MINNEAPOLIS – Two weeks after Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, the team is replacing the player’s veteran with his son, Klint, several ESPN-confirmed league sources.
Klint Kubiak, 33, will take over the role his father held for the 2020 season. The NFL Network was the first to report the promotion of young Kubiak to the offensive coordinator after coaching Minnesota defenders for the past two years.
Minnesota’s offensive staff is gearing up for next season, with Andrew Janocko, who coached wide receivers last season, expected to become the team’s defenders’ coach, while Keenan McCardell, who coached wide receivers in Jacksonville from 2017-2020, will holds the same position as the Vikings, according to league sources.
Klint Kubiak’s long-awaited promotion to offensive coordinator supports Mike Zimmer’s desire to keep the offense going after the Vikings finished 7-9 and failed to make it to the playoffs. Zimmer said he felt the Minnesota offense was the most explosive he had had in seven seasons with the Vikings and said he wanted to maintain the same philosophy to move on.
“I like the scheme we execute offensively, I like the offensive in the wide area, I like the action-game passes,” Zimmer said in January. “It simply came to our notice then. A coach once told me that your offense should be the best for your defender. And that’s how Kirk feels [Cousins] is the best at. This kind of thing makes him very good. So for me, this is really important. “
In one season, with Gary Kubiak as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator, the Vikings finished fourth in total offense and 11th in the score, with defender Kirk Cousins returning from throwing 10 interceptions in his first. six games to completion with 35 career touchdowns. Running back Dalvin Cook won the MVP’s attention as he rushed for a career at 1,557 yards and scored 17 total touchdowns, while Justin Jefferson broke the franchise’s record for catching and receiving yards as a rookie and is second all-time, with 1,400 yards receiving in a rookie season. .
The 2021 season will be Klint Kubiak’s first as an NFL offensive coordinator. Prior to joining his father, offensive line coach / running game coordinator Rick Dennison and tight end coach Brian Pariani in Minnesota in 2019, the young Kubiak was an offensive assistant and coach of defenders in Denver in 2016 through 2018. He never convened plays at college or professionally.
Nearing the completion of their staff for the 2021 season, the Vikings promoted Ryan Ficken to special teams coordinator last week. Ficken was previously assistant coach of the Minnesota special teams from 2013-2020.