Sep 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen reacts from the sidelines during the second half against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Liam Coen doesn't care for San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh. The head coach made that much clear after his Jacksonville Jaguars handed the 49ers their first loss of the season.

After the game, Fox cameras captured Coen and Saleh having a heated argument as they walked off the field. Both needed to be separated as the situation grew a little more tense than it should have. For those without the relevant context, why would the Jaguars head coach "randomly" single out Saleh, the opposing defensive coordinator, right after a win?

On its face, the conversation doesn't add up when you see a tiff like this play out:

While we don't know precisely what Saleh and Coen said to each other, it's likely safe to assume that Coen wasn't happy with some comments Saleh made earlier in the week. Saleh insinuated that Coen and his coaching staff "legally" steal signs that help put their players in advantageous positions. Naturally, most coaches in Coen's position won't appreciate such comments questioning their integrity. Who would?

What did Robert Saleh say about Liam Coen's sign-stealing?

Here is exactly what Saleh said about Coen, via CBS Sports:

"Liam [Coen] and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they've got a — legally — a really advanced signal-stealing-type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation," Saleh said. "They do a great job of it. They formation you to just try to find any nugget they can. So we've got to be great with our signals and we've gotta be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field."

I don't know if Saleh meant this in a malicious way, but noting that an opposing coach staff is "legally" kind of cheating will almost never go well. I don't know if Coen had to directly confront Saleh after the win, but you at least understand why after knowing what the 49ers' defensive coordinator seemingly implied.

This article originally appeared on For The Win: What did Robert Saleh, Liam Coen say in heated postgame dustup?

Reporting by Robert Zeglinski, For The Win / For The Win

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