Report: UK’s Liam Coen ‘a prime candidate’ to be Los Angeles Rams’ next OC
Liam Coen might be the favorite to be the Los Angeles Rams’ next offensive coordinator.
Current Rams OC Kevin O’Connell will coach his final game with the team against the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl on Sunday night; he was recently named as the next head coach of the Minnesota Vikings. It sounds like Rams head coach Sean McVay might be ready to tap another former assistant to run his offense beginning this fall.
According to a report by ESPN writer and NFL “insider” Adam Schefter, Coen “is a prime candidate” for the vacancy, per league sources. Coen spent three seasons with the Rams, including the last one as an assistant quarterbacks coach, before being named as UK’s offensive coordinator in December 2020.
Schefter also named ex-Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson, also a former quarterbacks coach under McVay, and current running backs coach Thomas Brown — who interviewed for the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching vacancy — as potential successors to O’Connell, the third offensive assistant to go from McVay’s staff to a head coaching job in the NFL in the last four seasons (joining Matt LaFleur and Zac Taylor).
Coen in his first season at Kentucky was tasked with bringing “balance” to an offense that was previously dominated by the run. While the rushing game still figured heavily in UK’s scheme, the Wildcats attempted 123 more passes in 2021 versus 2020 (366 to 243) and, more importantly, were more efficient and productive in their passing attack; starter Will Levis threw for more than 2,800 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2021, far outpacing Terry Wilson’s 1,187 yards and seven touchdowns the year before. Kentucky in 2020 finished 115th in total offense despite fielding the nation’s 35th best rushing offense; it was 47th in total offense in 2021 and 36th in scoring. Kentucky ended No. 25 in rushing and No. 71 in passing in Coen’s first season.
This story was originally published February 13, 2022 at 10:11 AM.
