The Falcons have never been the NFL’s model of success. The saying never throw stones from a glass house rings true in Atlanta; however, I can’t help but laugh at the misery going around in the NFC South.
First, it was the Saints, who are in the market for a new head coach. While New Orleans never had a chance at Ben Johnson, the consensus top candidate of the hiring cycle, many believed they had an excellent shot at landing the second-best candidate — Aaron Glenn.
In their organization’s defense, Glenn not only played for the Saints but also coached in New Orleans for five years on Sean Payton’s staff. When given the opportunity to take over, he passed. He didn’t pass for some premier job either. He passed for the Jets, a franchise that has been the laughingstock of the NFL for going on a decade.
The Jets are a dumpster fire, and somehow, Glenn chose New York over New Orleans, but they’re not the only division rival losing this hiring cycle.
The Buccaneers aren’t in the market for a head coach after winning the division for a fourth consecutive season, but they did lose a critical piece of their staff in one of the most embarrassing ways possible.
According to Jeremy Fowler, the Jaguars and Liam Coen are in a verbal agreement for the former Bucs offensive coordinator to become Jacksonville’s new head coach. Coen replaced Dave Canales, who took the Panthers’ head coaching job last offseason, and he improved Tampa’s offense dramatically in 2024.
The Bucs offense averaged 29.5 points and 400 yards per game, compared to 20.5 points and 313 yards last season. Moreover, Mayfield’s 106.8 passer rating was a franchise record, while the offense was the only one in the NFL that ranked top five in both passing yards and rushing yards.
The Buccaneers ranked in the top five in total offense (399.6 yards per game), scoring (29.5 points per game), rushing, passing, third-down conversions (a league-high 50.9%) and red zone efficiency (66.7%). That’s everything you want in an offense and why Coen was such a popular candidate.
It’s difficult losing a coordinator, and Bucs fans know that better than most, but it’s how they did that’s so funny from the Falcons’ perspective. Here is the rundown from Jaguars beat reporter Michael DeRocco:
“The decision capped a two-day saga in which Coen pulled himself from consideration for the Jaguars job, then agreed to a contract extension with the Buccaneers that would have made him the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator, and then changed his mind after Jacksonville reached out to ask him to reconsider after it parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke on Wednesday afternoon.
Coen traveled to Jacksonville on Thursday afternoon and met with owner Shad Khan and interim general manager Ethan Waugh. A source told Laine that Coen reached out to Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles earlier Thursday night to tell him about his renewed interest in the Jaguars’ job, but Coen did not speak with anyone else in the Bucs’ front office.”
The Falcons’ biggest rival will always be the Saints, but it’s the Bucs who have been the class of the division, so it’s good to see them squirming.
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