Now the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Liam Coen was once Mark Stoops' dying hope for an offense that could win the SEC. Before Coen arrived, Stoops was known for a ground-and-pound style that involved very little creativity. The game plan was to keep pounding inside and hope the other team made a mistake. But it seems Coen made the mistake, after all.
In a recent interview, Coen admitted that he regretted his 2023 Lexington comeback. Coen said, "I kind of chased some money a little bit, and also it was an ego decision. I wasn’t calling plays in L.A. I knew what I was getting into, but I did miss that... That was my biggest regret, going back to Kentucky in ’23."
But 2021 was a special run.
Liam Coen says leaving Sean McVay and the Rams for Kentucky is the biggest regret of his career because he chased money, made an ego decision, and realized he walked away when things got hard
— Josh Chambers (@JoshChambers) August 22, 2026
“My first year, we went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots, and I’m like, ‘Oh,… pic.twitter.com/HvLVCbzmGZ
Coen came to Lexington right when Kentucky needed him most
There were signs of regression as the Stoops era waned, leading him to proactively look to the NFL for a spark of genius. As a result, Coen was hired as offensive coordinator in 2021. Stoops had seen Kentucky go 4-6 in the COVID-impacted 2020 season, and it was the 63-3 drubbing vs. Alabama that specifically had fans hoping for an offensive makeover. It worked.
Coen morphed Kentucky's offense into something that at least looked the part. Yes, the run was still the focus, but there was a lot more window dressing. Kentucky finished the 2021 season with10 wins, and quarterback Will Levis was tabbed as a potential Heisman candidate coming back in 2022. Kentucky had a 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same campaign.
Coen lasted just that year though, and Kentucky moved on to Rich Scangarello at OC. Scangarello struggled to adjust to the college game after being in the NFL, unlike Coen. It was never the same from that point forward.
Kentucky football was unable to capture magic twice under Liam Coen
Levis dropped from 2800 passing yards to 2400 and Chris Rodriguez failed to recreate his 1,000-yard season from the Coen era. Mark Stoops then reached out to Coen to see if he would come back. The Los Angeles Rams, the job Coen had left for, won just five games. Coen wasn't calling plays on the NFL level, and the allure of Lexington was strong.
So, he came back. "Kentucky called back, and we had just loved it there. It was beautiful. It was amazing. We had our first child there," Coen explained. 2023 was more of a struggle than 2021, however, with Kentucky going 7-5 after starting 5-0. That led Coen calling it quits again, heading back to the NFL, and this time to stay.
“At the end of the day, I probably wouldn’t have gotten Tampa if I hadn’t gone there, so it did work out in the end. But it was my biggest regret of moves in my career,” Coen concluded.
Now Kentucky sits on the verge of a new season with renewed hope under another offensive guru, in Will Stein. But it hurts to hear a guy say Kentucky was the biggest regret of his entire, undeniably illustrious career.
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