Why Saints OC Klint Kubiak Will Be the Next Kyle Shanahan

Dennis Allen needed to make a big-time offensive coordinator hire in order to survive this season as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints. It appears that Allen did just that by bringing in Klint Kubiak, whose offense has taken the league by storm after scoring a total of 91 points through two games thus far.

The offense’s historic start can be credited to Kubiak’s brilliant schematic influence and playcalling ability. The 37-year-old offensive mind has done a great job at getting the most out of his quarterback, Derek Carr, who struggled mightily at times last season.

Let’s take a look at Kubiak’s coaching history thus far, and how his style and playcalling tie into the Shanahan scheme.

Breaking Down Kubiak’s Ties to the Shanahan Scheme

The two families have a long history of working together in the coaching world.

The Kubiak and Shanahan families have been linked together in the coaching world for quite some time now. Klint’s father, Gary Kubiak, played a vital role in the creation of the Shanahan scheme that we witness today, having been Mike Shanahan’s offensive coordinator for multiple seasons during the mid 90s and early 2000s.

Gary, with Peyton Manning as his signal caller, won a Super Bowl as the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2016, and remains the last coach to lead Denver to a postseason appearance. Klint served alongside his dad as an offensive assistant on that legendary Broncos squad, and later broke through and got hired as the offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings in 2021.

He retained the position for one season before being let go after Mike Zimmer was fired as the head coach in Minnesota that offseason.

Ironically, Zimmer is currently the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys, who got annihilated by Kubiak’s offense in Week 2.

Prior to being hired by New Orleans, Klint served as a passing game specialist for the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, working closely with head coach Kyle Shanahan.

A Look At Coaching Similarities Between Kubiak and Shanahan

Kubiak has modeled his coaching philosophy after his former boss.

Fans have grown accustomed to watching Shanahan and the 49ers dominate on offense year in and year out. The team has a plethora of offensive weapons in the passing game, includingBrandon Aiyuk,Deebo Samuel Sr., andGeorge Kittle.

The three pass catchers make up one of the league’s top trios, yet we have consistently seen Shanahan use Christian McCaffrey in a bell cow role in the offense. Why does Shanahan feature his star back so much in his scheme when he has other great weapons? It’s simple – his core philosophical beliefs on offense always stem back to a run-heavy approach.

This explains why he values versatile left tackle Trent Williams so much, and why the 49ers tend to struggle on offense when Williams is not in the lineup. Through the first two games, Kubiak’s scheme has been centered around his star running back, Alvin Kamara, similar to how Shanahan uses McCaffrey.

It is too early to tell if Kubiak will stick with the running game if the team falls behind, as Shanahan tends to do. However, the eye test and Kamara’s usage speculate that Kubiak is following in the footsteps of his former boss in San Francisco.

Kubiak Will Be a Hot Commodity During the Next Hiring Cycle

Organizations are constantly looking to hire the next great young offensive mind

The Saints’ offense is off to a historic start and Derek Carr is putting up MVP numbers through two games thus far. Considering how lost Carr looked at times last season, it can be fair to assume that Kubiak is the reason for his high-level play.

Kubiak has done a phenomenal job at constructing the offense around Carr’s strengths and hiding his weaknesses. Carr can play like a top 10 quarterback if he has a running game to set up the play action pass, and a clean pocket to work through his progressions.

Kubiak has done exactly that by orchestrating a dominant ground game for the 33-year-old signal caller. Carr heaped praise on his OC after his team’s dismantling of Dallas, saying how comfortable he feels in Kukiak’s system:

Elevating Carr alone will be enough for Kubiak to earn head coaching interviews at the conclusion of the season.

The NFL is a copycat league, as organizations tend to follow in the footsteps of other teams who are having success. As of today, the majority of both head coaches and offensive playcallers that branch off of the Shanahan tree are finding success all throughout the league.

Kubiak’s schematic approach, family lineage, and knowledge of the Shanahan scheme will propel his name atop the list of multiple league owners during the 2025 hiring cycle. Carr, Kubiak, and the rest of the Saints squad will look to continue their dominance and earn the title of NFC South champions.

All statistics courtesy of Pro-Football Reference and all contracts courtesy of Spotrac unless otherwise stated.