MINNEAPOLIS – Two weeks after Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak announced his retirement, the team will replace the veteran gambler with his son, Klint, several league sources confirmed to ESPN.
Klint Kubiak, 33, will take over from his father for the 2020 season. NFL Network was the first to report the promotion of young Kubiak to offensive coordinator after coaching Minnesota quarterbacks during the last few years. two years.
The Minnesota offensive staff is gearing up for next season with Andrew Janocko, who coached the area’s past coaches, who is expected to become the team’s quarterbacks coach, while Keenan McCardell, who coached in Jacksonville from 2017 to 2020, will occupy the same position Vikings, according to league sources.
The long-awaited promotion of Klint Kubiak to offensive coordinator supports Mike Zimmer’s desire to preserve continuity in attack after the Vikings finished 7-9 and failed to reach the playoffs. Zimmer said he felt Minnesota’s offense was the most explosive he had had in seven seasons with the Vikings and noted he wanted to maintain the same philosophy to move forward.
“I love the scheme we’re running offensively, I love the wide-area offensive, I love the game-action steps,” Zimmer said in January. “All of that stuff. A coach once told me your offense should be your quarterback’s best option. And that’s how I feel about Kirk. [Cousins] is better at. These kinds of things are what make it really good. For me, that’s really important. “
In a season with Gary Kubiak as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator, the Vikings finished fourth in offense and eleventh in scoring with quarterback Kirk Cousins bouncing from throwing 10 interceptions in his first six games to finishing with a maximum of 35 touchdowns. Runner Dalvin Cook earned the MVP’s consideration as he rushed to get 1,557 yards in the race and scored 17 total touchdowns, while Justin Jefferson broke the record for catching and receiving yards as a rookie and is second in all time with 1,400 yards in a rookie season. .
The 2021 season will be Klint Kubiak’s first as an offensive coordinator in the NFL. Prior to joining his father, Rick Dennison, offensive line coach / career game coordinator and tight end coach Brian Pariani in Minnesota in 2019, the young Kubiak was an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach in Denver since 2016. until 2018. He has never called for plays at the university or at a professional level.
On the verge of finishing the roster for the 2021 season, the Vikings promoted Ryan Ficken to special teams coordination last week. Ficken was previously assistant coach of Minnesota special teams from 2013 to 2020.