NFL legacy Klint Kubiak will call offensive plays for the Denver Broncos beginning Sunday, NFL Network first reported.
Is this a sign of desperation or just the spark the Broncos need? Time will tell. But credit embattled first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett for acknowledging things weren’t working.
The Russell Wilson gambit has been so far a failure, with the Broncos ranking last in scoring (14.6) and red zone efficiency (50%), 31st in 30th in first downs (17.1) and third downs (28.5%), and 27th in yards per play (5.1).
Who Is Denver Broncos Play-Caller Klint Kubiak?
Hackett, who is 3-6 and just 3% to make the playoffs per FiveThirtyEight, has been overwhelmed by the dual responsibilities of directing the Broncos’ offense and managing the game.
So he has decided to narrow his focus and allow Kubiak — Denver’s passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach — to run the offense, beginning Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Broncos’ No. 1 organizational priority is to make it work with Wilson after surrendering a king’s ransom in a trade to acquire him and then doubling down with a new five-year contract that includes $165 million in guarantees.
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The new system and situation have resulted in Wilson putting up the worst numbers of his career (57.4% completions, 33.1 QBR, 81.4 passer rating). So things quite literally cannot be worse with Kubiak running the show. In fact, there are reasons to believe things will be better.
Kubiak, 35, is an NFL blue blood. He’s the son of Gary Kubiak — the NFL lifer who was the head coach of the Broncos’ Super Bowl championship team in 2015.
That was his son Klint’s final year coaching in the college ranks. He’d join his dad in the NFL the following season.
The Broncos are a part of Klint Kubiak’s DNA. His dad was first a player, then a coach (with two different stints on Denver’s staff), and later an executive for the franchise.
While Gary Kubiak was a quarterback as a player, his son played safety. He was a two-star recruit out of Regis Jesuit in Aurora, Colo. After a solid but not spectacular college career, he wisely determined that coaching was his path to the NFL.
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His first opportunity came in 2010 at Texas A&M — his dad’s alma mater. Klint was a low-level staffer for three years before joining then-Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier’s staff as a quality control coach. That led to a one-year stint as the wide receivers coach at Kansas before his dad hired him as an offensive assistant with the Broncos in 2016.
Health issues caused Gary to retire (temporarily) after the 2016 season, but Klint remained on staff for two more years in Denver.
When his dad returned to coaching with the Vikings in 2019, Klint joined him in Minnesota — first as quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator. In his only year calling plays (2021), Kubiak’s offense ranked eighth in scoring (25.1).
Following Mike Zimmer’s dismissal last winter, Kubiak joined Hackett in Denver. This is their first time working together.
His brothers Klein and Klay both also work in the NFL. Klay is the assistant quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers, while Klein works in the Dallas Cowboys’ personnel department.