Fourth-and-goal at the two.
Tie score, three seconds left. One play to win the game -- Penn quarterback Mike Mitchell calls a timeout and heads over to the sideline to talk to Penn head coach Al Bagnoli.
And then the play comes in.
"Burst two right, 50 double stick slot."
The man, whose voice would be heard over the headset in this instance, remains invisible to the audience. He is Penn offensive coordinator Andy Coen.
But where Coen has not remained invisible is in the minds of the players and coaches with whom he has worked. In his three years at Penn, Coen has been the mastermind of a Quakers offense that led the Ivies two out of the last three years.
"Andy is a really great football guy," Bagnoli said. "I have a tremendous amount of confidence in him -- he has a huge impact both in games and in practice."
Coen's new system had an immediate impact on the Quakers' offense, as they finished first in I-AA in passing (342.7 ypg) and fourth in total offense during their 2000 Ivy title run.
Last year, the Quakers became the Ancient Eight's highest scoring team again, as they averaged an Ivy League-record 40.7 points per league game and outscored their opponents by an average margin of more than 30 points in their undefeated Ivy season.
With all the success Coen has accumulated, however, many players and coaches are beginning to wonder about Coen's future aspirations and the chances of his remaining part of Penn's staff.
Coen himself acknowledges that his passion for football -- and ambition -- might lead him to other avenues, as the Quakers continue to draw national attention.
"I would like to get back to coaching at the I-A level and the challenge of being a head coach," Coen said. "I think I'd like to coach in the NFL one day, too."
Most of the players would love to have him remain as offensive coordinator, yet they understand that his success will eventually cause him to outgrow his current position.
"I really hope he doesn't leave," Penn wide receiver Dan Castles said. "But he's such a great coach. I can't blame him if he gets the opportunity. He deserves it."
Bagnoli agrees.
Andy "is very ready to become a head coach," he said. "Just like his predecessor, if he gets that opportunity, I will encourage him to seek it."
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Coen, a resident of Cinnaminson, N.J., was a four-year player at Gettysburg College, where he graduated in 1986.
"I really just decided, as I was going through college, that football was something I wanted to do," Coen said. "I just enjoyed being a part of it so much and had such a passion for it, that I wanted to look into the coaching aspect."
Growing up in South Jersey, Coen was quickly accustomed to the rich tradition of Penn football and frequently came to see games at Franklin Field.
According to both Coen and Bagnoli, the Quakers essentially "stole" Coen from Lehigh in 2000 -- after six successful seasons as an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator.
After taking over as Lehigh's offensive coordinator in 1996, Coen led the Engineers to a 22-3 record over his final two seasons. He also helped the Engineers to the program's first undefeated regular season (11-0) in 1998, which led to a berth in the NCAA I-AA playoffs.
At Lehigh, Coen coached against several Ancient Eight schools.
"Having competed against the other Ivy schools at Lehigh, I always felt that Penn had the best program," Coen said.
Coen came to Philadelphia for a full-time coaching job in 1999, after then-Quakers offensive coordinator Chuck Priore left to become the head coach at Trinity College.
"When Chuck left, I thought it was imperative that we go out there and get a guy at the level our kids had been accustomed to," Bagnoli said. "Andy became a natural candidate, and from what he accomplished at Lehigh, I thought he would be a perfect match."
And for Coen, the chance to lead the offense for the storied program, with which he grew up, definitely piqued his curiosity.
"I had a couple of other opportunities in the Ivy League, but none of them really excited me," Coen said. "I had always thought that if I was going to coach football in the Ivy League, Penn was the place I wanted to do it."
But the main reason for Coen's transfer to Penn was not the Philadelphia connection; it was the chance to demonstrate his own style at a competitive program.
"I told coach [Bagnoli] that I wanted to bring my kind of offense here, and we decided that would be fine," Coen said.
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Coen got his first job right out of college as an assistant offensive line coach at Widener University in Chester, Pa.
He moved on to two more positions as a graduate assistant to the offensive line coach, including one at the University of Minnesota in 1988.
"It was an opportunity to learn a new style of offense, be around some coaches that had more experience," Coen said. "It's funny -- in our profession, the most high-profile school you'll ever work at could be as a graduate assistant."
Coen attributes most of his skills as an offensive coordinator to the coaches he's worked with and under, including Jim Hueber, who called the plays at Minnesota during Coen's one-year tenure.
"When you start as a graduate assistant, you just want to be smart, keep your mouth shut and learn as much as you can," Coen said.
Coen finally made the transition to offensive coordinator in 1990, when he landed a position at the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point on Long Island.
"I used to laugh -- I was in Michigan Stadium and Iowa in front of 100,000 people, and then I went to being in front of 800 at the Kings Point-CW Post game," Coen said.
But Coen certainly proved that he was ready for the task, as he went to work drawing up and implementing an offense that set 17 team and individual records during his four years at Kings Point.
While Coen seemed to make the transition from offensive line coach to offensive coordinator fairly easily -- he would make the same jump at Lehigh six years later -- he admits that the transition would have been harder, had it occurred at a school with a more complicated offense.
But by the time Coen debuted in a Red and Blue jacket at Franklin Field, his previous coaching experiences were enough to help him introduce his own offensive style with a completely new team at a school expecting quick results.
"In a lot of ways I had more fun coaching in 2000 than I've ever had, because everything was new to everybody," Coen said. "The only player I knew coming in was Kris [Ryan], because we had recruited him at Lehigh the year before."
Coen was also immediately introduced to several prominent players on the Quakers roster, whom he further developed as they tried to take their dominance of the Ivy League a step further and even pursue careers in the National Football League.
"Having a guy like Gavin [Hoffman] for that first season was great, because he had played for different systems," Coen said, referring to Hoffman's previous experience at Northwestern before transferring to Penn. "So when I came in, he took to the new system and really flourished."
Perhaps the player who benefited the most under Coen's tutelage was current New York Giants tackle Jeff Hatch, who switched from the defensive line to offensive line under Coen. Hatch earned All-America status his senior year. He would go on to be the first, and only, player under Coen to be drafted by an NFL team when the Giants picked him in the third round in 2002.
"Jeff was a very rewarding coaching experience," Coen said. "I saw him develop a lot as a player and a person in two years, and I wish him the best of luck at what he's doing now."
Five more Quakers on the offensive side of the ball have gone on to sign free agent contracts in the NFL, including Ryan, Hoffman, running back Stephen Faulk, wide receiver Rob Milanese and tight end Ben Zagorski.
Coen is reverting back to his methods of 2001 with Ryan and Hoffman as he tries to balance the running talent of sophomore tailback Sam Mathews with the passing accuracy of senior quarterback Mike Mitchell.
Mitchell, who has been around a year longer than Coen, credits him with being a major factor in his decision to come back to football after taking a year off in 2001.
"Coming back last year, he really encouraged me to work out and make sure my timing was good... because his offense puts a lot of emphasis on the quarterback making decisions and taking control," Mitchell said.
Mitchell will try to lead the Quakers to back-to-back Ivy titles in his final year with Coen.
"I have great respect for coach Coen," Mitchell said. "He's one of the best coaches I've ever played for, and I've been playing football since I was 8."
With all of the success surrounding Penn football almost every season, Coen has become frustrated with the Ivy League rule forbidding postseason play.
"The football team we had here last year could have been better than the Lehigh team in 1998, from top to bottom," Coen said.
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While not going over game tapes or making recruiting calls, Coen spends what little time he can spare with his baby girl, Molly, who was born over the summer.
Coen, who has been described as "fiery" and "intense" on the football field, also enjoys a more leisurely activity during the offseason -- golf.
"I love to play golf," Coen said. "I wish I was good at it... I'm not as good as coach Bagnoli."
But Coen definitely still has his mind set on football, as he contemplates what lies in store for him in the future.
One thing that raises doubts in Coen's mind about moving on is the personality of the players he would find in the NFL.
"I know the challenge if you ever coach in the NFL would always be... you deal with a lot of prima donnas and that type of stuff," Coen said. "If you're ever in a situation where you have to go out to practice and you don't like your players, I don't know how you're going to do that."
And at Penn, Coen admits, it is not any financial incentives or individual statistics that motivate the players. It's the passion.
"The kids at Penn want to be successful and, without scholarships, play for the sake of playing," Coen said. "That's what makes it fun every week."
