LEXINGTON, Ky. — Be honest, before he was hired as Kentucky football's offensive coordinator, you had never heard of Liam Coen.
It wasn't like Coen was a big name to the outside world. He had been an FCS quarterback at UMass and an offensive coordinator at Maine before Sean McVay brought him to Los Angeles as the Rams' assistant wide receivers coach in 2018.
That's where Mark Stoops found him, hiding in plain sight as assistant quarterbacks coach, before convincing Coen to leave the bright lights of L.A. for an offensive coordinator job in the SEC.
One year later, Coen is headed back to La La Land. It's not official yet, but it will be soon. Once the contract is finalized, Coen will be rejoining McVay as offensive coordinator with the now Super Bowl champion Rams, replacing Kevin O'Connell, who last Thursday was named head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.
Coen is leaving some big shoes to fill, but here's the thing: Stoops knows how to fill them. He's done it once. He'll do it again.
Why? Because Stoops knows exactly what he wants. That's the most important thing. When he parted ways with friend and play-caller Eddie Gran after the 2020 season, Stoops wanted a more balanced attack, one with a strong foundation in a physical run game but one that included a more efficient pass game with the ability to produce the big play.
That's what led Stoops to McVay and ultimately Coen. To say the hire was a stroke of Stoops' genius might be overselling it, but just a bit. UK's 2021 offense produced a 1,300-yard rusher in Chris Rodriguez, a 1,300-yard receiver in Wan'Dale Robinson and a 2,800-yard passer in quarterback Will Levis.
Bottom line: It played a major role in Kentucky going 10-3 last season, the program's second 10-win season since 1977.
The 36-year-old Coen is a rising star. McVay's decision to bring him back to L.A. is just another stamp of approval on the resume. Coen is smart, relates well with his players and flat-out loves the game. He returns to a staff and a system currently producing NFL head coaches at a ridiculous rate. The names: Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers; McVay with the Rams; Zac Taylor with the Bengals; Matt LaFleur with the Packers; Kevin Stefanski with the Browns; Arthur Smith with the Falcons; O'Connell with the Vikings. All those coaches came out of the system.
Coen may be leaving Lexington, but the system is staying put. It's the reason Stoops just hired Zach Yenser as his offensive line coach. Yenser was an assistant OL coach with the 49ers under Shanahan, the coach who learned the system from his father, Mike, then taught it to McVay, who taught it to Coen.
True, this is a little late in the carousel for a staff to lose a coach. But remember, Coen didn't officially join the UK staff last season until after the Rams' 2020 campaign ended with a playoff loss to the Packers on Jan. 16, 2021. The guess here is Stoops has had advanced knowledge of what could be coming and has prepared appropriately.
Now all we can go by is Stoops' track record, which speaks for itself.
Brad White has turned out be a terrific hire as defensive coordinator. And White replaced Matt House, who left to join the Kansas City Chiefs as linebackers coach before being hired by Brian Kelly in December to be the defensive coordinator at LSU.
Stoops' first offensive coordinator hire at UK was Neal Brown, now the head coach at West Virginia. After a misstep with Shannon Dawson — corrected quickly — Stoops brought in Gran. That didn't end the way the two men wanted, but don't forget Gran helped UK to five straight bowl games. His move of Lynn Bowden from wide receiver to quarterback saved the 2019 season.
And, oh yeah, Stoops hired a fellow named Vince Marrow to be his recruiting coordinator. That seems to have worked out.
Often times, the most important piece in the hiring process is the person doing the hiring. Mark Stoops hired Liam Coen. He spotted one rising star, he can spot another.
