Patience: Liam Coen and his Kentucky Future are in a Holding Pattern
Kentucky fans are anxiously awaiting for more news about Liam Coen. Will the Wildcats’ offensive coordinator actually stick around for another year, or is he one-and-done again? You probably will not be getting an answer to that question anytime soon.
We first learned of Coen’s interest in returning to the NFL Friday night. CBS NFL Insider Jonathan Jones reported the Bears planned to interview Kentucky’s 38-year-old play-caller. Since then, there hasn’t been much from the Chicago camp.
The BBN discovered there was some interest between Coen and Ohio State, but that fizzled within 24 hours. There also appears to have been some conversations between important people in Lexington (more on that later). For the most part, it’s difficult to discern if anything is happening between Coen and the Bears organization.
So why isn’t anything happening? Things move slower in NFL coaching searches. They aren’t rushing to make hires in time for Signing Day, or to avoid transfer portal departures en masse. They take their time to find “the right guy.” Right now we’ve entered a holding pattern and will likely remain there for another week, or longer.
Coen was not officially hired by the Rams until Feb. 21. That is an extreme. It happened so late because the Rams played in the Super Bowl and the previous OC did not leave until late either. Even the most expeditious NFL coaching searches don’t get finished until the end of the month. Bill Belichick knew he was getting Bill O’Brien and the addition was not announced until Jan. 26.
Unless Liam Coen decides to nip this in the bud and make an announcement that he’s remaining at Kentucky in 2024 through hell or high water, the Big Blue Nation must remain patient for offensive coordinator news as the NFL coaching search wheels slowly move through the month of January and into February.
Are Coen and Stoops actually on the same page?
Speaking for the first time to the Kentucky Sports Radio audience since the news originally broke, Matt Jones shared the latest from his perspective Tuesday morning. KSR’s No. 1 Chicago Bears fan believes there are multiple factors for the Kentucky play-caller to consider, particularly QB Caleb Williams, who could be picked by Chicago with the No. 1 overall pick.
“I think it’s fair to say he’s a candidate for the job and I think it’s fair to say they’ve done their due diligence and they are looking into him,” said Jones. “Is he the favorite? I don’t know, I can’t say, but I think the Bears and Coen are legitimate possibility. What I don’t know, is he the first choice? And then secondly, I don’t know if he would take it for certain one way or the other.”
If Caleb Williams is a generational talent, he will build a potential Hall of Fame career for whoever coaches him. That could be enough to draw Coen away from Kentucky. Many wondered if he was also being pushed away by drama within the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. That is not a factor right now.
“I have had conversations with people definitively close to both people, Stoops and Coen, and I am confident to say that if he were to leave, it won’t be because he didn’t feel like he had control,” said Jones.
“I think he feels like going forward he has all the control he needs. He got to pick the quarterback, he’s gotten to pick some of the players. If he decides to go — I was worried little bit that it was a little ‘are they on the same page?’ — I can say pretty definitively that’s not the case.”
Everybody is now on the same page in Lexington. Now we just wait to see if Coen will definitively stay in Lexington.
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