What will the LA Rams’ offense look under new OC Liam Coen?

With the LA Rams shuffling their coaching staff around, it will be interesting to see what changes will be made in 2022. Taking a look into all the coaching staff moves so far, I would like to focus on the Rams changing their offensive coordinator. As soon as former offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell accepted the Minnesota Vikings head coaching position, many Rams fans started to wonder who join head coach Sean McVay as a member of the team’s offensive brain-trust for the 2022 season.

For starters, on February 21, 2022, the Rams hired University of Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen to replace O’Connell as the team’s new offensive coordinator. Coen is no stranger to the Rams organization as he was an assistant wide receiver and quarterback coach from 2018 to 2020, until leaving for the offensive coordinator position at the University of Kentucky in 2021. Coen has no experience calling plays in the NFL, but that won’t be a problem for his role with the LA Rams.

Head Coach Sean McVay shows no signs of surrendering play-calling duties anytime soon.

Coen’s Background with the Rams

As I stated before, Coen is not a stranger when it comes to the LA Rams organization. As an assistant coach under Sean McVay, Coen coached wide receivers from 2018 to 2019 and coached quarterbacks in 2020.  During his three years with the Rams, certain key players shined under him.

For example, in 2018 wide receiver Cooper Kupp posted his first 1,000-yard season. Also, in 2020, quarterback Jared Goff posted his fourth consecutive season with 3,800 or more passing yards. Coen is a key contributor to the rise of Sean McVay’s career with the Rams. And perhaps, most of all, he had been one of McVay’s offensive collaborators.  With O’Connell leaving, that is vital to balance out McVay in 2022.

Play caller with the Wildcats

As the Offensive Coordinator for the University of Kentucky, Coen’s offense blossomed throughout a tough SEC conference. According to ESPN, Coen’s offense was ranked amongst the SEC fifth in scoring at 32.3 points a game and eighth in total offense at 425.2 yards per game. Also, Coen’s offense finished fifth in rushing offense at 199.5 yards a game.

Those stats are impressive, especially since the Kentucky offense had to face nationally renowned defenses from Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Texas A&M.

As a coach, Coen knows how to elevate his player’s talent to a high level. For example, Kentucky’s running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. and wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson both had an amazing season. Robinson finished second on the University of Kentucky’s single-season list for five 100-yard games.

According to the University of Kentucky, Rodriguez Jr. was ranked 12th nationally and second in the SEC in rushing yards per game at 106.1 yards per game. During his short stay with Kentucky, Coen wasn’t just the OC as he coached the quarterbacks too. Coen coached quarterback Will Levis to be the sixth-ranked quarterback in the SEC. You can tell Coen has an eye for talent and it will be interesting to see what he can do with an already explosive offense.

Grade the Ram’s hire

To properly grade the Rams’ new offensive coordinator, you first should look at Coen’s coaching philosophy. After all, to understand how well he does, we should first understand what he is trying to do with the offense, to begin with.

Coen is a visionary who prides himself on creativity and positivity. When it comes to an offensive playbook, he has more of a balanced approach, which is exactly what the Rams need going forward.

Last year, the Rams were extremely pass-heavy. Coen’s balanced approach will improve the Rams’ below-average rushing offense. Also, Coen loves utilizing the play-action game. Play-action will open up easy completions for their stars at the wide receiver. Lastly, Coen likes to include and utilize his tight ends in the game plan.

I truly believe Matthew Stafford will shine under Coen’s offense.  Coen has already committed to getting both WR Tutu Atwell and TE/WR Jacob Harris more involved in the offense this year.  Will it work? Hey, it’s the right step. That has to count for something.

The grade I would give to this coaching hire would be an A. Coen brings along a dynamic balance attack. He is extremely familiar with the existing roster and can develop the young talent coming in.  Look for Coen to improve the Rams’ rushing attack and bring a little more creativity to the passing game.  All in all, the Rams gave themselves an excellent chance to repeat by hiring such a brilliant, minded play-caller in Liam Coen.