Liam Coen delivers a win in magnificent Jaguars debut

By Hays Carlyon

First-year Jaguars coach Liam Coen delivered in his debut.

Most importantly, he won: The Jaguars handled Carolina 26-10 on Sunday at EverBank Stadium.

But there were so many encouraging layers to the victory.

The team was ready to play and be aggressive. The Jaguars won the toss and Coen elected to take the ball. The decision led to a 13-play, 55-yard drive that covered 55 yards and led to a field goal to get the Jaguars on the board. Coen showed his play-calling acumen immediately as the Jaguars overcame two holding penalties and an intentional grounding to still get points. He also went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Jags 37-yard line, gaining 4 yards on a jet sweep to receiver Dyami Brown. The Jaguars gained 87 yards on the drive because of the penalties.

Coen got the ground game going, as the offense gained 200 yards.

Looking more long-term, the 39-year-old Coen also looks to be taking the right steps to finally provide quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the foundation he has sorely needed (and lacked) since being drafted in 2021.

I’ve always hoped the Jaguars would hire a coach that would mimic what Jim Harbaugh did when he got the Los Angeles Chargers coaching job a year ago. He inherited an immensely talented, but underproductive, quarterback in Justin Herbert. Harbaugh fortified the line in front of Herbert, gave him a consistent ground game and really made the passing game an afterthought for the first half of last season.

Herbert got comfortable. Then, Harbaugh began to unleash him more and more in the season’s second half. The Chargers finished 11-6.

In their first game this season, Herbert looked like an MVP candidate in the win over Kansas City in Brazil on Friday night.

A similar story hopefully will be unfolding with Coen and Lawrence.

Trevor might finally have some help.

The ground game looks to be in excellent shape. Running back Travis Etienne ran for 143 yards, including a 71-yard burst. Tank Bigsby, along with rookies Bhayshul Tuten and LeQuint Allen, are also going to have great moments.

Tight end Brenton Strange is turning into a reliable security blanket for Lawrence. The third-year veteran opened the game catching three passes for 49 yards on the first drive. Establishing Strange early allowed other aspects of the offense to open up. Strange was also a killer in the running game with a massive block on Etienne’s long run that took up two Panthers defenders.

The Jaguars defense also provided short fields, forcing three turnovers. Lawrence rarely got help from that unit last season as they only generated nine takeaways as a team.

Coen also masterfully handled a lightning delay, the first he acknowledged in his coaching career. The game was delayed a little over an hour in the second quarter. The Jaguars responded with a 10-0 run after it to take a 20-3 lead into halftime.

Coen even implored fans to get loud on a couple of Carolina offensive downs late in the game. The crowd responded and will love that he plays to them.

It’s one game, but the early returns were all positive.

We’ve seen plenty of Jaguars debuts be total flops.

The Coen Era looks promising for a multitude of reasons.

(You can email Hays at [email protected] and follow him on X/Twitter @HaysCarlyon).