Kentucky football offensive coordinator Liam Coen reportedly considering return to NFL

Kentucky fans waking up Saturday morning to the latest coaching carousel news are likely feeling some déjà vu.

UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen is set to interview for the open Chicago Bears offensive coordinator job, according to a report from CBSSports NFL insider Jonathan Jones. Coen originally came to UK from the Los Angeles Rams in 2021 but lasted only one season in Lexington before returning to the NFL as the Rams OC for the 2022 season.

Kentucky coach Mark Stoops was able to convince Coen to return to Kentucky in 2023 — after firing Rich Scangarello, who had replaced Coen as offensive coordinator — but the CBS report suggests Coen is at least considering making his second stay at UK just as short as the first.

Coen’s UK contract runs through the 2025 season. It will pay him $1.8 million in 2024. Coen would owe UK a $500,000 buyout if he left this offseason.

When Coen returned to the NFL in 2022 he looked on the fast track to an NFL head coaching position considering the number of Rams offensive coordinators who had used that job as a steppingstone to lead their own team. But that season did not go according to plan as the defending Super Bowl champion Rams struggled to a 5-12 record amid a number of key injuries on offense.

While Coen held the offensive coordinator title, head coach Sean McVay called plays.

“When you go and call plays at a high level in the SEC and then you stop calling plays, I probably missed that maybe more than I thought I was going to,” Coen said after returning to UK. “There’s stress, there’s anxiety, there’s a lot of things that go into it, but there’s no better feeling when you see guys have success. To be able to overcome things. So, I really missed calling plays and truly leading.

“Ultimately, (in Los Angeles) there’s just a cap on how much you can truly go and be yourself and lead because Sean runs the show for the most part.”

At the time of his return, Coen, who was the 12th-highest paid assistant coach at a public university this season, cited the greater impact he could have on college players still learning the game as well as easier travel for his father, who lives in Rhode Island, to see Coen’s young son in Lexington than Los Angeles as reasons for the move back to Kentucky. He said he hoped to “plant some roots” by staying in a job for “a few years at least,” but he did not rule out one day returning to the NFL.

“Am I a college coach? Am I an NFL coach? That’s a great question,” Coen said in January. “I don’t think either, to be honest.

“... To say I’ll never go back to the NFL at some point in my career, I can’t say that. This is the pinnacle of our profession. To be choosing to leave is a difficult one to wrap your head around at times, but really, really thankful and think that this is the right path.”

The return of Coen and addition of top-ranked transfer quarterback Devin Leary was supposed to lead to a resurgence for Kentucky’s offense in 2023, but the unit struggled to find consistency for much of the season.

UK did average 8.4 more points per game than the year before but still ranked 100th nationally in yards per game (339.5). Like during Scangarello’s season in charge of the Kentucky offense, pace of play was a frequent issue with Kentucky ranking last nationally in total plays despite playing one more game than the 12 teams immediately ahead of it in that category.

Much of those struggles can be attributed to Leary failing to live up to his transfer portal hype and growing pains at the wide receiver position. After the regular season finale, UK fired wide receivers coach Scott Woodward, a close friend of Coen who followed Coen to Lexington in 2021.

Despite the 2023 disappointment, Coen and the coaching staff have had little trouble attracting top transfer talent over the last month.

Former five-star recruit and Georgia backup quarterback Brock Vandagriff signed with the program as Leary’s successor. Former Ohio State running back Chip Trayanum and former North Texas wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin, who topped the 1,000-yard plateau in 2023, were added as likely starters. On Friday, Kentucky added Tennessee offensive lineman Gerald Mincey to compete for the starting right tackle job.

To date, Kentucky has kept its top returning offensive playmakers in the fold, but that process figures to last through the spring transfer portal window in April.

It is no sure thing that Coen will be able to land an NFL coordinator job after Kentucky’s struggles in 2023 and the Rams’ issues the season before, but the Bears appear to be at a point of transition after firing all but two offensive coaches while retaining embattled head coach Matt Eberflus. The Bears have the top pick in the 2024 draft where they could take star quarterbacks Caleb Williams or Drake Maye.

Coen would presumably call plays in Chicago, unlike his stint as coordinator with the Rams. It is also likely that Stoops’ appearing on the verge of leaving Kentucky for Texas A&M in November only to announce his return after a vocal portion of the Aggies fan base voiced its displeasure with his potential hire will factor in Coen’s perception of the long-term viability of staying at Kentucky.

If Coen does leave for the Bears or another NFL position, the pressure on Stoops in what already looked like the most important offseason of his UK tenure only increases.

Unlike when a head coach leaves and all players are allowed to immediately enter the transfer portal, offensive players who have yet to graduate would not be able to enter the portal until the April window even if Coen departs. That means receivers Barion Brown and Dane Key as well as four-star Lexington Christian Academy freshman quarterback Cutter Boley would at least stick at UK through the first spring practice with a new offensive coordinator.

Graduates can enter the portal at any time though, leaving open the possibility that Vandagriff, Trayanum and Maclin could reconsider their decisions to play at Kentucky.

Stoops made a point to stay in the same Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan coaching tree when he replaced Coen the first time, but Scangarello proved to be a poor fit. Would Stoops stick with the same offensive system or try something new as competing in the SEC only grows more difficult with Texas and Oklahoma joining the league and the conference ditching its two-division format?

For now, Kentucky can still hope Coen does not receive an NFL offer or elects to stick at Kentucky regardless of any NFL interest.

But the offseason just got a little more stressful.

The high point of UK football’s 2023 season has lost some luster in Mark Stoops’ eyes

Why Tim Couch might never have turned into a UK football legend in transfer portal era

How spring practice will help determine what’s next for UK football’s transfer portal class

How the Gator Bowl might have already shown impact of new UK football assistant coach

The 12-team playoff era is coming. What would UK have to do to make the field in 2024?