Bears Might Hire Ex-Viking for Vacant OC Position
It has been a wild coaching cycle in the NFL this year with various vacancies and multiple unexpected moves. Bill Belichick ended his Hall of Fame tenure in New England and former Vikings defensive backs coach Pete Carroll retired from the Seahawks head coaching gig. A different former assistant coach with the Vikings has drawn some interest from the division rivals.
Bears Might Hire Ex-Viking for Vacant OC Position
It was 2022 when Minnesota cleaned house, firing almost every coach in the building in addition to Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer, the two leading figures in the organization. A part of that departing wave was offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak who led Kirk Cousins to some fabulous numbers. With the arrival of Kevin O’Connell, and the guys he brought with him, the Vikes didn’t have any use for Kubiak and let him go.
He has now been given the chance to interview for the offensive coordinator job in Chicago. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler tweeted on Thursday: “Bears plan to interview 49ers passing game coordinator Klint Kubiak for their OC job, per sources.”
Chicago, led by head coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles, fired a bunch of coaches including OC Luke Getsy and (former Vikings) QB coach Andrew Janocko.
After leaving Minnesota, he joined Nathaniel Hackett in his disastrous tenure in Denver as the team’s QB coach and passing game coordinator. Of course, there are some connections as his dad, Gary, won a Super Bowl with Denver and Klint was an offensive assistant there for three years until 2018 before he joined Zimmer’s staff as a QB coach.
It was his dad who took over from Kevin Stefanski as the team’s OC in 2020 but once he retired for good after one season, Klint received the opportunity to take the keys to the offense that featured Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson. His offense ranked 14th in points and 12th in yards
Following his year in Denver, he joined Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff in San Francisco as the passing game coordinator. An association with Shanahan is always a good idea for future promotions league-wide as he is regarded as an elite offensive mind.
The job in Chicago would be to either help Justin Fields have a breakout season in 2024 or to take Caleb Williams, who is viewed as the clear favorite for Chicago’s first overall pick, under his wings. Other candidates for the position will likely emerge in the next few days.
O’Connell’s coaching staff in Minnesota is expected to remain the same unless Brian Flores gets consideration for a head coaching position, and ultimately lands a gig. WR coach Keenan McCardell could also get a look from some team looking for a new coordinator.
Janik Eckardt is a football fan who likes numbers and stats. The Vikings became his favorite team despite their quarterback at the time, Christian Ponder. He is a walking soccer encyclopedia, loves watching sitcoms, and Classic rock is his music genre of choice. Follow him on Twitter if you like the Vikings: @JanikEckardt
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