Photos: Athletics from the United Kingdom
A native of Warwick, Rhode Island, Kentucky’s new offensive coordinator Liam Coen heads to Lexington after stopping at UMass as a player, followed by Brown, Rhode Island, UMass, Maine and the United States. Los Angeles Rams as coach.
In Kentucky, Coen joins Rhode Island defensive coordinator and wheelbarrow Brad White, who also made stops at Wake Forest (player), Murray State, Air Force and Indianapolis Colts as a coach before heading to Lexington. in 2018.
The former graduated from La Salle Academy in Providence, Rhode Island in 2004, while the latter, a native of Portsmouth, graduated in 2000 from La Salle’s rival, Bishop Hendricken High School.
“Rivals, they were rivals in high school,” head coach Mark Stoops said of the relationship this afternoon. “They were a different era, Brad’s oldest but rival high schools.”
“What do you think, that? I think there are about three or four in NFL or Division I football, so there aren’t many,” Coen said of Rhode Island’s strange connection between him. and its new coordinating partner in Lexington.
Interestingly, Coen closely followed White’s football career as a player and coach, admiring his play on the field and his technical ability after the fact.
In fact, Coen says he can remember White’s shirt numbers and the outstanding neck shot he used as a player.
“It’s funny, Brad and I don’t know each other personally,” Coen said. “I didn’t have his phone number until today, but I remember the T-shirt number Brad White wore (there were two), I remember his big turtleneck he wore to Bishop Hendricken High School.
“I was an eighth grader when he was a senior at Hendricken, I went to La Salle Academy, two rival private Catholic high schools in Rhode Island. I always respected him as a player, and he said to me: “This boy is a stallion. It’s a stallion. “He kept playing in Wake Forest, I continued his career in the Colts and the Air Force.
After his footballing career from afar, Coen has always heard “amazing things” about White and is grateful that the “little world” brings the Rhode Island natives together for the first time in their careers.
“I always followed him, but we never really connected on a personal or professional level,” Coen told reporters. “I just heard amazing things about him from everyone I’ve talked to. Small world, man. Such a small world, how these things work. I’m very excited to work with him. “
Once high school rivals, Coen and White will now train together for the fight line.