Liam Coen’s wife fires back at speculation about complicated situation involving Jaguars, Bucs

Ashley Coen, the wife of soon-to-be Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen, took to social media Friday morning to fire back at the “misinformation” which spread about their family the day prior.

Coen woke up Thursday still offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after withdrawing his name from the Jaguars’ coaching search on Wednesday. Coen agreed to return to Tampa Bay under a new contract that would make him one of the highest-paid coordinators in the NFL. But he never signed that contract and as Thursday came to a close, it was clear Coen had had a change of heart.

Liam Coen has a change of heart, leaving Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The problem from Tampa Bay’s point of view was that Coen secretly traveled to Jacksonville to meet with Jaguars owner Shad Khan on Thursday, per Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. The Bucs were “furious” with Coen, whom Tampa Bay had not heard from since Wednesday afternoon. When Coen finally called head coach Todd Bowles at around 5 p.m. ET Thursday, he said he had been with one of his kids at a doctor’s appointment. Coen briefly mentioned to Bowles his desire to look back into the Jaguars’ opening after Khan fired general manager Trent Baalke Wednesday afternoon.

Ashley Coen explained that their son was in the hospital seeing a specialist for his autoimmune disease.

I hate that I even have to say this, but when people are negative about my kids, I will not be silent. Our son is sick, we were at the hospital yesterday seeing a specialist for his autoimmune disease. Please don’t spread misinformation and assume because you heard one side.

— Ashley Coen (@ashleyfordcoen) January 24, 2025

“I hate that I even have to say this, but when people are negative about my kids, I will not be silent,” she wrote on X. “Our son is sick, we were at the hospital yesterday seeing a specialist for his autoimmune disease. Please don’t spread misinformation and assume because you heard one side.”

Coen first revealed his son’s sickness last month, according to Greg Auman of FOX Sports.

“When Coen was first asked about being courted for an NFL head coaching job a month ago, his answer on the podium was that he didn’t have time to think about it because he had a child sick at home,” Auman shared on X.

Jacksonville Jaguars expected to hire Liam Coen as new head coach in unprecedented move

Coen told the Buccaneers Thursday night he was taking the job in Jacksonville, and he and the Jaguars reached a verbal agreement on a contract overnight. An official announcement is expected on Friday. In landing Coen, the Jaguars are getting one of the league’s best offensive play callers who crafted one of the best offenses in Buccaneers history in his first year on the job.

He inherited the league’s No. 23 ranked offense from 2023 and guided that unit to a No. 3 finish in 2024. The Buccaneers averaged 399.5 yards and 29.5 points per game under Coen. Tampa Bay set franchise best marks in yards per carry (5.25), completion (71.5%) and third-down conversion rate (50.9%). Quarterback Baker Mayfield had his best season as a pro, throwing for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with a 106.8 passer rating.

Perhaps most impressive, Coen fixed the Buccaneers’ long-suffering ground game. Tampa Bay had the NFL‘s worst rushing attack in 2022 and ’23. With Coen calling plays, the Buccaneers finished fourth in rushing this season. Tampa Bay set a franchise record with 2,536 rushing yards, 1,122 coming from rookie tailback Bucky Irving.

Now, Coen will work with talents such as quarterback Trevor Lawrence and receiver Brian Thomas Jr. in hopes of turning things around in Jacksonville. The next step for Coen and the Jaguars is finding a new general manager and filling out the coaching staff.