Oh, to be allowed a seat in any row of the Jacksonville Jaguars’ massive meeting room on the morning of Sept. 9, four days before they open the regular season against the Cleveland Browns.
Oh, to have a notepad and pen, jotting down the details or simply being gripped by the message and by the messenger.
Welcome to coach Liam Coen’s Wednesday Morning Team Meeting.
Equal parts preview and review, critique and confidence-instilling, the initial full-squad meeting of the NFL work week sets the Jaguars’ tone. This is how the offense will score. This is how the defense will make stops. This is what needs to be done.
On his way to being a finalist for NFL Coach of the Year in 2025, an overnight success 16 years in the making, Coen excelled in myriad ways,
but particularly in how he addressed and related to the players.
To examine the layers on Coen’s Wednesday Morning Team Meeting was fascinating. How does he construct his presentation? Who provides assistance? How is the message received by players and coaches? Since the spring, the Times-Union interviewed a combined 21 players, coaches and executives to learn more about it.
“A thing of beauty,” general manager James Gladstone said.
“Unbelievable,” running backs coach Chad Morton said.
“One word: 'Command,'” defensive pass game coordinator Mathieu Arajuo said.
“He has a natural gift to connect with people,” tight ends coach Richard Angulo said.
“When he talks, it is straight facts and he’s brutally honest, which is what we need,” defensive tackle Matt Dickerson said.
Coen assisted by two coaches
Assistant coaches John Van Dam (offensive pass game specialist) and Drew Lascari (assistant defensive backs) are tasked by Coen to help him prepare for several team meetings a week, but particularly the Wednesday Morning Team Meeting.
Van Dam and Lascari start their process Monday. Because Coen is the offensive play-caller, he is in close contact with Van Dam from the hop. Are the Jaguars facing an elite pass rusher or cover cornerback? Do they play a certain pass coverage or present a special run defense that will be critical for the Jaguars to attack?
Van Dam was a Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive assistant in 2024 when Coen was the team’s offensive coordinator and followed him to the Jaguars last year. He will present Coen with a package of offense-related clips before Coen narrows it down.
“I’ve been around Liam long enough that I kind of know what he wants,” Van Dam said. “If I can save him from digesting everything because he’s so busy, I will mainstream it and say, ‘These are the 20 clips I think are really good.’ And then he and I will pick the ones we really want to focus on for that week.’”
On the defensive side, Lascari searches for clips that represent the Jaguars’ stated style of play: Fast, fundamentally sharp, tough, attacking and situationally sound (they call it “situational masters.”).
First up for Lascari is creating a list of the opponent’s game-breakers and pulling their video clips, constructing what he calls a “microcosm,” of the opponent’s offensive coordinator — what he likes in certain down-and-distances and in the red zone and his most successful plays and also cuts of what defenses have done well against this week’s offense.
The final section, Lascari said, is what the Jaguars’ defensive staff calls, “How we win. If we play like this clip, we will win the game.”
Lascari builds up his clip file and will pass it on to Coen on Tuesday night and will include notes with each clip explaining what the defensive staff saw. Occasionally, Coen will request the clip file to include a specific theme to emphasize such as stopping the running game.
The unique element Coen introduces is what he calls a dive into the “archives.”
“You try to make it personal for the guys in the room instead of saying, ‘This is who they are, here are a couple of plays and let’s go,’” Coen told me. “I’m trying to speak to them — ‘(Defensive end) Josh (Hines-Allen), this is what we need from you this week,’ or I’ll say to (right guard) Ezra (Cleveland), ‘When you were in Minnesota, you blocked this guy just like this.’”
The possibilities aren’t endless, but pretty close.
“It’s great to go back through the old clips and find examples to help motivate our players and help bring them confidence so when they go into the game, they can play at their highest level,” Van Dam said. “We’re saying, ‘Hey, guys, you’ve done this before. You’ve put it on film. Let’s do it again from start to finish.’”
On Wednesday morning, before the scheduled team meeting in the 8 a.m., hour, Lascari said Coen will “buzz a few clips,” to discuss. In all, the final clip file — offense, defense and special teams — can number as many as 50 plays.
“I take it as such an honor,” Lascari said of having Coen’s trust. “Liam is really, really easy to communicate with so working with him through this is a pleasure for me and I’m really blessed that I’ve been asked to do it.”
The presentation finalized, Coen will bound into the team meeting room.
’He tells you what needs to be said’
It’s show time. Putting on a show isn’t Coen’s intent, but watch a few clips of him that are promoted by the organization’s digital team and you’ll want to run down the field to cover a kickoff — without any pads. Just give us a helmet.
Coen and quarterbacks coach Spencer Whipple go way back. Whipple’s dad, Mark, was Coen’s coach at UMass (2004-08) and Spencer and Coen were later on Mark’s UMass staff. But Spencer was an outside observer during Coen’s rise from Kentucky to Tampa Bay before joining him with the Jaguars.
Whipple’s eyes were widened during the 2025 offseason program when he saw Coen address the team.
“Every time he holds a meeting, what stands out is the confidence in the players he exudes,” Whipple said. "That was a huge part of last season, the way he was able to get through the players and show clips of who we are, what we can be and what we can accomplish. It was very powerful. He has an authority when he talks and the guys can feel that energy. It is really cool to see Liam in this light.”
The old college quarterback in Coen means his vocal cords are trained to go to 11 on a 1-10 volume scale. Defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile called him a “great orator.” His voice booms through the meeting room (which is more of a meeting hall; it is two stories high). Coen doesn’t need notes, so clear are the talking points he wants to make. That allows him to scan the space. Look at this player when making this comment. Look at this coach when prioritizing this part of the game. Coen wants investment from every person listening.
“When he comes in, everybody sits up straight and has their eyes on him,” offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett said. “It feels like he’s talking directly to you and isn’t just talking to the group. That says something.”
It says everything, too.
And when a player sees himself on the clip reel?
“I take it in and appreciate it, but at the same time, I know I have to repeat it,” Dickerson said. “But it does feel good.”
It is authentic, inspiring and, heck yeah, a little entertaining. The Coen we see on the sideline and in press conferences and during informal chats with the media, that’s the one the players and coaches see every day, starting with The Wednesday Morning Team Meeting.
“He doesn’t go in there and try to be somebody he isn’t,” receiver Jakobi Meyers said. “He gets straight to the point. He’s honest with the guys and really, as a player, that’s all you can ask for. He tells you what needs to be said.”
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 (4-7 p.m. on "First Coast Football Friday").
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars coach Liam Coen makes Wednesday meetings 'a thing of beauty'
