The worst-kept secret for Kentucky football is a secret no more.
The program’s new offensive coordinator is its old offensive coordinator. Liam Coen is returning to Lexington after one season as the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator.
UK confirmed Coen’s return Tuesday, which had been assumed for weeks amid multiple reports that Coen and Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops were waiting for the NFL season to end to finalize the hire. Coen was Kentucky’s offensive coordinator during the 2021 season.
“I’m very excited to welcome Liam and his family back to Kentucky,” Stoops said in a news release. “It was evident that he made a dramatic impact in the one season he was with our team. He brings a great deal of knowledge, and he also brings an excitement that players and recruits can relate to.”
Coen actually agreed to the terms of a three-year contract on Dec. 12. The deal will pay him $1.7 million next season and increase by $100,000 over the next two years. The contract was released by UK’s Office of Legal Counsel.
He came to UK from the Rams, where he was assistant quarterbacks coach in 2020. After the Rams won the Super Bowl and offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell was hired as the Minnesota Vikings’ head coach, Rams Coach Sean McVay recruited Coen back to Los Angeles.
The move comes after Stoops fired offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello, who came from the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers to replace Coen in February. Scangarello’s hire was supposed to continue the success Coen found in Lexington since he used a similar version of the McVay/Kyle Shanahan offensive system that Coen did, but Kentucky’s offense struggled for most of the 2022 season despite having projected 2023 NFL Draft first-round pick Will Levis at quarterback.
Scangarello was fired after the regular-season finale. Kentucky used a committee approach with multiple assistants helping run the offense in the Music City Bowl, but that group found no success while being shut out by Iowa’s top-10 ranked defense.
Meanwhile, Coen’s return to the NFL also did not go according to plan.
Rams offensive coordinator was seen as a job just one step away from an NFL head coaching position, but the Los Angeles offense floundered while trying to defend its Super Bowl title. The Rams finished the season 5-12. Only five teams scored fewer touchdowns.
McVay calls offensive plays for the Rams. By returning to Kentucky, Coen will be handed the reins of his own offense again.
“Ashley and I are thrilled to be back in Lexington” Coen said in the release. “I want to thank Coach Stoops and Mitch Barnhart for the amazing opportunity. I also want to thank Coach McVay for his mentorship and guidance and the Rams organization for their support throughout this process. I can’t wait to get to work in helping lead the UK offense and bring a championship to Big Blue Nation.”
During his first stint in Lexington, Coen recruited Levis as a transfer from Penn State and helped transform him from a run-first backup into a top draft prospect. With Coen as coordinator, UK averaged 88 more yards and 10 more points per game than the Wildcats did with Scangarello at the helm. Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson broke the single-season school records for catches and receiving yards during Coen’s season in charge.
Luring Coen back to Lexington represents a significant financial investment for the program.
Kentucky was set to pay Scangarello $1 million next season and still owes him his monthly salary through the end of his contract in June 2025. At $1.7 million, Coen’s salary would have ranked eighth among college football assistant coaches at public universities last season, according to a USA Today database.
Unlike UK’s other assistant coach contracts, there is no buyout in Coen’s deal that he would owe the university if he leaves Kentucky for another job before the end of the contract in June 2026. Instead, he is required only to inform Stoops and Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart before he or his agent seeks other employment.
The offense Coen will take over now will look different than the one he left just less than a year ago.
Levis and star running back Chris Rodriguez are headed to the NFL Draft. Kentucky’s rebuilt offensive line, which lost three starters from 2021, struggled for most of the season and remains very much a work in progress.
The good news is the receiving options look much deeper than in 2021 when Robinson was Levis’ only consistent target. Wide receivers Barion Brown and Dane Key broke the UK freshman records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns respectively during their debut seasons. Redshirt freshman Jordan Dingle and freshman Josh Kattus emerged as productive pass-catchers at tight end. Senior wide receiver Tayvion Robinson, who Coen helped recruit as a transfer from Virginia Tech, announced this week he would use his pandemic season of eligibility to return to Kentucky.
In December, Kentucky signed former North Carolina State quarterback Devin Leary, the No. 1-ranked quarterback in the transfer portal, and former Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards this season, as replacements for Levis and Rodriguez. The staff also began rebuilding the offensive line with Northern Illinois left tackle Marques Cox and Alabama offensive guard Tanner Bowles joining the transfer class.
“Bringing in the coordinator that I believe I’m going to get on the offensive side of the ball will help,” Stoops said after the Music City Bowl. “It will help hit the reset button.”
Coen will hope those additions help improve an offense that ranked 126th of 131 teams in sacks allowed (46) and 106th in red-zone touchdown percentage (53.2).
By luring Coen back to Kentucky, Stoops is betting the pro-style offense the team has used the last two seasons can find more success, but he has been up front about the changes needed from the 2022 version of the offense. The plodding pace of Scangarello’s scheme was particularly cumbersome. Stoops and other coaches also acknowledged parts of the offense might have been too complex for a group of young offensive players.
“I want what I think everyone wants and that’s ultimately to score points,” Stoops said after firing Scangarello. “I still believe, and will always, balance is important. Being physical is important. It’s important to me. I think it’s who we are. It’s an identity and I think it’s important.
“But I also believe in getting the ball down the field and explosive plays. That’s something that I want to get better, I want to continue to improve. I want to create explosive plays. Is that tempo? Is it run-pass? All that, you put it together. You have to look at things and analyze things and always try to adapt.”
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