Liam Coen flip-flopped between the Los Angeles Rams and Kentucky Wildcats three years in a row from 2021 to 2023. He was with the Rams from 2018-2020, but in 2021, he left to become Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. In 2022, he returned to the Rams as their OC, replacing Kevin O’Connell in that role.
Then, for the second time in three years, he left the Rams to head back to Kentucky, once again as the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator and QBs coach.
Now the Jaguars’ head coach, entering his second season in that role, Coen admits he regretted leaving the Rams in 2023 following their 5-12 campaign. It didn’t take long for that regret to set in, either. He said in the spring of 2023 at Kentucky, he didn’t feel good about himself and the decision to leave
the Rams.
Coen openly said he “chased some money” and catered to his ego by going back to Kentucky where he could call plays, which he didn’t do under Sean McVay.
On The Pivot podcast recently, he explained why he left, and why it was the “biggest regret” of his career.
“I leave and they win the Super Bowl,” Coen said. “And now he calls me and he’s like, ‘Hey, Kevin O’Connell’s going to get the Vikings job. I’d love for you to come back as the OC.’ I was just an assistant position coach there. I was the assistant quarterbacks coach. That was, again, another honor of a lifetime. I’m like, ‘I can’t pass that up’. And it ends up being our hardest year, and the most challenging year. And that was probably one of my biggest regrets. In this profession, you ask about movements and what goes into that. Sean, at that time in ’22, we had that tough year, won five games, and weren’t really quite sure what he was going to do, maybe, in ways. And Kentucky called back, and we had just loved it there. It was beautiful, it was amazing, we had our first child there. Kind of chased some money a little bit. And also, an ego decision, I think, was I wasn’t calling plays in L.A. I knew what I was getting into, but I did miss that. And not just calling plays but leading – like, leading your way. And that was my biggest regret going back to Kentucky in ’23, because you know what? I thought it was an opportunity – hadn’t lost a lot in my career. Like, I didn’t have a ton of losing seasons or be on a ton of bad teams. I had been on some. I thought it was just a great opportunity to stick something out with a friend and an organization that gave you your first opp that I missed, that I walked away from when it was hard and went to a familiar place that I had success. Looking at it, immediately got back in that spring and yeah, I had some regret. I didn’t feel great about myself, about the decision I made. At the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t have gotten Tampa if I hadn’t gone there. It did work out in the end, but it was my biggest regret of moves in my career.”
Coen has since found success in the NFL with the Buccaneers as their OC in 2024 and now as the Jaguars’ head coach. So like he said, it did work out for him. But the timing of it all didn’t feel great to him, knowing he bailed on a coach who gave him his first opportunity in the NFL after one losing season.
McVay and Coen are still close to this day, and it’s unlikely McVay blames Coen for leaving when he did. But those years of going back and forth between the Rams and Kentucky weren’t a strong reflection on Coen.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Liam Coen says leaving Rams was 'biggest regret,' admits he 'chased some money'
