March 6th, 2025
Former Bucs OC speaks.
We finally get to hear Liam Coen’s side of the story.
Bucs fans are still peeved at Coen, the former Bucs offensive coordinator, because of how he left town seemingly in the dark of the night to have a clandestine meeting with the Jags and the team’s bungling owner Shad Con Khan.
Coen had a deal for a massive raise with the Bucs if he stayed. He verbally agreed to it. The contract was on his desk.
But the morning he was supposed to sign, Coen was instead in Jacksonville, interviewing for the Jags job that Khan tried to keep a secret to dodge the Rooney Rule.
Last week at the combine, Coen did a sitdown for Barstool Sports*‘* “Pardon My Take” podcast co-hosted by Big Cat and PFT Commenter.
(Yes, those are aliases).
During the sitdown, Barstool Sports personality and Bucs superfan Steven Cheah grilled Coen about why he left and the circumstances surrounding the departure.
You could tell Coen didn’t really want to talk about it and either seemed depressed or embarrassed, or both. He seemed to have had the vibe that he got ambushed about how he got the job. But the Barstool Gang gave Coen a forum to explain.
“But ultimately, it came down to new information,” Coen said of what changed from his first Zoom meeting with Khan — to agreeing to a new Bus contract and having a clandestine in-person meeting with Khan.
“New information became available. When you’re going to buy a house and you figure out, like, it’s either not as good or better than you thought. And some of the people that ultimately kind of helped me throughout this journey, like at the end of day [said], ‘You’re allowed to change your mind.’
“It’s kind of, life.”
Coen added that the days leading up to his decision tore him up.
“It was the most gut-wrenching week of my life,” Coen said. “It was.”
Coen added he understood where Cheah and Bucs fans were coming from and understood how and why many Bucs fans consider him Public Enemy No. 1. Coen added he went from being a popular guy among young Bucs fans in his subdivision to being hated by the very same fans over his departure to Jacksonville.
“You sound like a lot of the boys in my neighborhood,” Coen told Cheah. “They are die-hard [Bucs] fans. They are p!ssed at me. They were p!ssed. They are cool now. We’re good.”
In the wake of taking the job at Jacksonville, Coen said he came to peace with his decision thanks to the Bucs.
Coen said he FaceTimed weeks ago with Baker Mayfield and Bucs offensive linemen from their tropical vacation and they were genuinely happy for him.
When Coen said he ran into Todd Bowles, it was all hugs.