Early Sunday Morning, Syracuse head football coach Dino Babers was fired after posting a 41-55 record in eight seasons with the Orange only appearing in two bowl games.
Right away Kentucky Offensive Coordinator Liam Coen was linked as one of the early names in the conversation for the position, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Given Coen’s northeast origins and his connections in the area, this isn’t as far-fetched as one would think at first glance.
Other names mentioned in the early process of the head coaching search included Sean Lewis, Bronco Mendenhall, Doug Marrone, Al Golden, Jim Knowles, Bob Chesney, Teryl Austin, Tony White, and Jason Candle.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Just as in his first time in Lexington, Coen is a name that is widely respected. At just 38 years old, he has coordinating experience at the NFL and college level and learned from Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, who is regarded as one of the best offensive minds in football. Combining his experience, knowledge, and young age, this will likely be a norm every offseason until he ultimately leaves Lexington for the second time.
That said, Mark Stoops suggested this offseason that there is a gentlemen’s agreement that Liam Coen would not be leaving after one season, as he did last time.
Coen will likely be linked to a lot of jobs, especially those non-power five head coach openings and it’s worth a look to see if he would be interested in taking the reins as the head guy as he has never been in that position.
The 2023 Kentucky offense has not been what a lot of fans expected to see this season as inconsistent play all around has hurt Kentucky. With that said, you can’t put all of the shortcomings on Coen as we saw what he could do in 2021 with that kind of talent including Will Levis (starting QB for the Titans), Wan’Dale Robinson (starting WR for the Giants), and one of the best offensive lines in the country.
Syracuse is an interesting position for Coen with his ties in the North, but with no head coaching experience, he is likely quite a few names down the list. If he becomes a serious candidate, it would be interesting to see how much loyalty he has to Stoops.
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