The New Orleans Saints made a significant announcement on Wednesday, appointing Klint Kubiak as their new offensive coordinator. This move signals a departure from the longstanding leadership of either former head coach Sean Payton or his protege, Pete Carmichael Jr., who had overseen the offense since 2006.
At 36 years old, Kubiak previously served as the passing game coordinator for the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in the previous season. However, the formalization of his hiring had to wait until after the Niners competed in Sunday’s Super Bowl, ultimately losing in overtime to the Kansas City Chiefs, with a score of 25-22.
During the 2023 season, San Francisco boasted one of the most potent offenses in the NFL, averaging 28.9 points and 398.4 yards per game. They particularly excelled in passing, ranking fourth in the league with an average of 257.9 passing yards per game.
Kubiak comes from a football lineage, as his father, Gary Kubiak, had a notable career spanning over two decades in the NFL as both a coach and assistant. Gary, who also had a playing career serving as Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway’s backup in Denver, clinched a Super Bowl victory as coach of the 2015 Broncos.
This appointment isn’t Kubiak’s first venture as an offensive coordinator, having previously held the role in short stints with the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos.
His tenure with the Vikings in 2021 coincided with the firing of then-coach Mike Zimmer. He took on play-calling duties for the latter half of the 2022 season with the Broncos, during which the team struggled with a 5-12 record.
In San Francisco, Kubiak collaborated with head coach Kyle Shanahan, whose offenses have consistently ranked among the top seven in the league for four of the past five seasons.
In his new role with the Saints, Kubiak will report to head coach Dennis Allen, who continues to manage the team’s defense.
Leading the offense will be quarterback Derek Carr, who faced challenges due to injuries during the initial stages of the 2023 season but demonstrated improvement as the season progressed, culminating in the Saints narrowly missing the playoffs with a 9-8 record.
Dennis Allen expressed confidence in Kubiak’s abilities, highlighting his extensive experience and play-calling proficiency, particularly in developing quarterbacks.
While the Saints posted respectable offensive statistics, including ranking ninth in scoring and 14th in yards per game, they faced challenges in critical situations during the early part of the season.
Their performance in the red zone, converting 53.3% of opportunities into touchdowns, ranked 18th, and they suffered seven losses by fewer than 10 points.
Since the retirement of Drew Brees after the 2020 season, the Saints have not secured a playoff berth. The organization hopes that Kubiak’s new offensive schemes will complement Allen’s consistently strong defense, which has ranked 13th or better over the past five seasons.
Kubiak’s coaching journey began in 2010 as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M, where both his father and Dennis Allen had played.
He transitioned to the NFL in 2013 with the Minnesota Vikings before briefly returning to college football as Kansas’ receivers coach in 2015.
Subsequently, he rejoined his father’s coaching staff with the Denver Broncos in 2016 before ultimately returning to Minnesota in 2019 with Zimmer.
