Inside The Vikings

Former Vikings OC Klint Kubiak Hired By Broncos as QBs Coach/Pass Game Coordinator

Kubiak gets a fresh start in Denver, while the Vikings will have another new offensive coordinator in 2022.

Will Ragatz

Ever since Mike Zimmer was fired, it's been obvious that the Vikings will have a new offensive coordinator in 2022, among many other staff changes that are coming when they hire a new head coach. Klint Kubiak struggled in that role last season and was directly attached to the Zimmer/Gary Kubiak era.

The younger Kubiak interviewed for the Panthers' OC vacancy, but that job went to former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. On Wednesday, Klint found his next role. He's returning to the Broncos to be the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator under new HC Nathaniel Hackett and OC Justin Outten.

It should be a good fit for Kubiak, who turns 35 this month. He spent 2016-18 with the Broncos as an offensive assistant, so he's familiar with the franchise. It's also a homecoming, as he's a native of the Denver suburb Aurora, CO, and played safety for Colorado State. Gary Kubiak won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos as their head coach following the 2015 season.

Kubiak had been with the Vikings for the past three years, first as a QB coach under Kevin Stefanski and Gary Kubiak and then as the OC last season. He's a talented offensive coach who might not have been quite ready to be a play-caller in 2021. Working under Zimmer may have also been difficult. Hackett will call the plays in Denver, so Kubiak will go back to working with the QBs and designing and installing plays and game plans.

If things go well, he could find himself as an NFL OC again before too long.

Who Kubiak will be working with at quarterback for the Broncos this season is unclear. Neither Teddy Bridgewater nor Drew Lock is the answer. The top target for GM George Paton will be to get Aaron Rodgers to follow Hackett and Outten from Green Bay to Denver. Russell Wilson could be in play, too.

With Kubiak and Paton in Denver, would the Broncos consider trading for Kirk Cousins? There's a lot of familiarity there and while Cousins isn't Rodgers or Wilson, he'd clearly be the team's best QB since Peyton Manning retired. The Broncos could also look to draft a quarterback this year with the No. 9 overall pick.

This makes it official that the Vikings will have a seventh offensive coordinator in as many years in 2022.

As the Vikings hire a head coach and assemble their staff, it'll be interesting to see which assistants are retained and where others end up. On the front office side, ex-Vikings GM Rick Spielman recently interviewed with the Jaguars for a top executive position.

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Will Ragatz
WILL RAGATZ

Will Ragatz is a senior writer for Vikings On SI. He is a credentialed Minnesota Vikings beat reporter, covering the team extensively at practices, games and throughout the NFL draft and free agency period. Ragatz attended Northwestern University, where he studied at the prestigious Medill School of Journalism. During his time as a student, he covered Northwestern Wildcats football and basketball for SB Nation’s Inside NU, eventually serving as co-editor-in-chief in his junior year. In the fall of 2018, Will interned in Sports Illustrated’s newsroom in New York City, where he wrote articles on Major League Baseball, college football, and college basketball for SI.com.

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