Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen will hand off the “majority” of the play-calling to offensive coordinator Grant Udinski during the team’s three preseason games.
“(Rams coach) Sean (McVay) provided me that experience in (Los Angeles) and I want do the same for Grant,” Coen told me earlier this week.
Udinski called the Jaguars
’ offensive plays in last year’s preseason finale against the Miami Dolphins.Udinski, 30, interviewed for the head-coaching openings with the Cleveland Browns and Buffalo Bills in January. The Browns hired Todd Monken and the Bills promotedJoe Brady.
Coen admits the game plan in the preseason is “very vanilla,” but Udinski will have the chance to call the game instead sticking to a full game script.
“Obviously, you want
to do enough (with the game plan) to give your players a chance to win the game because that’s the goal, but Grant will be picking from a tighter menu,” Coen said. “It’s actually harder to call plays in the preseason – everybody thinks it’s easier – because you have that limited menu and you don’t want to show too much.”
In last year’s 14-6 preseason loss to the Dolphins, Udinski didn’t have any starters at his disposal and the Jaguars gained 207 yards on 53 plays.
When he re-assumes the play-calling for the Sept. 13 regular-season opener against the Cleveland Browns, it will be Coen’s third NFL season calling the plays. In the NFL this year, Coen is expected to be one of 15 head coaches who will call their team’s offensive plays.
About the Jaguars
1. Operationally sound: One thing that stood out from the Jaguars’ first two camp practices (July 29-30) was the overall operation. No pre-snap penalties on either side or the quarterbacks delaying the snap because they had to move teammates into the right positions. Just crisp and clean, a product of the players being familiar with the systems.
2. Full house coaching secondary: When detailing his expectations for the Jaguars’ secondary this year, defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile reeled off four assistant coaches who team up the cornerbacks and safeties — defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Araujo, defensive backs coach Anthony Perkins, assistant defensive backs coach Drew Lascari and senior defensive assistant Bill Sheridan. “They’ve bought an extreme level of detail to the guys,” Campanile said.
3. National revenue distribution: Because the Green Bay Packers are publicly-owned, they reveal their revenues and expenses each summer. The Packers’ books showed they received $453.2 million in “national revenues,” their cut of the broadcasting deals, which means the other 31 teams also received that amount. It was $61 million in 2000, $157 million in 2010 and $309.2 million in 2020.
Extra Points
1. Gators ninth, Seminoles 11th: Based on the preseason media polls in the SEC and ACC, we could be in for a long college football season locally. But, really, why do we even do these polls in the Transfer Portal Era when so much of a roster turns over? Floridawas slotted behind Tennessee and ahead of Missouri. FSU was slotted behind Duke and ahead of California. The Seminoles received three first-place votes and last-place Stanford one first-place vote, which should confirm the farcical nature of this exercise.
2. More WNBA problems: The WNBA continues to be a joke-of-an-outfit that can’t get out of its own way.
Seattle Storm minority owner Celeste Keaton was fined and suspended for the team’s next five home games after she lashed out at two young women who had signs supporting Indiana Fever player Sophie Cunningham’s recent comments stating transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Keaton is an embarrassment– no team owner should verbally assault two paying customers. Her suspension wasn’t severe enough.
The next day, the WNBA hit another jackpot when its official “X” account shared a video showing Paige Bueckers (Dallas Wings) and Angel Reese (Atlanta Dream) making a $400 wager on the game, a clear rules violation. The league deleted the post and later compounded their mistake by calling it “lighthearted.” Yeah, right.
3. Etc.: The Florida State football team returns to Jacksonville for three days of practices on the UNF campus (Aug. 6-8). Each practice is closed to the media. … Former Jaguars coach Doug Pederson has been hired by CBS Sports to provide studio analysis and game commentary for college football. … The best part about seeing “The Odyssey,” was the awesome trailer for the new Spider-Man movie. … Unfortunate scheduling — the Florida men’s basketball team’s home opener is Nov. 5 against Jacksonville, the same night the Jaguars play at the Baltimore Ravens. … ESPN missed the mark on its “Sports Jeopardy,” show. It picked the right host (Joe Buck), but why should people watch announcers from ESPN and NFL Network show how much they know about sports? They should have had two contestants from the public pitted against a celebrity like Jon Hamm (who is on the show). … Rush to the bookstore and open your Nook/Kindle device to buy Pamela Colloff’s “Catch The Devil: A True Story Of Murder, Deception And Injustice On The Gulf Coast.” A gripping, tough-to-put-down story that is one of the best books I have ever read.
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-6 p.m. on "The Lead").
Contact O’Halloran at rohalloran@gannett.com or on X at @ryanohalloran. Listen to Ryan on 1010AM on Tuesdays (6:35 p.m. on “Into The Night"), Thursdays (1:15 on "XL Primetime") and Fridays (4-6 p.m. on "The Lead").
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Grant Udinski to call 'majority' of Jaguars' offense in preseason
