Pro Bowl QB Confident Coen Can Help Unlock Lawrence’s Potential
By: Gavin Oliver February 8, 2025

Baker Mayfield has become somewhat of a head-coach maker over his two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Twice in as many years, Mayfield has seen his offensive coordinator leave Tampa for a head coaching job elsewhere. First, Dave Canales helped the NFL journeyman Mayfield revive his career in 2023 before becoming the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Then in 2024, Mayfield experienced even more success and enjoyed a career year in Tampa under former Bucs OC Liam Coen, who ultimately took the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coaching job in late January.

“I’m happy for Liam. He deserves that opportunity,” Mayfield said at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, via SiriusXM NFL Radio.

Now Coen, regarded as an excellent play-caller and offensive guru, is tasked with getting the most out of former Clemson star Trevor Lawrence’s talent as the Jaguars’ franchise quarterback.

Mayfield – a former No. 1 overall pick, like Lawrence – believes Coen can do just that and help maximize Lawrence’s potential, similar to how Coen helped Mayfield thrive in 2024.

“For Trevor, Liam taught the game of football to all of our offensive guys, and he helped me out tremendously with pre-snap adjustments and being able to eliminate and process information quick,” said Mayfield, who has passed for 8,544 yards and 69 touchdowns across his two seasons in Tampa from 2023-24 en route to the first two Pro Bowl selections of his career.

“So, Trevor’s gonna have a guy that’s really gonna grow into him and lean into that and help him out – not just on the field, but off the field. So, I’m excited for Trevor.”

Since being drafted out of Clemson with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Lawrence has completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 13,815 yards and 69 touchdowns with 46 interceptions over 60 games from 2021-24.

In 2024, Lawrence had a 60.6 completion percentage with 2,045 passing yards, 11 touchdown passes and seven interceptions in 10 games. The 25-year-old was placed on injured reserve Dec. 4 after his shoulder injury and concussion, and he underwent successful surgery on Dec. 17 to repair the AC joint sprain in his left shoulder.

The 39-year-old Coen, now the youngest head coach in Jaguars history and their third head coach in five years, recently made it clear that Jacksonville’s offense will revolve and be built around their franchise quarterback.

“How do we make Trevor Lawrence and this offense as dynamic and explosive as we can be? We’ve got to build it around him as well,” Coen said. “We’ve got to make every part of this about improvement, and he will be a part of that process. He’s earned that right. I cannot respect his toughness and mentality and work ethic more than I do already from afar, and this will all be about Trevor.”

–Photo courtesy Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images