Arik Armstead on what sets Jacksonville Jaguars' Liam Coen apart from other coaches

USA Today

12 hours ago

Jaguars' DT Arik Armstead recently explained how Liam Coen differs from other coaches that he has had.
Jacksonville Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead is about to enter his 11th season in the NFL. But even with all that experience under his belt and operating under different coaches, in different schemes, and in two organizations, there is something unique about how Liam Coen does things, as Armstead recently highlighted while appearing on 'First Things First.'
"I would say for me, it's the openness to communication," Armstead said. "The openness to listen to your players. It's very open. It's like, what do you guys think? How can we make things better? More conversations. We're texting. Me and Josh Hines-Allen went to dinner with Liam about a week after you got hired. I never went to dinner with any of my head coaches, even though I've had some great relationships with head coaches, I never went to dinner, especially a week after being hired."
Since Coen was hired, he's used the phrase "players over plays," and other coaches, like offensive coordinator Grant Udinski, have echoed that sentiment as well.
Like any play caller, Coen--and Anthony Campanile on the defensive side--have core principles that their scheme is built around. But to truly get the most out of the team they have, it's about molding the respective offensive and defensive systems to the skill sets that are on the roster in order to maximize the talent that is there.
Accomplishing that begins with learning what each player does well, and a key part of that is the communication element to make sure that each player is comfortable executing what is being implemented.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how good a play looks on paper; if the players aren't confident in what's being called or put in a position to execute it properly, the chances of the play being successful are significantly reduced.
"So it's very open," Armstead added. "Like I said, they want to do things right, and we all have a lot to learn and grow. But I'm very excited for the trajectory that we're headed."