There's no doubt that Doug Pederson helped the Jacksonville Jaguars recover from the Urban Meyer debacle in 2022. However, he wasn't nearly as successful the following two years, which is why he got the boot after the 2024 season.
Somewhere along the way, Pederson stopped getting involved with the team and innovating. Aside from the fact that his scheme was outdated, he did a poor job of coaching his players. Not surprisingly, Liam Coen has been a breath of fresh air, and just recently, Trevor Lawrence talked about what the first-year head coach brings to the table.
Liam Coen has had a positive impact on Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars culture
Trevor Lawrence met with the media a couple days after cutdown day and said that Liam Coen has brougth much-needed energy to the team, noting that players must now go out there and do their part.
"It's really important, you know? I think the energy that coach Coen's brougth in, and the whole staff, the coaching, just the level of detail, all the things that they've done up until this point, has been awesome," Lawrence responded when asked about the culture change the team has experienced this year (18:35 mark). "And they brougth a lot of energy every day, and coached us hard, and expectations have been really high, which has been good for our team. I think we've grown a lot."
Lawrence continued, "But ultimately, it has to be from the players until you really own it from a player standpoint and push each other. That's really where the difference is, and I think we've taken some big steps in that we have some work to do, but I really like even the new guys we brougth in from different places, just like [Robert] Hainsey, Jourdan Lewis, just to name a couple, Eric Murray, just to name a couple, a bunch other guys could be named too."
But those guys, we brought in good players, really good players, but really good leaders too, to handle the business the right way."
Following Pederson's ousting, the organization conducted an extensive search for his replacement. Coen blew them away with his deep knowledge of all aspects of football, his handling of responsibilities, and how to lead a franchise. Not surprisingly, he got the nod.
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Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars are trending up under Liam Coen
You could say Trevor Lawrence's remarks were more about how Liam Coen has managed to lift the Jaguars and less about how Doug Pederson struggled. However, he wouldn't have to highlight the energy and accountability the new coaching staff brought if the past one had had a positive culture in place. Moreover, No. 16 talked about the addition of leaders who handled their business the right way. That's an indictment of Trent Baalke, who failed to put together a Super Bowl-winning team.
Now, there were certainly leaders with the Jaguars during the Pederson era, but not nearly enough to set the tone and have a positive culture in the building. General manager James Gladstone is changing that by bringing in intangibly rich players. And based on Lawrence's comments, the difference is noticeable.
Ultimately, Liam Coen will need to rack up wins to show that hiring him was the right call. That said, it looks like the Jaguars are trending in the right direction, and players are buying in.
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