For Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, he has gotten used to having to replace key members on his staff.
McVay certainly has a knack for identifying talent in the coaching ranks, so all eyes will be on new offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen spent three seasons with McVay and the Rams before moving on to become Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. However, his college stint did not last long as McVay brought him in for the same role on his staff.
Even while Coen was away, he made sure to keep track of Los Angeles’ offense and he described how he saw it evolve throughout the 2021 season via Stu Jackson of TheRams.com:
“You really started to see the evolution of the gun run really early on, especially in the beginning of the season, and then the drop back pass was kind of ever-evolving,” Coen said. “Then you started to see, when they hit that a little bit of that lull there for a few games, them truly get back to running the football and getting a little bit more of that identity back until they were really comfy in terms of getting (to), ‘Alright, this is who we are, this is what we need to do to be successful moving forward.'”
Coen happens to be good friends with fellow Rams coach Zac Robinson who he used to speak with frequently about the team’s schemes:
“I would see something on film on those Wednesday film reviews, and I would text Zac Robinson and be like, ‘Hey, what are you guys doing here?'” Coen said. “He’s one of my best friends, so I was able to have dialogue there and be able to get some answers, which helped me as a coach be able to present that to the players at Kentucky in a better way.”
Because Coen kept tabs on the Rams, he feels confident that he will be able to hit the ground running with the team’s offense:
“I think being able to keep up with it throughout the season really helped me be able to walk into this building and understand more,” Coen said.
McVay will still maintain playcalling duties, but it will be exciting to see how Coen makes his stamp on the offense for 2022.
