Former Vikings Coach Lands Interview for Saints OC Job
There have been a number of former Vikings coaches in the mix for vacant jobs across the NFL.
The latest former Vikings coach to throw his hat into the ring is Klint Kubiak, who spent the 2021 season as the Vikings offensive coordinator. Kubiak was the latest interview for the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator position after New Orleans let go of Pete Carmichael after 15 seasons.
Former Vikings Coach Lands Interview for Saints OC Job
The news was reported by Nick Underhill of New Orleans Football Network, who tweeted, “Brian Griese and Klint Kubiak have also interviewed for Saints OC job, per source.”
Kubiak, the son of longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, has spent two different stints with the Vikings over his coaching career. Firstly, he joined the team in the position of offensive quality control in 2013 when he was just 26 years old and held that job for two seasons.
During those years, the Vikings ranked 14th and 20th in scoring, and Kubiak was retained through the head coaching change from Leslie Frazier to Mike Zimmer.
Kubiak then took on the wide receivers coach job for the Kansas Jayhawks in 2015 before coming back to the NFL in 2016 as an offensive assistant with the Denver Broncos. In 2019, Kubiak came back to the Vikings as the quarterbacks coach where he helped coach Kirk Cousins for two years. His father, Gary, held the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator roles with the Vikings during those seasons.
After Gary left following that 2020 season, Klint then moved into Minnesota’s offensive coordinator job for the 2021 campaign. In that 2021 season, Kubiak’s offense scored 25 points per game, which ranked 14th in the NFL, while finishing 12th in total yards.
Then, Kevin O’Connell took over the head coaching job in 2022, and Kubiak was let go in favor of Wes Phillips. Kubiak then hopped back over to the Broncos as the QBs coach and passing game coordinator after the team traded to acquire Russell Wilson.
After a disastrous 2022 season for the Broncos, Kubiak joined the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 where he once again has served as the passing game coordinator under Kyle Shanahan. Kubiak’s 49ers have a chance to advance to the Super Bowl if they defeat the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
The Saints finished the 2023 season with a 9-8 record and missed the playoffs largely because of major inconsistency on the offensive side of the ball. If Kubiak were to get this offensive coordinator job, he will have a big challenge in front of him to revamp that offense with an aging roster.
Kubiak will turn 37 years old in February.
Editor’s Note: Information from Pro Football Reference was used for this article.
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Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho and managing editor of PurplePTSD.com. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys running, gaming, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. Check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.