The Jacksonville Jaguars head into the 2025 NFL season with another new face in the head coach’s office following a disappointing (to say the least) 2024 campaign under Doug Pederson, but will the change be enough to remake the team as contenders?

Liam Coen is coming off an impressive season as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he guided the team to a division win largely through the feats of their offense, which finished the season fourth in points per game and third in yards per game. Perhaps what most led Coen to the role as head coach in Jacksonville was his offensive play calling, which led to a career-high 41 touchdown passes for Baker Mayfield. It is undeniable, however, that while Coen found success with the Bucs, he now enters a situation far less stable, and even less experienced, on the other side of the state.

The Jaguars currently sport the second youngest starting lineup in the NFL , as well as the youngest GM in James Gladstone, but perhaps the most highly-anticipated rookie for this coming season in Travis Hunter. The team is packed full of young talent, not only from this year’s draft, but also older players who may not have yet proved themselves and, most notably, a strong rookie class from 2024, headlined by Brian Thomas Jr, who found himself in the Pro Bowl at the end of last season. Coen’s arrival is set to bring further young talent and hope to a franchise in dire need of a lift.

Since November 2023, the Jaguars have gone 5-and-18, and looked almost lifeless. They had the sixth worst offence in 2024, producing an unsightly 306.2 yards per game, as well as the second worst defence, better only than the struggling Panthers. Despite a wide range of talent across the roster, the Jaguars seemed to grossly under-perform last season, partly due to their 3-10 record in one score games, an aspect which Coen will hope to improve for 2025.

If you unpack that 3-and-10 record in close games, it seems to suggest some level of bad luck and, had they finished the season even 7-6 in those games, the Jaguars would already find themselves second in their division. A bit of luck here and there and perhaps the team may not have found themselves so far from a playoff berth. On the other side of this argument, a comparison to the team’s overall record suggests that they only won a single game by more than eight points, unable to pull away from opponents due to being far below average on both sides of the ball. Wherever you look, all signs point simply to the fact that the team was uninspired throughout last season. If Coen is to see any kind of success in 2025, he has problems to fix, most of which were left by the revolving door of previous head coaches.

But Coen is completely capable of fixing what there is to fix. He has the experience of winning seasons in Tampa and with the Rams from 2018 through 2022 (with the exception of 2020, when he was in Kentucky) — and, more importantly, he has a young and adaptable mind. He certainly has all the tools capable of, or even expected to, put together a winning season in the near future, and has already got to work shaping the franchise. He, along with Gladstone, produced fireworks in the draft, with their trade up to snag Travis Hunter at number two overall. This proactive move shows Coen’s intention to really do something with the team. He is not sitting back and accepting the team’s position at the bottom of the division, but instead actively trying to rebuild his young roster. He is gathering talent and expertise at an alarming rate, and it is simply a question of whether the new head can harness their ability, especially that of quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Coen worked wonders with Baker Mayfield in 2024, leading him to career highs in passing yards, touchdown passes and passer rating. Although Mayfield was coming off a Pro Bowl year in the 2023-24 season, he was still improved by the efforts of Coen, who is now looking to do the same with Lawrence, who has never lived up to his college hype. Mayfield himself has stated that “Trevor’s going to have a guy that’s going to grow into him, lean into him and help him out” and, if Coen can put the career of the Heisman trophy winner back on track, the Jags may find themselves in a very positive position.

If Coen can simply figure out a few key problems within the team, he has all the assets he needs to catapult his team back into playoff contention, whether that be this year or some time in the not too distant future.