NEWSLETTER
It was reported last night that San Francisco 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak was the second interview request that the Chicago Bears had submitted for their OC vacancy.
The Chicago Bears are hunting for a new offensive coordinator after firing Luke Getsy following the 2023 season. Ryan Poles and Matt Eberflus will have to thread the needle here and find an offensive coordinator willing to participate in multiple scenarios in 2024, including trying to teach Justin Fields his third offense in four seasons and grooming a rookie quarterback that the team drafts in April.
Klint Kubiak runs a style of offense that could maximize Justin Fields’ skillset or work for a rookie quarterback. Let’s discuss.
Who is Klint Kubiak?
Klint Kubiak is the current passing game coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers and the son of long-time NFL coach Gary Kubiak.
Kubiak is currently in his first season as the offensive passing game specialist for the San Francisco 49ers. He joined the 49ers after serving as the offensive passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos during the 2022 season.
Before that, Kubiak spent three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, serving as the offensive coordinator in 2021 and quarterbacks coach in 2019-20. Kubiak previously worked as the QB Coach for the Denver Broncos from 2016 to 2018. During his tenure, Case Keenum had a career-high 3,890 passing yards and 18 touchdowns in his first season with the team. Kubiak also coached QB Trevor Siemian, who threw for 2,285 yards and 12 touchdowns over 10 starts.
In his first year with the Broncos in 2016, Kubiak worked with QBs Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, who combined for 20 touchdowns and 3,898 passing yards. Kubiak started his NFL career as the quality control/assistant wide receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings from 2013-2014.
Kubiak also has four years of coaching experience at the collegiate level, having served as a quality control coach/offense (2010-11) and graduate assistant/inside wide receivers coach (2012) for Texas A&M and coaching wide receivers for Kansas in 2015.
Relevant Experience
Potential Fit
“I am thrilled for Klint to get the opportunity to be our offensive coordinator,” Vikings QB Kirk Cousins said in 2021 when Klint Kubiak was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator in Minnesota.
“Having the chance to work with him on a day-to-day basis the last two seasons has helped me grow both as a player and a person. His sharp mind and even-keel demeanor will serve him well as a play-caller,” Cousins added. “We will all benefit from the continuity Klint provides, and I’m looking forward to working with him in this new role.”
In Kubiak’s first season as the Vikings’ quarterbacks coach, Cousins posted a career-best 107.4 passer rating and threw for 3,603 yards, 26 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. During Kubiak’s three seasons in Minnesota, Cousins posted the three best seasons of his career, throwing for 12,089 yards, 94 touchdowns, and 34 interceptions.
In Kubiak’s one season as the Vikings’ offensive coordinator in 2021, Minnesota’s passing offense ranked 5th in the NFL. They were 10th in the NFL in total offensive yardage (362.8 YPG) and 13th in the league in scoring, averaging 25 points per contest.
After the Vikings fired Mike Zimmer following the 2021 season, Kevin O’Connell brought in his staff, and Kubiak landed in Denver as the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Denver ranked 19th in the league in passing yardage per game despite their scoring offense ranking last in the NFL. Nathaniel Hackett was fired in-season, and Kubiak made his way to San Francisco this past offseason.
Working with Kyle Shanahan this season, Kubiak had a chance to work under one of the best offensive minds in football. Shanahan runs the wide-zone offense, similar to the one that Kubiak ran as the OC in Minnesota in 2021.
My Two Cents
While I’m not entirely in on Kubiak, he intrigues me more than Shane Waldron. Waldron ran a similar offense to what we’ve become accustomed to seeing here in Chicago the past two seasons but was far more pass-heavy than Luke Getsy.
Waldron’s version featured many more throws ahead of the sticks, except last season when the air yards dipped, likely because Geno Smith was banged up all season.
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In Kubiak, you have a play-caller who runs an offense very similar to what Kyle Shanahan runs in San Francisco, which makes a ton of sense, seeing as Shanahan worked for Klint’s dad, Gary, in Houston. Bears fans got an up-close look at Kubiak’s offense a couple of years ago in Minnesota when the Vikings had an offense that ranked in the top third in yardage and scoring.
In Kubiak’s lone season as the play-caller in Minnesota, he did an excellent job of using three wide receiver sets to manipulate opposing defenses and get his playmakers in space with good matchups. Kubiak also had a bunch of success with chunk play opportunities on early downs off of play action in 21-personnel (two running backs, one tight end, two wide receivers) and 12-personnel (one running back, two tight ends, and two wide receivers).
In 2021, Kirk Cousins ranked sixth in the league in passing yardage from play-action pass attempts with 1,107 yards. Cousins threw the ball 113 times out of play-action and averaged a tick under 10 yards per play-action pass attempt.
Comparatively, Justin Fields had 491 passing yards on 69 play-action attempts in 2023. In 2022, Fields ranked 18th in the NFL in passing yards from play-action.
The wide-zone run scheme is centered around running outside and using zone-blocking principles. The object is to stretch the field horizontally while leaving the middle of the field open off of play action.
I’m much more excited by the idea of the Bears running this style of offense next season, regardless of who is under center.
