Liam Coen - Offensive Coordinator, jaguars Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-09 | Full transcript (primary source).
Liam Coen, Offensive Coordinator for the Jaguars, addressed the media during a press conference on September 9, 2026, as the team prepared for the upcoming season. The discussion centered around player performance, team dynamics, and the emotional aspects of returning to game action.
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Transcript
Coen: I think there will be between games where Travis, what do you think that moment will be like for him when he thinks it's going to go so fast? Yeah, I'm sure he's going to have to probably take it all in. It's, as we all know, practice, walkthroughs, meetings are all, you know, it's exciting to get back on the practice field, but there's nothing like the emotion of a game, a stadium, you know, opponent, all those that go into it. And now, look, he's been doing this for a very long time at a high level, and he's played in big games. He understands, you know, he's had to come back from some injuries. Obviously, not as large as this one, but, you know, I do trust that he may have some jitters or whatever it may be. But I'm sure a lot of guys will have similar ones being game one, you know, and just I'm happy for him. You know, I'm happy to get him back on the grass doing something that he loves to do and that he's passionate about doing and energetic about doing on a daily basis. So excited about that for him, for sure.
Coen: Yeah, he's got a relentless motor, relentless motor. He's wiry in his physicality. Like, I mean, he's strong, he's rocked up in all that, and he can run down your face. But he's rangy, wiry, he's slippery in ways. Like, he'll be in a nine technique and then come crashing down. Nobody can see it. Like, on the snap of the ball, it's hard. I mean, he's just, he's crafty. You can tell he understands the game of football. He definitely makes a lot of different things challenging, whether it's in pass protection or in the run game, that you have to have a plan for. Obviously, I have a lot of respect for him for what he was able to do to us. And in preparation leading up to our game, had a lot of respect for him. So I know that he's taken on some of that mindset there in Cleveland to kind of let it rip and him be a guy up front that really leads the way. So definitely need a plan in both the run and the pass.
Coen: Yes, I mean, so much of what we're doing in game one is you're trying to do what you do best, right? Just because I have no idea what Rudy's going to play defensively. I really don't have a clue. So you have an idea of some of the things that maybe they've done before. In the past, you go back and look. But they have a little bit of, I want to say an upper hand, but they have our tape from last season. I don't have his tape from last season of his defense, right? I've got an idea. We've got some thoughts. We've got some cut ups and all that. So in game one specifically, I think you would just have to really be ready to adjust. You've got to, it sucks to kind of carry volume because you don't want to have too much volume. But you also need to have answers for maybe what they could throw at you, what kind of game it becomes. And yeah, you're always a little bit, I don't want to say at a disadvantage because we're all very even in terms of going into week one. We could have wrinkles, obviously, that they're not aware of, that we didn't put on tape last year. But we're kind of going in a little bit more blind than maybe they are.
Coen: I loved him coming out of Bowling Green. I thought he was super underrated last year going around and watching the tape. Just cross-over tape last year really started to become a fan of his, and then obviously in the lead up in preparation for this game, you're watching what they're doing with him. I mean, I watched him block, I think it was Michael Parsons on a duo, he was in line and he held his own and had a stalemate there and it was a good run. And then you see him flexed out running wheel routes and option routes. And then he goes all the way out to be the single receiver and is running daggers in like 20 yard ends. So I think it's a good fit for Monk and for what he likes to do and you saw what he did with likely in Baltimore as well. And so I got to believe there's going to be some of those parts of Fannock's game that are going to be able to translate to what Monk likes to do with some of those tight ends.
Coen: Here's the thing I always know about his offense, it's going to be multiple shifts, motions, multiple in the run game. They don't just say, all right, we run zone and that's what we do. There's going to be multiple different auxiliary runs, gaps, traps, whams, perimeters. I've always had a lot of respect for Monk. Monk helped me out tremendously when I got to Kentucky job. And we talked a ton about game planning, about the field dimensions, about splits, about tempo, about all of that stuff. I've got a lot of respect for Monk. I think he's legit when it comes to being able to adapt to playmakers and to his personnel. And he's proven it. So it's definitely a challenge because you watch the Baltimore stuff, well, yes, they had Lamar. But I mean, there's going to be some similarities. There's absolutely going to be carryover to the things that they did well in Baltimore that are going to continue to carry over to what he believes in in Cleveland. And then adapt a little bit to their personnel, right? I mean, they're excited about those receivers. Like we mentioned, Fannin being a weapon in the past game. And then they've got a good physical contact balance back in Judkins. And I think the Sampson kid is 22, correct? I like him. He's like a little scat back. They got Rahim Sanders, who's a physical back. So I think the personnel really fits maybe what Monk wants to do.
Coen: Yeah, to see Dylan and I recruited Rahim Sanders a little bit, too, trying to get them to transfer. So it's wild to see this, the Isaiah Bond we talked to, recruited. So it is pretty cool. And I think that they have, like I said, Denzel Boston, Concepcion. I think Judy's a really good route runner in this league. He's has been. He's put it on tape for a while. So they've got some skill players that are obviously young. But they have a lot of confidence in those guys. And I think Deshaun will give those guys opportunities.
Coen: Yeah, I think you're settled a little bit more in terms of the operation, the weekly schedule, the rhythm, the routine, the game management aspect of it, and trusting and knowing the guys that you've hired, you believe in, that you trust, that are going to be on the same page about maybe some of the ways that we want to be in terms of aggressiveness, not aggressiveness, punt, no punt, field goal, all that stuff. And to continue to be able to adjust and adapt to how the game's going. But I do think that you have a routine in place that we feel has worked. And that's where I feel a little bit more settled, I would say, in terms of just trusting our process, that, OK, we do feel like it works. Our process works. And so the result, obviously, we have to see of a new 2026 Jacksonville Jaguars team, those results, yeah, I'm unsure of.
Coen: It's doing you. You want to make sure, like I was saying before, the volume piece is the unknown. And making sure that you don't overload the guys in week one. Because there's going to be anxiety. There's going to be all those things, right? You're really trying to keep it simple in ways. But you also need to have answers. And I think that's the balance. That's the unknown kind of angst that it can cause in ways. And you just want to get the ball snapped. But I also really need these next three days of practice. That's that unknown, that balance that we kind of fight is, man, we want to play somebody else. But it's Wednesday. We need to get better in these next three days of practice for Sunday. Because you just want to see what's going to be their thing. What's going to be their unscouted look? What's going to be their answers that maybe we've been talking about now for six months, right? So that's the part that's a little uneasy at times.
Coen: Yeah, I think he'll be a game time decision, I would imagine, working him out before the game, seeing what that's going to look like, just using every op we can to get him to potentially be ready to go. So we'll kind of take it all the way up till game time with that one. Yeah, you want to get them in. You want to be able to get them some work, get them some reps, get them feeling confident in a game-like setting, missing the joints, and all those kind of ops that our other guys obviously had throughout the training camp. But I've really liked his mindset. I've liked the way he's attacked putting himself in maybe precarious positions and owning it. Like, man, I wasn't great when that happened. Or, man, I felt really good when I got stuck and I was sideways. And so I think he's been very intentional about that and has been fearless with putting himself in some of the positions that he has throughout the course of practice. I've really appreciated that, and then we'll see what it looks like on Sunday.
Coen: For sure. I think you always want to start off fast, right? You want to start fast. You want to win for momentum purposes, for going on whatever the next steps are. But I don't think there's so many teams that obviously have poor starts and end up having really good years. So it's like trying not to live and die by every game, especially not the first one. You're like, there's enough on these guys as it is. There's enough anxiety for week one in general. I mean, we've got a game tonight. So it's wild to say that we're here. It's here. It's now. We want to try to stay in the moment. But yeah, it's important to have a fast start and to set the tone of kind of how you want these guys to play. You hope that your play style does show up in week one because you know that that gives you the best chance to win, is when we play the way that we can have proven to be able to do so at times.
Coen: Yeah, he'll be exactly very similar to Cole. That way, where we'll work him out, we'll get a game time decision from him. It's been a while, right? So we'll have to work through it. But I have a lot of faith in Liquid, and trust in him to be able to know the game plan and give us a chance if he's ready to go in that workout. I'll feel confident that he can come in and help our team. So yeah, he'll get some. It's just going to be a mix and kind of making sure that he can do everything we're asking.
Coen: Yeah, I think we played man coverage last year. It was just maybe in some different situations. And just that's been a point of emphasis all off season. So yeah, you want to see it come to fruition. You want to see it. Have the impact on the front that you're hoping that it can have. And while still, I mean, we're remaining true to our core. I mean, that was pretty successful for us, obviously, is being able to play vision zone, have our eyes on the quarterback, get tips and overthrows, be able to cause some of those tight window throws that zone coverage can do and can be challenging on any quarterback. But also knowing that, hey, man, there's times where we might need to go and challenge these guys and be able to get up in there. So it's always that balance, especially in zone coverage. I think we do a nice job of rerouting in zone. And then when you're in man or match, you're not rerouting anymore. You're not truly disrupting all the timing and rhythm. I mean, they can win in quick, easy wins too, or create rubs and picks. And those are the challenges of man-match coverage. So it's always a balance. But yeah, you definitely want to see things that you've been working on come to fruition in game one, for sure.
