Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen just missed out on winning the Associated Press’ NFL Coach of the Year award. Coen came in second place, losing to New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Coen finished with 16 votes, while Vrabel led with 19.

Vrabel and the Patriots are set to play in Super Bowl 60 against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The other coaches nominated were , the Seattle Seahawks’ Mike Macdonald (eight votes), the Chicago Bears‘ Ben Johnson (one vote) and the 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan (one vote).

Advertisement

The award was announced in San Francisco at the NFL Honors show on Feb. 5.

Coen, 40, led the Jaguars to a 13-4 record and first place in the AFC South a year after the team finished 4-13 and fired head coach Doug Pederson. Coen became the first rookie head coach to lead his team to 12 or more wins after the franchise had won just four or fewer games the previous year.

LESSONS: Patriots vs. Seahawks Super Bowl: What Jaguars can learn from matchup

Under Coen’s leadership, the Jaguars saw numerous gains on offense, especially at the quarterback position. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence became an MVP candidate and broke multiple franchise records under Coen in 2025.

Advertisement

Lawrence finished third in total touchdowns (38), fifth in passing touchdowns (29), sixth in passing yards (4,007) and tied for second in rushing touchdowns (nine) among NFL quarterbacks in 2025.

Coen’s guidance led Jacksonville to far greater heights on offense than just at the quarterback position, though. The Jaguars finished tied for an NFL-high with 25-plus points scored in 13 games, including eight straight games from Weeks 9-16. The Jaguars held a plus-13 turnover margin, the third-best in the NFL.

Jacksonville posted five wins against playoff teams this year, including the Denver Broncos, San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans, Los Angeles Chargers and the Carolina Panthers. Jacksonville’s five wins against playoff teams were the second-most in the NFL.

The Jaguars set multiple franchise records in 2025 across all three phases. The team scored 55 touchdowns and 474 (27.9 points per game) in 2025, the most in franchise history.

Defensively, the Jaguars were the league’s best run defense, allowing just 85.6 rushing yards per game (a franchise record). Jacksonville posted 10 games with multiple turnovers, the most in a single season in franchise history. The team also broke a franchise record for pass breakups with 107. That included 22 interceptions, the second-most in the NFL, setting another franchise record.

Advertisement

On special teams, while Coen wasn’t necessarily directly responsible for his success, kicker Cam Little broke multiple franchise and NFL records this season. Little connected on a 68-yard field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 9 in the domed Allegiant Stadium, setting an NFL record for the longest kick. He also made a 67-yard field goal at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, setting an NFL record in both indoor and outdoor environments.

Jacksonville had five AFC Players of the Week throughout the season (LB Foye Oluokun (Week 1), LB Devin Lloyd (Week 4), Little (Week 9), Lawrence (Week 15) and P Logan Cooke (Week 16). They also had three AFC Players of the Month: Lloyd (September), Little (Dec./Jan.) and Lawrence (Dec./Jan.).

Jacksonville’s three players of the month were the most in the AFC this season. The Jaguars also became the first team since the 2019 Chiefs to win offensive, defensive and special teams player of the month in the same season.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jaguars’ Liam Coen snubbed, misses out on Coach of the Year award