Klint Kubiak has been on the move - a lot. Over the last few years, he's packed up and relocated from Minnesota to Denver to San Francisco to New Orleans.
Four states in four years, each stop another chapter in the life of a coach grinding his way up the NFL ladder. And now, it looks like there’s a fifth move on the horizon - but this one feels different.
After Sunday’s Super Bowl, Kubiak is expected to take over as the next head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. That’s a massive leap, and one that comes after a season in which he helped guide the Seattle Seahawks all the way to the big game. But before he starts sketching out his vision for the Raiders, he’s got one more job to do: call plays against the New England Patriots with a championship on the line.
It’s a remarkable turnaround for a coach who, just a year ago, was steering a battered Saints offense through one of the roughest stretches in the league.
Let’s rewind for a second. Kubiak arrived in New Orleans with high expectations and a system that had coaches around the league taking notice.
But sometimes, even the best schemes can’t overcome a roster riddled with injuries. The Saints came out of the gate hot, scoring 40-plus points in back-to-back games.
And then the wheels came off.
Center Erik McCoy went down, and the dominoes started to fall. Kubiak lost both of his top receivers, his star running back, and eventually his starting quarterback.
Derek Carr missed eight games in total, and New Orleans didn’t win a single one without him. That seven-game losing streak ultimately cost Dennis Allen his job, and Kubiak - through no fault of his own - was once again packing boxes.
Fast forward to this season, and Kubiak’s offense in Seattle has been humming. With a healthy core and a balanced attack, the Seahawks finished as one of the league’s top 10 offenses.
Sam Darnold, rejuvenated under center, has played some of the best football of his career. Jaxon Smith-Njigba has emerged as a premier receiving threat, and Kenneth Walker continues to be a force on the ground.
This time, Kubiak had the pieces - and he made them sing.
“We’ve got some really good players,” Kubiak said during Super Bowl Opening Night. “Mike Macdonald is a great coach.
And it all starts with players that are healthy, and we’ve been healthy throughout the season. Our guys got to grow together, get better together.”
That continuity matters. It’s one thing to have a playbook full of clever designs - it’s another to have the same 11 guys on the field week after week, building chemistry and executing at a high level. Kubiak didn’t get that luxury in New Orleans, but in Seattle, he’s shown what his offense can look like when the pieces stay intact.
At the core of Kubiak’s system is a philosophy rooted in the wide-zone scheme - a legacy passed down from his father, longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak. It’s a system that thrives on misdirection, play-action, and formations that look identical but deliver very different results. Defenses are constantly forced to guess, and quarterbacks are put in positions to succeed.
Derek Carr, who worked with Kubiak in New Orleans, often praised the offense for how “freeing” it felt. Pure-progression reads, motion-heavy looks, and bootlegs that buy time and simplify decisions - it’s a quarterback-friendly design, and it’s no surprise that Sam Darnold has flourished in it. Darnold had been in similar systems before, but under Kubiak, he’s found consistency and confidence.
That ability to elevate quarterbacks is likely a big reason the Raiders are ready to hand Kubiak the keys. With the No. 1 overall pick in their pocket and Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza expected to be the selection, Las Vegas is looking for a coach who can develop a young signal-caller from day one. Kubiak checks that box.
Carr, now hosting a podcast with his brother David, gave his former coach a strong endorsement this week.
“It is so abundantly clear who you are as an offense when you're in a room with him,” Carr said. “You know the standard.
You know exactly what's asked of you. And if you're not doing it, he tells you, and then you're gone.
He's just honest.”
That kind of clarity and directness can go a long way in a locker room - especially for a young team trying to establish a new identity. And while Kubiak’s public persona might come off as mild-mannered, those who’ve worked with him know he holds his players to a high standard.
Seattle offensive lineman Grey Zabel praised Kubiak’s work ethic and the ownership he takes over the offense. And Kubiak himself shared a story this week that speaks volumes about how seriously he takes player development.
Back when he was a graduate assistant at Texas A&M, Kubiak admitted he was relentless with one particular wide receiver - so much so that he figured the player would never speak to him again. But after Kubiak briefly left football for a job in the oil industry, that same player called him out of the blue.
“He basically said, ‘Hey, thanks for working with me, making me better,’” Kubiak recalled. That call was a turning point.
He quit the oil job the next day and got back into coaching. “It was that phone call, the realization of it’s about these relationships.”
And that’s what’s carried him to this point - relationships, resilience, and a football mind that continues to evolve. From the injury-riddled season in New Orleans to the Super Bowl sideline in Seattle, Kubiak’s journey has been anything but linear. But it’s led him to the doorstep of a head coaching opportunity with the Raiders - and this time, the move might finally come with some long-term stability.
For Kubiak and his family, it’s been a long road. But now, the destination is in sight.