The Jacksonville Jaguars are no strangers to a lack of respect from the NFL, especially if you ask head coach Liam Coen about it. Throughout last season, the Jaguars' success seemed to fly under the national radar, which Coen frequently used as fuel to push the team to prove the doubters wrong.
That trend seemingly has continued into 2026, and in a recent interview, he said the continued disrespect is one of the best parts of coaching in Jacksonville -- he never has any shortage of motivation to give his players.
"It's the best part of coaching the Jacksonville Jaguars," he said. "You don't have to make up telling your players stuff, to make up the fire. You don't have to make it up. It's given to us every day. It's a gift from the heavens. You know,
I just scroll, I just go, pull out my phone, and look at the NFL Network website, and just pop up here, curious if I see any photos or anything about the Jacksonville Jaguars. I think I'll just scroll right on through. I think I'll see 40 pictures of Caleb Williams, and I won't see a single thing about any of our players on here. So it's beautiful! Because like, yeah guys, this is great. Thanks for telling all these guys how much you all think they suck. Yeah, and we'll just keep going."
“All I’ll see is 40 pictures of Caleb Williams… and not a single thing about any of our players.” 😂
— 1010 XL / 92.5 FM (@1010XL) July 30, 2026
Liam Coen had a hilarious way of describing why he loves coaching the Jaguars on The Drill with Dan Hicken and Jeff Prosser.
🎥 WATCH NOW: https://t.co/E5etiiSE3n#DUUUVAL |… pic.twitter.com/idQZCvDMkK
NFL.com's Nick Shook, at least, heard the message loud and clear in his latest power rankings. The Jaguars came in at No. 7, ahead of the reigning AFC champion New England Patriots and the Houston Texans.
"I heard you, Liam Coen, and I'd like you to know that I very much respect your team, your first-year accomplishments and your trajectory," Shook wrote. "Jacksonville was one of my favorite squads to watch during the latter half of the 2025 season because of how explosive the offense became. Trevor Lawrence finally started to creep toward establishing himself as the star quarterback the franchise has long needed, and the results were so strong that the Jaguars didn't feel the need to make many changes in the offseason. I'm going to trust their process as we near the start of the 2026 campaign and reserve a place on their bandwagon until they give me a reason to hop off."
Throughout the offseason, there have been occasional power rankings that give Jacksonville a decent ranking, though many of them have placed the Jaguars squarely in middle-of-the-pack territory. Much of this has been due to the losses of running back Travis Etienne and linebacker Devin Lloyd to free agency, with no major moves made to replace either.
Yet as Shook pointed out, this is largely due to the staff's confidence in their existing roster, and the entire coaching staff returned as well, including offensive coordinator Grant Udinski and defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile, both of whom earned head coaching interviews elsewhere. It's fair to say that the Jaguars have a lot to be optimistic about heading into 2026, even if most of the league can't see it yet.
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars earn top-10 spot power rankings after Liam Coen calls out doubters
