Buccaneers working to hire Liam Coen as offensive coordinator
On Thursday, Buccaneers pending free agent quarterback Baker Mayfield said that he wanted to know who Tampa Bay's offensive coordinator would be before beginning any contract discussions.
He now has the answer to that question and it's someone he already knows.
Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, the Bucs are working on a deal to hire Liam Coen as their offensive coordinator.
While he did not call plays, Coen was the Rams' offensive coordinator in 2022 when the team claimed Mayfield off waivers. Mayfield, of course, came in with barely any preparation and defeated the Raiders with a stunning 98-yard touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter.
In five games with four stats for L.A., Mayfield completed 63.6 percent of his passes for 850 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
Now Mayfield is heading into free agency coming off arguably the best season of his career. He completed 64.3 percent of his throws for 4,044 yards with 28 touchdowns and 10 picks for Tampa Bay in 2023 with Dave Canales as offensive coordinator.
Coen, 38, should bring some continuity to the scheme as the Bucs’ new OC. He and former Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron were on head coach Sean McVay’s Rams staff together, which Waldron then brought to Seattle as offensive coordinator. Canales was the Seahawks’ quarterbacks coach before going to Tampa Bay in 2023.
After serving as the Rams assistant receivers coach in 2018 and 2019, Coen was promoted to assistant QBs coach in 2020. He was Kentucky’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach in 2021 before going back to L.A. to be the Rams’ OC in 2022. In 2023, he headed back to Kentucky to once again be the program’s offensive coordinator and QBs coach.
