Liam Coen has gone against the San Francisco 49ers many times throughout his career, but only once as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. That game notably ended with Coen's heated interaction with Robert Saleh and Kyle Shanahan, which he hopes to put to rest.
Before joining the Jaguars, Coen spent four years as an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams, including one as Sean McVay's offensive coordinator. Coen blames those matchups for the tension between him and Saleh, but said that he still has a “lot of respect” for the 49ers' coaching staff.
“I've got a ton of respect for Robert Saleh and Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers,” Coen said on ‘The Pat McAfee Show.' “Sometimes the emotions get the best of you and it's like, I have a lot of respect for those guys. We've competed against them twice a year, and there's probably some pent-up emotions over the years with those LA-San Fran games. So [I] lost my emotions there.”
"I have a ton of respect for Robert Saleh and Kyle Shanahan..
Sometimes the emotions get the best of you..
It's been really fun to lead this football team"@LiamCoen #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/gjOjZ5CkH5
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 7, 2025
Saleh appeared to spark the feud by claiming the Jaguars use “legalized signal-stealing” to gain an advantage ahead of the Week 4 matchup. Regardless, Coen clearly took exception to something he said, telling Saleh to “keep his name out of his f****** mouth” on the field after the game.
Saleh did not back down, and both coaches had to be restrained by a few players. Saleh admitted that he used the “wrong choice of words” in his previous comment, but insisted that he meant it as a compliment to Coen.
Jaguars HC Liam Coen pushes past Robert Saleh incident
Even if Saleh does not want to move on the same way that Coen does, the Jaguars are moving past the 49ers either way. Jacksonville went on to beat the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 5 to improve to 4-1 on the year and take first place in the AFC South.
After going just 4-12 a year ago, the Jaguars have already matched their 2024 win total five weeks into the 2025 season. At this point last season, Jacksonville was just 1-4 after picking up its first win of the year in Week 5.
The 49ers own an equal 4-1 record, with their lone loss coming against the Jaguars. San Francisco's early-season success has been somewhat of a surprise considering injuries to Brock Purdy, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings and Nick Bosa have dominated the team's storylines thus far.
