Liam Coen missed calling plays and teaching young players when he was back in the NFL

Liam Coen is thankful to be back at UK. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Liam Coen knew he would miss Kentucky when he returned to the NFL after just one season as UK’s offensive coordinator, but he missed college football a lot more than he anticipated for one major reason.

“When you go and call plays at a high level in the SEC, then you stop calling plays, I probably missed that more than I thought I was going to,” Coen said. “I really missed calling plays and truly leading.”

Coen returned to the Los Angeles Rams as the offensive coordinator but head coach Sean McVay, not Coen, did the play calling for the Rams. Coen missed being the one anticipating what defenses would do and calling plays to make the offense successful.

But he also missed the impact his coaching could have on younger players eager to learn and improve.

“Both of my parents were teachers… you start to miss the impact that you might have on these guys’ lives a little bit,” he said. “I missed helping when it was a little bit more than football. We missed as a family having players over for dinner and having the guys around.

“This was an unbelievable opportunity (returning to the Rams). I don’t think a lot of people would disagree with that. Then you get into it — shoot, I’m working with Matthew Stafford, one of the best QBs to ever play the game. You realize pretty quickly they don’t need you really but to help them schematically and continue to help them grow from a football standpoint.”

Coen’s personality resonated with players at UK on and off the field. He also liked the fan support he felt when he was out in Lexington. That’s why he never thought of leaving UK after one year until the Super Bowl champions wanted him to come back and he felt like he could not say no.

“The opportunity and the jump I was taking to go back there was not really normal. An opportunity that you’re like, ‘Man I don’t know if this is ever gonna come up again.’ I looked at it like a once in a lifetime opportunity at the time,” he said.

However, when Kentucky coach Mark Stoops fired Rich Scangarello and reached out to Coen, the former UK offensive coordinator knew it was time to return to the Bluegrass and his wife totally agreed.

“Just coming back to a place I truly did not want to leave is great,” Coen said. “The opportunity to come back and be with coach Stoops and work with young players, I couldn’t be more thankful.”