The Jacksonville Jaguars, after 72 hours of intrigue, followed this template and hired Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, 39, for more than $11 million a season. At first, Coen turned down the job and accepted a raise from Tampa that would have made him the highest-paid coordinator in the league at more than $4 million annually. When Jacksonville fired its general manager, however, Coen changed his mind.
“As you continue to do more research and gain more information as you go, it started to become more clear with every hour that this was an opportunity that you just can’t pass up for so many different reasons,” Coen said at his introductory news conference. “Ultimately, you want to do what is best for you and your family. That is what this came down to.”
In the college ranks, things are a little more complicated. The new era of name, image and likeness, known as N.I.L., has meant more money for players, but some of that has come at the expense of head coaches. Sure, Georgia’s Kirby Smart makes more than $13 million a year, and Ohio State Coach Ryan Day recently signed an extension that pays him an average of $12.5 million annually. But with player payrolls for College Football Playoff-caliber teams ranging from $13 million to $20 million, athletic directors are deploying their resources more strategically.
Ohio State paid Chip Kelly, a former head coach at the college and professional levels, $2 million last season to be the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator. They won the national championship. Penn State, which lost in the semifinals, has since hired Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, and will pay him $4 million a year in hopes that he can help the Nittany Lions do the same.
“It’s easier to be an N.F.L. coach now,” said Paul Finebaum, host of his own show on the SEC Network. “You have a set roster, a salary cap and an off-season. For college coaches, it never ends. You are recruiting year-round, watching the transfer portal, keeping your guys out of the transfer portal.”