I think Casey's

(05:54):
going to do a really good good job in Detroit.
You're planning to mild your roster, you and power to
kind of speak and let you know what ehings about me. Absolutely,
we want to have Trevor's input. He is he is
our guy, He's the franchise and as much as we
can involve him in the process without maybe putting too
much on his plate. He's a new father, now, a husband.

(06:17):
He's just getting into it, and you know he's but
he's hungry. He's hungry. He wants to be playing at
the highest level possible. And how do we include him
in some of those conversations, specifically with some of the
skilled players and obviously on the offensive line. So he
will definitely be involved in some of that will while
just being mindful of not putting too much on him

(06:38):
because he's going to be learning a completely new system
and having to go through a new transition again and
just another Baker. How does that he compare Baker to
Trevor and what your process will be to help getting
in their different player, right, a little bit of a
different player. But when you look at the experience of
kind of pivoting in a developmental stage where he Baker

(06:58):
was at a pivotal moment when after he left LA
in twenty two and went to Tampa in twenty three, Right,
I thought Dave did a phenomenal job of really kind
of onboarding him, getting his confidence back, allowing Baker to
truly be himself, and then you get into Okay the
next year in the system, it's a similar one that
Dave was running, so there was a little bit more

(07:19):
familiarity there. The development of Baker will be different than Trevor.
It just will be because of the different type of player.
But you see a lot of the same in tangibles
in terms of the work ethic, the want to he
wants to be great, he wants to be coached hard,
and the process, like how do we get him on
a schedule, a process every single day that he can

(07:42):
follow to get him to the point that he feels
like he's playing at a higher level. Yeah, Josh is
going to do a phenomenal job. He's got a really
unique way about him to be able to connect with
a lot of different people, coaches, pass He's got a
great sense of humor. But he's he's up there in

(08:06):
terms of the IQ, the football knowledge, the ability to
see it, design it and also be able to communicate
it to the guys. You know, I think this he's
primed for this. He's ready for this, and I think
he's going to do a really nice job obviously, so
rams ties between you Jay, Shane Waldron. Just how much
did that franchise really influence you guys and what you're
wanting to build here? Yeah? Very much though that's what

(08:28):
we all came up within that organization. I think there's
a north star that we are looking at in terms
of how do we want to operate? Right? Is it
going to be identical? No, this is going to be ours,
But we can take so many different things that we
learned from there, from both personnel, scheme, people, the way
that we talk to one another, the way that we

(08:50):
communicate and treat one another. I think that those are
kind of the foundational pieces that we took from LA
and then now, hey, how do we make it ours
and how do we put this thing all together to
truly move forward. I really don't have a strong opinion,
I'll be honest. I haven't had a ton of experience
with it. It hasn't really affected me personally as a coach.

(09:13):
It hasn't like won or lost games for me. So
I really don't have a strong opinion. I know that's
out there. I know that's a conversation. You know, just
haven't had a lot of experience with it and just
don't have a huge opinion on it right now, thank you.
But he hasn't had the stability that is something that

(09:34):
similar to Baker, you guys asked about in terms of
that stability. It's it's important, but he's gonna learn. He's
learned so much from his different experiences, right for good
and for bad, and he can take those experiences to
really dive into this new process. But I think what's
critical is how do we get him to that standard
and that structure and that schedule throughout his process once

(09:57):
he gets here, So now we truly focus on him
not as much where he's been. What he's had. He
can take and log those experiences, but now, how do
we create a little bit of sameness? Give them a schedule? Hey, mondays,
this is what we want, you know, look for your
daily rhythm tuesdays within the season with third downs as
we start to move towards red zone. How do we

(10:19):
kind of connect with him to have a schedule. I
think that's the consistency that we're going to try to
create for him. Quarterback quarterback, Yeah, well, I actually had
a you know, a not so positive experience with one.
We Uh it was more just I ended up going
into one at Kentucky and kind of got a little

(10:39):
bit looped out while I was in there. It kind
of made me a little physically ill, so, uh, it
was It's cool, though, I think it's to each his own. Really,
I really believe that if that's something that's going to
help our guys, and you want to make that tool available,
we have the benefit of being kind of at the
forefront of some of those things with with TK, Tony

(11:00):
and shod wanting to be able to provide every opportunity
that we can have. I don't have a very strong
opinion on it, but I do think it's something i'd
be open to for sure. We have kind of a
virtual walkthrough room in Jacksonville that I've never had in
any of the buildings I've been in, So I'm really
excited about kind of being able to utilize some of
those rooms. Get into that for for some of the

(11:22):
VR training, but not maybe with the goggles on. But
then get through your staff. You work with a lot
of younger guys. You know you could have gotten older,
but what would the benefits of that and then if
you leave with your your situations. Yeah, Hunger, hunger want
to Guys that are trying to prove it, Guys that
want to, you know, continue to ascend throughout the profession.

(11:43):
You know, I think we have plenty of experience to
get this thing done. I believe in the staff that
we built. You know, I got Sean McVay, I've got
Kevin O'Connor. I've got a lot of guys that we
can go and call in times of crisis that are
going to be h more than welcome to some of
those conversations. And then you know, you've got experience throughout
the staff, and we do have experience. We have a

(12:05):
lot of guys that have been in the trenches in
some really productive organizations. There's not one coach that we
hired that didn't have another opportunity to Tony about that. Actually,
TK and I were just talking about this, you know,
a couple of days ago, just how that ended up
coming for him. He was a fan of wrestling his
entire career. I was an ultimate Warrior fan. Although I

(12:26):
you know, did not look the part by any means,
I was a fan. I have a ton of respect
for it. It's entertainment, it's athleticism. He's got a strong
passion for it, and uh, I just hope it continues
for him. I know they just signed a new deal
I think or you know, something to be able to
kind of get some uh more buzz. But it seems
like it's going in the right direction. I'm an excited
for him. No, absolutely not. I My time's well passed again. Mentality,

(13:03):
It's what you said, it's the adaptability, right. We will
have a core foundation in principles of how we want
to you know, operate right, our modes of operation, the
way that our culture is going to be set, the
non negotiables right, that's the foundation of what we believe.
But like I've said of multiple different conversations about players

(13:23):
not plays, right, we will have the core principles and
how we want to play, our style of play, but
ultimately it's our job to pivot and be able to
adapt to players, especially when it comes to the draft,
because you want to be able to fill your holes
but also take the best players available, and it's our
job to be able to adapt to some of those players.
Direct you out to shame. What was exciting about Shane

(13:46):
Walder worial. Yes, so Shane got me into this profession, right,
So shamee was somebody that you know, Sean McVay lean
non heavily when he took the first job in LA
that was one of his first hires and brought Shane there.
Had unbelievable experience obviously working in New England in prior years,
has won super Bowls, has been at a high level

(14:08):
for a long time. He's got a great kind of
overall big picture all eleven extreme kind of situational football
ideas going from you know, coach Belichick and the Patriots system.
He'll be great for a big picture ideas and be
able to, hey, how do we tie in some of
these things and also some of the developmental pieces within
the coaching staff. Worried about anything been having in Chicago

(14:31):
left zero zero Portland nil has affected players NFL readiness
to come in. I don't know if it's the readiness,
but it's definitely something we have to be aware of.
Right it's it's not going anywhere, and it's absolutely something
that we have to be aware of when it comes
to how do we onboard our players the individual development

(14:54):
program that we have, whether it's through strength the athletic training,
the coaching staff, the personnel. It's the onboarding process that
we have to be really detailed about and make sure
that we're vetting the right players right, Why did they move?
Why were they going from place to place, a lot
of guys are just trying to climb and go get
for you know, better for themselves. So, uh, it's more
about the onboarding process and the in really kind of

(15:16):
how do we uh you know, evaluate these players, not
more so where they've been. Thanks. Thanks, guys, I appreciate