Mark Stoops discusses researching, hiring process of Liam Coen at Kentucky
Ninth-year head coach Mark Stoops hired Liam Coen as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Kentucky ahead of the 2021 season.
Coen was hired at Kentucky following a three-year stint as the Los Angeles Rams’ assistant wide receivers (2018-19) and assistant quarterbacks (2020) coach in the NFL.
Coen served as Maine’s offensive coordinator from 2016-17 before his time in the NFL. He served as passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UMass (2014-15), quarterbacks coach at Brown (2012-13), passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Rhode Island (2011) and overseeing Brown’s quarterbacks in 2010.
Coen played quarterback at UMass from 2004-08 as a four-year starter.
Stoops discussed the hiring process of Coen on the SEC teleconference Wednesday.
“It was all important, quite a bit of research, not only on Liam, but on a lot of people,” Stoops said. “Obviously, it was a very important for our program, the future of our program and me being a defensive guy.
“Quite a bit of research went into it, as far back as I could get to on him and many others. It was with that background. and with the research, and also with my face-to-face meetings with him, we had conversations on the phone and things of that nature.”
Tennessee (4-4, 2-3 SEC) will play at Kentucky (6-2, 4-2 SEC) Saturday in Week 10.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and will be televised by ESPN2.
