The Vikings didn’t look far to find their new offensive coordinator, elevating assistant head coach Gary Kubiak to fill the role vacated by Kevin Stefanski, who left Minnesota to take over the Cleveland Browns head coach.
Head coach Mike Zimmer recently called Kubiak “The best thing that’s ever happened to me” during his six years at the Vikings’ helm.
Zimmer brought Kubiak in prior to this past season to restructure the offense to better fit running back Dalvin Cook and quarterback Kirk Cousins, who is one of the NFL’s best play-action quarterbacks.
Kubiak, 58, led the Broncos to a Super Bowl win as head coach in 2015 before stepping down due to health concerns. He brought with him to Minnesota his longtime assistant Rick Dennison to coach the offensive line and implement a zone blocking running scheme to better establish the rush and set up play-action. His son, Klint Kubiak, will remain the team’s quarterbacks coach.
This eases some Vikings’ fans worries of the Kubiaks moving to Cleveland to become Stefanski’s offensive coordinator.
This will be Kubiak’s third stint as an OC, in addition to time in Denver, winning two Super Bowls with Mike Shanahan (1995-05) and Baltimore in 2014. He also was head coach of the Houston Texans from 2008-13.
