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Two years ago, Bucs head coach and defensive play-caller Todd Bowles helped break Liam Coen into being an offensive coordinator and play-caller during the 2024 season. That year, Bowles and Coen teamed up to win 10 games and an NFC South championship before the Jaguars hired Coen away to coach in Jacksonville last year.

On Tuesday during the first of two Bucs – Jaguars joint practices, Coen and his offense clearly got the better of his former boss and Tampa Bay’s defense right from the start. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence launched a pass off play action 50 yards down the field to receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who had a step on cornerback Zyon McCollum, for a touchdown on the first play of 11-on-11.

Lawrence started the practice incredibly hot, picking apart the Bucs secondary, and at times, having all day to throw. There were some moments where the Bucs defense responded, most notably with pressure by defensive tackle Calijah Kancey, but those were few and far between.

With the exception of the Bucs defense coming up with a stop during the Jaguars’ offensive drive in the two-minute drill at the end of practice, Jacksonville’s offense was more physical and executed far better during Tuesday’s practice.

This was a stark contrast to Tampa Bay’s joint practices against the New York Jets two weeks ago where the Bucs clearly won both days.

Bucs OLB Rueben Bain Jr. – Photo by: IMAGN Images via Reuters Connect

Still, despite his offense having success against Bowles’ defense, Coen liked what he saw from Tampa Bay’s revamped unit, which features a lot of new faces that weren’t around in the 2024 season.

“A lot of new faces, but I think they’re fast, especially in the box,” Coen said. “Like their front seven I feel [is] faster. I’ve got to obviously watch it to see the true individual performances, but I feel like they have a fast defense. I think they’ve got multiple players at different levels that can make plays. I thought Zyon kind of stood out a bit. Antoine again with the punch out early on right away. It was great to compete against these guys.

“What I was so looking forward to was, we got a lot of static looks from New Orleans and Carolina – and very similar defensive structures. And so to see more chaos, to see more bullets flying all over the place is so good for us. We get some of it against our own defense, but you can’t simulate this speed and the rush and the way that these guys play. I think they’re (the Bucs defense) going to be just fine.”

Coen was very complimentary of Tampa Bay’s defense and noted the rebuilt defensive front, which will see four new faces up front this year with defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson, outside linebacker Rueben Bain Jr. and inside linebackers Josiah Trotter and Alex Anzalone. Trotter made several standout plays in the run game, while Anzalone tussled with Jaguars offensive lineman Ezra Cleveland as the two went to the ground and a skirmish broke out.

Lawrence came to Cleveland’s defense and pushed Anzalone, which Coen called a “hair on hair fight” due to the fact that both Lawrence and Anzalone sport long, flowing hair.

“Was really appreciative of Tampa and Todd and the way they worked with us to get this thing organized,” Coen said. “It was physical. It was a physical practice.”

Liam Coen Praises New Bucs Offensive Coordinator Zac Robinson

Liam Coen’s first year with the Jaguars was a huge success as he turned a hapless 4-13 team into a 13-4 AFC South division winner, turning around the career of quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the process. Without Coen, Tampa Bay’s offense struggled with injuries and ineffectiveness in 2025 under another rookie play-caller in Josh Grizzard.

The Bucs’ scoring average fell from averaging just under 30 points per game in 2024 to just over 22 points per game in 2025 – a full touchdown less over the course of the season.

As a result, Todd Bowles fired Grizzard and hired Zac Robinson, who had called plays for two years in Atlanta as the Falcons offensive coordinator, to replace him. Robinson was among those on Raheem Morris’ staff that was fired. Now Robinson, who is best friends with Coen from their days together in Los Angeles working under Rams head coach Sean McVay, is trying to replicate the success Coen had in Tampa Bay in 2024. That year the Bucs had a top 5 scoring offense and a top 5 running game.

Coen had this to say when asked what Tampa Bay fans can expect from Robinson and his offense this year.

“Zac is diligent, detailed and works at it,” Coen said. “He knows the game from a quarterback’s lens. Obviously has a strong rapport already with Baker. I think what Zac does is he works extremely diligently hard at situational football, putting guys in positions to be successful, utilizing motion to an advantage. Went to Atlanta and got a little bit more of the wide zone stuff and was able to get people running and get Bijan in position to be an MVP candidate. I know when he has skill players he’ll put them in position to succeed.”