ESPN’s Bill Barnwell set out and ranked the 37 coaching hires across the NFL that took place between 2021 and 2025. The Jacksonville Jaguars were represented three times on this list.
No surprise, but leading the way among Jaguars‘ coaches was Liam Coen, who came in at No. 11 overall.
Advertisement
In Coen’s first season at the helm, he took the Jaguars from four wins to 13 and won the AFC South title. Jacksonville finished the regular season on an eight-game winning streak, which included the Coen-led offense averaging almost 33 points per game during that span.
There are plenty of reasons to believe that the Jaguars are now set up for sustained success under Coen and GM James Gladstone.
Coen deserves credit for getting more out of players he inherited from the prior regime, including Lawrence, Washington and running back Travis Etienne Jr,” Barnwell wrote. “Jaguars fans should be excited about Coen and what he might do in Year 2.”
Not too far behind Coen in these rankings was Doug Pederson, who was listed at No. 15.
Advertisement
Before the 4-13 season in 2024, Pederson’s Jaguars went 9-8 in his first two seasons. This included going to the playoffs and winning a game in 2022.
“Through November 2023, Pederson was 17-11 as the Jags coach,” wrote Barnwell.
Then rounding out Barnwell’s coaching rankings, not surprisingly, was Urban Meyer. In short, and as we all know, this was a disaster.
Meyer didn’t even make it through one season in Jacksonville. He was 2-11 before being fired.
“Meyer feuded with his players and coaches, abandoned the team plane to fly back to his bar in Ohio, set first pick Trevor Lawrence’s development back a year, signed Tim Tebow to play tight end, showed little familiarity with who was even playing for his team and was fired after just 13 games,” wrote Barnwell. “Your high school coach might have done a better job.”
This article originally appeared on Jaguars Wire: Jaguars’ Liam Coen, Doug Pederson, Urban Meyer coaching hires ranked