J.J. Watt reveals how Tony Boselli's blunt advice spurred Jaguars coach Liam Coen's impressive 40-pound weight loss.
Tony Boselli is apparently behind Jacksonville Jaguars coach Liam Coen losing roughly 40 pounds last year, at least as J.J. Watt tells it.
Watt was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday and dropped the behind-the-scenes "insight about Liam Coen's weight loss last year."
Liam Coen, as offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2024, before moving to Jacksonville as the Jaguars' new head coach -- and Tony Boselli's workout partner. (Kim Klement Neitzel/Imagn Images)Boselli was the first-ever draft pick by the Jaguars, selected second overall in 1995. The Hall-of-Fame offensive tackle played seven seasons for Jacksonville, earning two All-Pro nods and five Pro-Bowl selections. The Jags named him executive vice president of football operations on Feb. 3 -- two weeks after Coen was named head coach.
Apparently Boselli was present for Coen's first day on the job -- and told him he had to do something about his weight.
"'You gotta get in shape -- you can't look like that,'" Watt says Boselli told Coen, who admittedly had looked rather schlubby on the sidelines in 2024, as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Of course, the famously buff McAfee yukked it up from the studio as Watt relayed the story from his own office. "FAT -- you look FAT," McAfee laughed.
Almost as famously, after his playing days were over, Boselli became something of a weight-loss and healthy lifestyle evangelist.
Coach Liam Coen, at 40, looking noticeably more fit, prowls the sideline on Sunday, Jan. 11, as his Jaguars host the Bills in the teams' playoff opener in Jacksonville. (Nathan Ray Seebeck/Imagn Images)At 6-foot-7 and tipping the scales at between 325-335 pounds as a player, Boselli struggled with weight gain after retiring at 30 due to a shoulder injury in 2003.
"Being heavy is no fun," Boselli told News4Jax in 2018. "Not just because your health is not as good. It's about quality of life -- you don't have the energy to do stuff."
A "before" and "after" photo graphic from a 904 Thin promo program in 2016 shows "Little" Tony noticeably minus 55 pounds. In 2020, hospitalized with a scary bout of Covid-19, Boselli lost 20 pounds, though by then he was regularly participating in triathlons and had been maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
While exact figures were hard to find, Boselli, who's 53, appears more slender and fit these days.
And so does Liam Coen.
"He got him in the gym with him in the mornings," Watt said. "They went through a gym routine and nutrition stuff ...
"(Coen) worked out all year long, and yeah, I think he said he's down 40 pounds."
McAfee, impressed, practically whistled.
"Saleh, I don't know, bro," he growled, referencing new Tennessee Titans head coach Robert Saleh, who McAfee's Greek chorus described as "built like a brick shithouse." "You're coming into a different AFC South jungle down there in Duval."
How's that feel, indeed.
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