Gators play at LSU on Saturday; Jaguars meet Joe Burrow, Bengals | 2MD
The Florida Gators face a tough road test when they play at LSU on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Dolphins host AFC East foe New England Patriots.
Coen’s strategy is to have a list of “priority” plays for the first few drives rather than a rigid script of the first 15-20 plays.This approach was influenced by his time with the Rams and quarterback Matthew Stafford, who downplayed the importance of the first single play.In their opening drive against the Panthers, the Jaguars used multiple personnel groupings and pre-snap motions over 14 plays to set up a score.
Thinking about the first play of the first drive of the first game of his head-coaching career for basically eight months, you can’t blame Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen for taking the football once his team won the toss last week against the Carolina Panthers.
Get quarterback Trevor Lawrence in a rhythm. Establish running back Travis Etienne. Make sure the receivers and tight ends get an early target. And take an early lead.
In Week 1, the Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts were the only teams to win the toss and take the football. The Jaguars kicked a field goal on their way to a 26-10 win over the Panthers and the Colts scored a touchdown in their 33-6 hammering of the Miami Dolphins.
It was smart by Coen — show confidence in the offense to score right away and show confidence in the defense by essentially saying, “If we don’t score, I trust you guys to stop the Panthers.”
It shouldn’t necessarily be an every-week thing, more based on the opponent. Sunday’s game at Cincinnati represents a case study. I’m always in favor of taking possession after winning the toss but I’m just a keyboard jockey.
Coen’s philosophy was likely shaped last year by Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles.
Bowles won the toss nine times and took the football six times. Coen, the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024, saw his group score four touchdowns and two field goals in those games and go 3-3.
Being bold by wanting the football first is only beneficial if the play-caller has a good opening plan, and Coen checked that box. In 17 games last year, the Buccaneers and Houston had an NFL-high 11 first-possession scores (they also tied for most touchdowns, eight); the Jaguars were tied for 23rd with five opening-drive scores (two touchdowns).
Coen’s opening-drive approach
Thing is, Coen is not a scripter.
“No, I make ‘priority’ calls,” he told me before the season. “We have a call sheet and I’ll mark our ‘priority calls’ within each personnel grouping, plays that I want to make sure you get off and get run within the first couple drives. It’s, ‘Hey, here are the first 15-20 plays I want to make sure I get to,’ and I’m sequencing them before Sunday.”
A sequence, but not a hard-and-fast script.
As the Los Angeles Rams’ non-play-calling offensive coordinator in 2022, Coen moved away from the opening-script belief thanks to quarterback Matthew Stafford.
“I used to always worry about the first play of the game and having success and making sure we get going,” Coen said. “Matthew was like, ‘Nobody gives a (bleep) about the first play. Who cares, dude? It’s not going to change the game. Let’s just get the ball snapped and move on.’ That gave me a little ease as a coach.”
Jaguars back-up quarterback Nick Mullens played his first three NFL seasons with the San Francisco 49ers (5-11 as a starter from 2018-20); 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan, from the West Coast Offense tree, was a scripter.
“San Francisco was pretty big on the opening script and very rigid as far as, ‘These are plays 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,’” Mullens said.
Mullens was Minnesota’s roster from 2022-24 playing for coach/play-caller Kevin O’Connell, who was the Rams’ offensive coordinator before Coen.
“Minnesota was the same way (as the Jaguars),” he said. “We didn’t script it but we knew what was going through (O’Connell’s) mind and have an idea of, ‘It could be a run (to start) or a deep (play-action) pass.’”
Last year, the Vikings’ nine opening-drive scores were tied for fifth-most.
Breaking down Week 1 drive
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh became renowned as a play-scripter, planning out the first 10-15 plays for the 49ers and sometimes as many as the first 20 snaps.
A summation of Walsh’s rationale from his seminal book, “Finding The Winning Edge” (I wish I had a hard copy of the book, but had to settle for a Kindle version):
“Scripting openers allows the coach to make decisions in a detached and thoughtful manner. … Allows the coach to determine the proper balance between running plays and passing plays on early downs. … Allows the coach to be more creative in his team’s personnel groupings. … Are great to allow a quarterback to get into a rhythm.”
Coen’s opening drive against Carolina carried many of these tenets.
The Jaguars ran 14 offensive snaps before kicking the field goal.
Lawrence was under center four times. Pre-snap motion was used 10 times, likely as a tool to see how Carolina would re-align based on said motion. Three personnel groupings were used — “21” (2RB-2WR-1TE) and “12” (1RB-2WR-2TE) once apiece and “11” (1RB-3WR-1TE) on 12 snaps. Without the benefit of knowing if Lawrence changed out of a play, the Jaguars ended up with nine drop-backs. And four different players had at least one reception target or one rushing attempt.
“One of the great things about the process is that the preparation evolves throughout the week,” offensive coordinator Grant Udinski said. “It’s not a game plan that’s put in Monday evening/Tuesday morning and it’s set in stone. (Coen is) very adaptive and flexible and we’re constantly trying to find the best path to success.”
O’Halloran can be reached at rohalloran@gannett.com