Offensive coordinator Liam Coen is leaving the Rams and moving back to his home state of Kentucky.
As the Rams wait on coach Sean McVay’s decision about his future with the team, Liam Coen made one of his own.
Coen, the Rams offensive coordinator this season, is returning to Kentucky as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, the school announced Tuesday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Coen was expected to receive a lucrative multiyear contract to again call plays for a program that flourished when he was on the staff in 2021.
Under McVay, offensive coordinators have helped plan and implement the offense, but they do not call plays.
Coen was a Rams assistant, coaching receivers and then quarterbacks, for three seasons before he joined the Kentucky staff for the first time. Last February, McVay rehired him as offensive coordinator after Kevin O’Connell left to become coach of the Minnesota Vikings following the Rams’ run to a Super Bowl title.
Coen, 37, appeared next in line to follow O’Connell, Matt LaFleur, Zac Taylor and Brandon Staley as young assistants whose career trajectories soared after working closely with McVay.
This season, the Rams finished 5-12, the worst season-after by a Super Bowl champion in NFL history.
McVay, who last spring received an extension that made him one of the NFL’s highest-paid coaches, is deciding whether to temporarily step away from coaching or return for a seventh season with the Rams.
If McVay does not coach, the Rams could turn to defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Morris has experience as a head coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and as interim coach for the Atlanta Falcons. The Denver Broncos have requested permission to interview Morris for their head coach opening and other teams also are expected to seek interviews.
Senior offensive assistant Greg Olson and associate head coach Thomas Brown are the most likely in-house candidates to replace Coen.
Olson, 59, has been offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, St. Louis Rams, the Buccaneers, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Brown, 36, coached tight ends and running backs this season. He interviewed to become head coach of the Miami Dolphins last year and is expected to receive interview requests from several teams with open head coach and coordinator positions.
Quarterbacks coach/pass game coordinator Zac Robinson has been on the Rams staff for four seasons, receivers coach Eric Yarber six, offensive line coach Kevin Carberry two.
