Vikings Promote Klint Kubiak To Offensive Coordinator
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings will keep their playbook in the family with the promotion of Klint Kubiak to offensive coordinator after his father's retirement.
The Vikings finalized the hire Tuesday, a widely expected decision by head coach Mike Zimmer in step with his stated desire to maintain as much continuity for the offense as possible following Gary Kubiak's departure.
Klint Kubiak, who will turn 34 next week, is in his second stint with the Vikings. He spent two seasons as a quality control and assistant wide receivers coach from 2013-14 and returned with his dad in 2019 as the quarterbacks coach.
His resume also includes three years as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach for Denver, and he logged four seasons as a college coach with stops at Texas A&M and Kansas. Before following his father into the coaching profession, he played safety at Colorado State and served as a team captain as a senior in 2009.
Gary Kubiak, who spent 36 years in the NFL as a player, coach and adviser, guided Minnesota's most productive offense in more than a decade in 2020. The Vikings ranked fourth in the league in total yards and tied for sixth in offensive touchdowns. He joined the team as an adviser in 2019 and spent just one season as offensive coordinator.
Though the Vikings will now bring back the same system in 2021 for the third straight year, Klint Kubiak will be the sixth play caller in the last six seasons under Zimmer — and the fourth in four years for quarterback Kirk Cousins.
Klint Kubiak's promotion allowed wide receivers coach Andrew Janocko to move to quarterbacks coach. Janocko, who was a backup quarterback in college at Pittsburgh from 2007-10, joined Zimmer's staff in 2015.
The Vikings also hired Keenan McCardell as wide receivers coach after he was not retained by new Jacksonville head coach Urban Meyer. McCardell, a two-time Pro Bowl pick over 17 seasons as a player, was wide receivers coach for the Jaguars for the last four years. Prior to that, McCardell was wide receivers coach at Maryland, where former Vikings star Stefon Diggs was one of his pupils.
Sam Siefkes was also hired as defensive quality control coach, with an opening remaining at defensive backs coach after Daronte Jones departed to become the defensive coordinator at LSU.
Klint Kubiak will be the latest son of an NFL coach in a key role with the Vikings. Zimmer's son, Adam Zimmer, was promoted in 2020 with Andre Patterson to be the co-defensive coordinator.
According to the NFL's most recent diversity and inclusion report, published last year, nine of the 32 head coaches in 2020 were either the son or father of a current or former NFL coach, including assistants. League research also found that 63 coaches, including assistants, were biologically related or related through marriage.
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