Internal candidate favored to be the next Vikings offensive coordinator
By Adam Patrick
When Gary Kubiak joined the Minnesota Vikings during the 2019 offseason, he didn’t come alone. To help install his successful offense, the Vikings also hired Kubiak’s son, Klint, to be their quarterbacks coach, Rick Dennison as the offensive line coach, and Brian Pariani to coach the team’s tight ends.
Both Dennison and Pariani worked with the elder Kubiak during his previous coaching stints with the Denver Broncos, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens. Kubiak’s son had never actually been on the same coaching staff as his father until the two of them joined Minnesota in 2019.
But now Gary Kubiak won’t be continuing to work with any of these guys as he’s officially announced his retirement from coaching in the NFL. The Vikings now need a new offensive coordinator for the 2021 season and it sounds like they already have someone in mind.
Signs pointing to Klint Kubiak being named the next Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator
During the next few weeks, Minnesota will have to decide if they want to fill their offensive coordinator opening with someone who is already on their coaching staff or with someone from outside of the team.
As much as some might like the Vikings to look for other options outside of the organization, it seems like they are leaning towards promoting a coach who is already on their staff. The coach whose name keeps coming up as someone who people believe is the front-runner to land the role is Klint Kubiak.
Multiple people with sources close to the organization believe the younger Kubiak is the favorite to take his dad’s old job.
It would be an interesting choice and it would also be a risky one. The younger Kubiak has never called plays for an offense during his coaching career, so there’s no way to tell if he would be good at this or not.
At the same time, Kevin Stefanski had never been a play-caller before becoming Minnesota’s offensive coordinator at the end of the 2018 season. Stefanski turned out to be a good play-caller and it resulted in him getting hired as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
The Vikings will be hoping for a similar outcome with Kubiak if he ends up being the guy they choose. Minnesota should still be searching for other candidates though before promoting their current quarterbacks coach to be their next offensive coordinator because if the 33-year-old assistant coach doesn’t end up working out, a bunch of people will likely be out of a job in 2022.