Liam Coen Calls Baker Mayfield “An Igniter,” Explains Attraction
February 6th, 2024
New Bucs offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
The Bucs rolled out their new playcaller for the media today at One Buc Palace.
The Liam Coen era is in full swing.
The 38-year-old is sort of a Tampa Bay guy. He said his dad lives near Port Charlotte and plans to move to Tampa “pretty soon.” So the younger Coen is familiar with the area and really wanted to be here geographically speaking.
Coen also wanted to join his former Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield.
When Mayfield arrived in Los Angeles in December of 2022, he landed at a team that was near rock bottom. They were losing and down their starting quarterback, Matthew Stafford, and Coen said Mayfield’s presence changed the franchise.
“He’s an igniter, and that’s the type of guy that you want to be around,” Coen said of Mayfield. “He came into our organization at a really difficult time, a time that we weren’t having a lot of fun. And he came in and made football fun for a lot of people at that time.
“He came in and made football competitive again at practice, and he’s jawing at Jalen Ramsey and they’re going at it. That was something that we hadn’t felt in a little while. Right? It was a tough year. And the opportunity to be around him potentially every day, to coach a guy that’s as competitive as he is, that has that moxie — I mean that’s fun. You can’t coach that. And when a guy has that ability and the ability to communicate with others, that’s something that I really wanted to be around. And that’s very intriguing for us.”
Now the Bucs go have to sign Mayfield to a multiyear contract, otherwise he’s sure to get the expensive franchise player tag, locking him in Tampa for just one season.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:26 pm
Listen to the guys on this forum, NOT his coaches, his team mates, his x coaches, the people he competes against.
Mayfield is a Dud, the keyboard warriors on this forum know it, just ask them.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:26 pm
Let’s goooo!
February 6th, 2024 at 12:34 pm
He looks like Mike Glennon, just shorter and chubby.
February 6th, 2024 at 12:41 pm
Wish him all the best!
February 6th, 2024 at 12:44 pm
Moxie? I used to hear that on old black and white movies from the 30’s!
Is that an NFL buzzword now?
How about “old school”? Baker plays the game like older dudes remember QB’s.
QB’s used to be TOUGH. I remember watching a Bengals game in the old Riverfront Stadium against their rivals the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is when the Steelers had their dynasty and the Bengals had….Bill Bergey.
So Terry Bradshaw escapes the pocket rolls right and BAM! There’s Bergey to light him up. Bradshaw staggered to the sidelines and fell to all fours and then began hurling! The freaking stadium went wild. Bergey had knocked the puke out of Bradshaw. But Terry was a tough nut. Cleaned himself up, took a sip of water and was back on the field the next series. THAT’S OLD SCHOOL!!!
February 6th, 2024 at 1:03 pm
“He’s an igniter, and that’s the type of guy that you want to be around,” Analytics, stop watches, pro days, combines, dashes, tests has made picking players so analytical that guys with intangibles are over looked. How did Brock Purdy end up at last in the draft? Because you can,t measure a man,s heart. Why are so many first round picks busts. SaMe reason. Baker is a fighter and a winner. Sign him. Evans is gravy. Baker will hit the open rookie.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:04 pm
PFFFT. He was 2 and 3 at LA, cut him
February 6th, 2024 at 1:11 pm
Baker is one of those players who never lost a game. Time just ran out before his team could score the points to win. Other players love that. Its additive. Wish I could have played with him.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:14 pm
I just want us to beat Carolina every time we play them. Wishing Coen well.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:15 pm
beeej, you know anything about who was left to put on the field by the time Baker got to LA? Thought not..You would GM the Bucs to perennial 5-12 seasons.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:26 pm
Baker Mayfield is the igniter of scoring 14 points on offense 😂
February 6th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
“Mayfield’s presence changed the franchise”
LMAO. He went 1-3 with the Rams.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:30 pm
“that has that moxie”
There it is again. LMAO. His “moxie” got us to .526.
February 6th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Gut feel is still that Baker and Mike will bolt to the highest bidders. Can see the Falcons chomping at the bit for Mayfield, and the Texans luring Evans. As traumatic as that will be, money talks, and the Bucs have painted themselves into a corner this year and next. Yes we could make it work financially, but the ‘supporting cast’ would really take a massive hit. That’s NOT how you build a championship team.
February 6th, 2024 at 2:18 pm
He’s my starting QB. I am pulling for him to get better and play well. Trask is still better
February 6th, 2024 at 3:03 pm
What would a football professional know about quality QBs? The Baker haters assure us he’s trash. I’m sure girls like Oneilbuc know better than this guy.
February 6th, 2024 at 3:32 pm
Ethan: actually it was 2-3 on a LOSING team…….the incredible game winning drive on Thursday night, and also he went into Mile High stadium and hung up a 50-Burger on the, at the time, 3rd rated NFL DST
February 6th, 2024 at 3:45 pm
Stats show Baker is elite in the playoffs. Yes he is inconsistent. Above average in the regular season. But he can,t maintain that consistency from the regular season and being so inconsistent he changes to elite in the playoffs. Dammit just be the same level all the time.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Ethan , the rams were reeling when baker got there. They lost 4 or 5 in a row before the raider win. Then the Christmas massacre of Denver followed , where baker put on a passing clinic. The rams were riddled with injuries on offense, and the defense was mostly babies. Context matters…
February 6th, 2024 at 5:00 pm
D.R.
I believe cliches have value because they arise out of a load of experience.
But there are exceptions.
“money talks” True dat! But does it “scream”. IMHO it depends who is in the audience. I agree about ME13. Not that he’s greedy it also means a new challenge for ME13. Been there done that. Moved for the sake of moving.
Mike is near the end so I suspect “money” will scream more loudly to him.
Baker OTOH wants to win. He wants to be appreciated. He’s got a new kid on the way and seemingly a very happy young family. He’s conservatively estimated to already be worth 25 million. I don’t know about you but 25 MILLION SCREAMS loudly to me.
Since he’s not playing for his financial future, money only means more POWER.
In our society I get that. It also means more RESPECT. I don’t really get that but accept it.
I know..I know…pollyanna in search of a man with decent values. IMHO Mike is gone…not questioning his financial values…he possibly is simply looking for another hill to climb. Baker has just spent six HARD years of his life to reach this point. He might just be like me and feel gratitude as his attitude and be happy with a measly 25 million for a few years. He still has time to score a MAJOR contract whatever the eff that is these days if he truly believes in himself and the Bucs committment to winning.
i think Brady in his prime was better at the game in every phase than Baker…except for one…Brady was notoriously competitive but I see Baker as just as driven, maybe even more so.
February 6th, 2024 at 5:07 pm
BTW Earlier Bonzai misread my post…my bad writing.
Let me lay it out specifically.
Baker worth $25 million NOW
IF he accepts 3 years at 25 million that’ll be a cool 100 million depending on the wisdom of his financial values.
Seriously! Is there anybody here who thinks inflation is so bad that it’s difficult to get by on 25 million much less 100 million.
Let me help your budget. If you don’t crave your name on a private jet and are simply happy utilizing one NetJets can hook you up for a starting price of $250,000 for 25 hours used within a 2 year window. Spend $500,000 and keep on flying! And remember the wealthy do not play by our rules. There are EASY ways to turn that $500,000 into a TAX writeoff so the rest of us get to pay for it.
LMAO
February 6th, 2024 at 6:09 pm
Sounds good! Baker, the igniter. Love it!
February 6th, 2024 at 6:32 pm
robbie … ‘This guy is so here for one year only.’
I choose to be a little more optimistic than that. As Joe noted about Coen … ‘his dad lives near Port Charlotte and plans to move to Tampa “pretty soon.” So the younger Coen is familiar with the area and really wanted to be here geographically speaking.’
That’s a much better incentive than what Canales had when he took the job here a year ago. I also choose to assume that Coen is more ‘adept’ at the West Coast offense as employed by McVey. And oh ya, he has a better familiarity with Baker Mayfield than Canales had when he signed on.
Never any guarantees about what the future holds (well, except that we’ll all get older), but I like this hire. From what I’ve read & heard, sounds to me like our offense will now have a chance to build on what it started creating last year. Not a huge fan of reinventing the wheel.
February 6th, 2024 at 6:45 pm
StPete … Interesting analysis about Baker accepting less. You used the number $25 mil and I’d be ecstatic if he signed on for 3 years at $25 mil per year. (BTW I won’t ask where the $100 mil came from, but I’m assuming that your 3 was really 4 years and we can both blame our keyboards & spell-correct).
Problem comes in IF Baker decides to roll the dice and go for the whole enchilada (wow, 2 cliches in 1 sentence). But let’s say just for the sake of argument that JL offers him $25 mil per year for 3 years right now … $75 mil all guaranteed. Baker hesitates & wants to see what other offers might come his way, knowing that the Bucs won’t sign another QB to replace him until he turns them down AND that the franchise tag awaits ($36.0 mil this year). Now let’s say that the Falcons pony up and offer him $35 mil a year for 4 years … $140 mil with half guaranteed.
Run that by our bookie friends & relatives and which offer do you think will get the best odds? Yup, me too.
February 6th, 2024 at 9:29 pm
D.R.
My 100 million comes from the 25 million he currently has with 3 more years of 25 annually.
That aside though it’s funny you asked about how our “professional” relatives would make the odds. My father always chided me for being a “chalk player” a guy who always bets the favorites. But I concede the odds are long for ME13 and probably 50-50 at best for Baker. IMHO I’d make them more 75-25 but YMMV.
I guess I personalize stuff too much combined with the fact that I don’t enjoy rooting for these guys like they’re just Madden figures moving around on a playing field. I really like the human interest side of the game.
And here is MY problem, I stayed at one station in the Tri Cities of Tennessee 84th market when I should have moved up for “career” considerations. But the GM at the time made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I sacrificed $$$ but he gave me the equipment..a GREAT News Director who believed in the sports segment. the only satellite truck in the two states..bottom line that station gave me the tools to win the AP Best Sports Dept in 1988 for both the State of VA and then again in TN. Certainly stunted my rise to major markets. I would do it all over again. I just wanted a great product more than my personal wealth. But again I realize I’m in the minority.
I just do not comprehend what genuine lifestyle improvements a guy worth 200 million has over a guy who is worth 100 million. How much bling is there? How many homes? Cars? How many companies do you need to own? I respect everybody’s desires but do we think Tom Brady is TRULY happy? I obviously do not know. All those $$$ he and Giselle made have done nothing for their marriage or family.
We’re talking $$$ that we mere mortals can’t even comprehend. Maybe it’s my Finnish in laws…Finland where they have the concept of ENOUGH…and satisfaction. They always grab the #1 spot in the Happiest Nations on Earth surveys, The USA BTW never even breaks the top ten.
The difference between 100,000 and 250,000 a year makes significant changes possible. Up it to 1,000,000 and you’re rolling…go from 1 to 5 million and there’s PERHAPS still a good bump…after freaking 25 million it gets down to power and ego and everybody’s entitled to their opinion but MY life experience has shown me money is never the answer and cannot buy happiness.
I get that $$$ indicate respect in the league. Many guys don’t really give a crap about the actual bucks they just want to be the highest paid guy,,,they’re competitive. IF Baker and Jason get together…like Brady and Kraft and Baker thinks it’s the best situation for he and HIS FAMILY…any respectful offer should do. IF he wants the most money….good luck with his happiness.
Let me finish with a military cliche that you as a jet jockey will understand,
I love the history of WWII aerial warfare. I remember one British General talking about targeting which German city…he ruled out one because it had already been destroyed and he pointed out they’d just be bombing dust.
After 25 million TOTAL much less with 3 more years of it…anymore is just “bombing dust”.
February 7th, 2024 at 8:19 am
Baker “I rarely throw over 100 yards in the first half” Mayfield.
LOL. Can’t wait until we pay him $35M/year. What a joke.