Tag: Gary Kubiak

Former Texans coach Gary Kubiak shares insight into building culture on a football team

Former Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak shared with “The Wheelhouse” on ESPN 97.5 Houston exactly what goes into building culture on a team.

Rebuilding football teams bandy about the word “culture” more than the word “literally” at the nearest mall food court.

The Houston Texans are trying to build that culture, and general manager Nick Caserio gave reporters on Nov. 4 his definitions for what it means.

“I think everybody kind of gets caught up in culture, like what does that exactly mean?” Caserio said. “I think there are a lot of different definitions of how that’s interpreted. Culture’s about habits and about action. It’s about work. That’s what culture’s about.”

Another great source in Houston sports on what the word culture means is Gary Kubiak, who was the coach of the Texans from 2006-13. Kubiak has parallels with current coach David Culley in that he took over a team on hard times as Houston finished 2-14 the year before and it took Kubiak four seasons to finally finish with a winning record.

Kubiak joined “The Wheelhouse” with Jake Asman, Cody Stoots, and Brad Kellner on ESPN 97.5 Houston [KFNC-FM] Tuesday to talk about exactly what culture means relative to a football team.

“You as a coach you know what type of culture you want in your locker room and with your organization and with your team, but the only way you’re going to get that done is if you’re surrounded with great leaders in the locker room,” Kubiak said. “Those are guys that take your message to another level with the football team. You’re talking 55, 60 players deep. So, you’re talking about a lot of people that that message has to resonate with. So, I think it’s very difficult.”

One of the problems the Texans face with their roster is it is replete with players on expiring contracts. There aren’t any long-term figures or strong faces of the franchise on the roster. Furthermore, while Caserio appears to be in it for the long-term, Culley seems more like a placeholder, keeping the seat warm for a better coaching candidate.

“It starts at the top and it’s got to trickle its way down,” said Kubiak. “You got to win some games here that help you keep culture going and make it better. So, that’s all part of the process.”

A win over the 8-2 Tennessee Titans would help Houston’s culture. The 1-8 Texans take on their AFC South rivals Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at Nissan Stadium.

8 notable NFL coaches who missed games during the season since 2005

Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury is part of these eight NFL coaches who had to miss games during an NFL season.

Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury will not make the trip to Cleveland to help his 5-0 squad extend their winning streak against the Browns at FirstEnergy Stadium Sunday.

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, former Denver Broncos coach from 2017-18, will take his place.

The criterion is coaches who missed a game or more and came back at some point during the regular season. Instances where a coach resigned due to the game not being fun anymore (Bum Phillips, 1985) or for what were determined to be health reasons (Bobby Ross, 2000) are outside the realm as they did not come back for that given season.

Gary Kubiak says Texans had to ‘do everything right’ in 2006

Former Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak says the team still had to focus on getting the details right in his early days despite the lack of victories.

The 2021 Houston Texans have some parallels to the 2006 team that Gary Kubiak took over: double-digit losses the year before, rookie coach, and a roster devoid of star power.

Although Kubiak at the time was an offensive coordinator with the Denver Broncos, who were the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs and were a game away from the Super Bowl that season, the former St. Pius X and Texas A&M product relished the chance to come back home to Houston and revitalize the city’s NFL presence.

“I had great respect for Dom Capers and the job that he did to take on a starter franchise,” Kubiak told Drew Dougherty in a feature on HoustonTexans.com. “The one thing about the NFL is that you can do everything right. It’s still hard to win. But the thing we have to do is go do everything right and see if we can make it happen. So, we had our work cut out for us in year one.”

The Texans went 6-10 in 2006 and started out the season with an 0-3 mark. However, one of those wins was a 27-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, who would go on to win the Super Bowl that season.

Said Kubiak: “We beat the world champs, which I think that was huge for the city, for [founder] Bob (McNair), for everybody, saying we’re doing this right. We had our steps along the way to get to where we were going. It’s a great business, but it’s so hard.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIvklhQCPPA

According to Kubiak, a difference of eight to 10 plays is what can separate a seven-win team from an 11-win team.

Although the 59-year-old is presently inactive in coaching, Kubiak, who compiled a 61-64 record with a 2-2 postseason mark in Houston, is pleased to see he left the Texans with the franchise having greater expectations than when he arrived.

“To see Houston now making the playoffs throughout these past few years and having some really good teams, the expectations there are tremendous now,” Kubiak said. “So, I like to think that we were all part of those expectations, and that’s a good thing. Because that’s why you do what you do.”

2021 NFL coaching changes: Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings turn to a familiar face following offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak’s second retirement.

Long-time NFL coach Gary Kubiak, 59, recently retired for the second time, leading Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer in the hunt for his third offensive coordinator in as many offseasons.

There was more or less no change from Kevin Stefanski in 2019 calling plays to Kubiak last year. The latter was on the staff as an advisor to Stefanski in ’19, and the 2020 Cleveland Browns success illustrates Stefanski learned a thing or two. The system built by Kubiak throughout the years has been prolific for fantasy purposes, especially at the running back position. Therefore, it should come as no surprise Zimmer wanted to keep things as close to unchanged as possible, which is what helped lead to the hiring of Klint Kubiak, Gary’s 33-year-old son, as the natural replacement at offensive coordinator.

The younger Kubiak was hired by Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier in 2013 after he spent three seasons at Texas A&M as the offensive quality control coach (2010-11) and inside receivers coach (2012) as a graduate assistant. Kubiak was the assistant wide receivers and offensive quality control coach for two seasons before returning to college in 2015 as Kansas’ wide receivers coach.

The 2016 season saw him join his father coaching the Denver Broncos, where Klint would spend three years as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach. Zimmer hired both Kubiaks in 2019, and Klint served as Kirk Cousins’ positional coach the past two years.

Coaching tendencies

Since we have zero to go on as far as Klint Kubiak’s style as a playcaller, the best we have to with which to work is his experience learning from his father. Klint grew up in this offense, being immersed in the details of a successful run-driven, West Coast system from the time he was a kid.

The past five seasons have positioned him well to learn on the job within his father’s system. Therefore, we’ll rehash what was covered in the 2020 preview of Gary Kubiak assuming the playcalling role in the Twin Cities:

A quick refresher on Kubiak’s history reminds us of his love for running the football. Due, in part, to past health issues, he sat out of coaching in 2017 and ’18, instead holding a consultation role with the Denver Broncos. Granted, much has changed across the NFL from 1995 to present day, yet we have seen Kub produce top rushing and passing offenses, depending upon the personnel. While he mostly found success with average quarterback talent and a fading superstar in his last hurrah, it’s not like too many of Kubiak’s running backs were elite, either.
Offense
Rushing Off
Passing Off
Year
Tm
Role
Yds
Pts
TO
Att
Yds
TD
Y/A
FL
Att
Yds
TD
Int
1995
DEN
OC
3
9
14
16
5
13
2
22
7
7
8
8
1996
DEN
OC
1
4
17
2
1
2
4
25
16
13
5
12
1997
DEN
OC
1
1
6
6
4
5
2
7
20
9
4
6
1998
DEN
OC
3
2
3
2
2
1
2
3
21
7
5
8
1999
DEN
OC
14
18
10
9
12
10
14
8
10
15
26
16
2000
DEN
OC
2
2
7
4
3
3
6
17
9
3
6
5
2001
DEN
OC
22
10
9
6
10
30
19
3
20
25
8
18
2002
DEN
OC
3
7
11
11
5
5
3
4
14
8
18
23
2003
DEN
OC
7
10
7
2
2
3
4
2
26
22
16
18
2004
DEN
OC
5
9
18
2
4
15
8
5
16
6
8
25
2005
DEN
OC
5
7
1
2
2
3
4
5
25
18
20
2
2006
HOU
HC
28
28
11
21
21
14
20
16
23
27
28
8
2007
HOU
HC
14
12
31
22
22
16
24
27
19
11
12
28
2008
HOU
HC
3
17
30
16
13
11
13
20
7
4
13
29
2009
HOU
HC
4
10
16
20
30
18
31
17
4
1
5
17
2010
HOU
HC
3
9
4
19
7
1
3
2
10
4
17
7
2011
HOU
HC
13
10
6
1
2
3
8
22
30
18
18
3
2012
HOU
HC
7
8
6
4
8
4
16
1
18
11
18
10
2013
HOU
HC
11
31
26
22
20
28
15
9
6
15
25
28
2014
BAL
OC
12
8
6
11
8
5
7
9
17
13
12
8
2015
DEN
HC
16
19
29
17
17
12
13
7
13
14
28
32
2016
DEN
HC
27
22
21
15
27
20
28
30
17
21
21
12
2020
MIN
OC
4
11
23
8
5
8
4
17
27
14
6
20

Kubiak didn’t call the plays himself in each of those seasons. However, including them is a must, since he didn’t take his finger off of the heartbeat of his teams’ systems. Whether it be handpicking the playcaller, constructing a game plan, and/or interjecting with a specific call during a game, Kubiak never let the offensive designs truly go out of his control. He also had a large role in molding the Stefanski system of 2019, as mentioned.

Zone blocking is a staple of a Kubiak offense, and the outside stretch run is one of his favorite plays. The offense loves to deceive defenses through play-action passing, rollouts, bootlegs, misdirections and a plethora of personnel groupings. Being a West Coast system, running backs are expected to catch, and tight ends are just as important as route runners as blockers. Receivers are asked to block as much as on any team. They operate with short-area routes and clearouts to keep defenses scrambling to cover the proper level.

Also working Klint’s favor is long-time colleagues of his father — offensive line coach Rick Dennison and tight ends coach Brad Pariani — continue on with the coaching staff in 2021.

[lawrence-related id=457102]

Personnel changes

Minnesota has no primary starters on offense ready to hit the free-agent market in March. The Vikings currently sit roughly $8.54 million over the salary cap, but the catch here is we don’t yet know the actual 2021 cap figure from the league. It is believed to go down, possibly into the $175-185 million range after being $198.2 million in 2020.

There are many ways to get below the cap without a wholesale roster purge, and $8.54 million is hardly problematic when looking around the league. For perspective, New Orleans is in the worst shape at $70,796,484 in the hole.

According to Spotrac.com, Cousins carries a team-high $31 million cap charge. He could be restructured via extension as he faces a $45 million cap hit in 2022.

The third-highest 2021 cap hit is left tackle Riley Reiff at $16.45 million. He is coming off of arguably his best year but would save the team $11.75 million if he’s released.

Minnesota will pocket $5.1 million in savings if (when) tight end Kyle Rudolph gets the ax, and a decision will be forced on what to do with safety Harrison Smith’s deal. He enters the final year of his contract and would save the Vikes $10.25 million should he be shown the door.

Fantasy football takeaway

Expect much of the same from this offense in terms of its design and implementation. We cannot possibly know whether Kubiak’s tempo will be different, or if he’s inclined to play it safe in risky situations. Either way, look for Dalvin Cook to remain a workhorse, and the team will work in play-action passing to exploit defenses choking up to the line. This offense ranked sixth in rushing attempt percentage (47.6), toting the rock 29 times, on average. Cook is entrenched as one of the top five fantasy backs, especially in PPR.

Wideouts Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson are two of the better fantasy football commodities at the position, and the latter’s breakthrough rookie season could have him poised to once again displace Thielen in 2021 as Cousins’ primary target. Thielen will be 31 before the season begins, and his 2020 value was overly dependent upon finding the end zone (14 TDs in 15 games), whereas Jefferson outpaced him in targets, receptions and yardage as a rook.

As for Cousins himself, he’s safely drafted as a matchup play for most settings after an 11th-place finish among his positional peers in 2020, although there is merit in choosing him as a late-round starter. The veteran finished ’20 on a heater, tossing three touchdowns in five of his last seven games and six of the final nine.

The tight end position is expected to feature third-year man Irv Smith Jr. with Rudolph’s likely release. Smith has flashed more than once in his career and should be viewed as one to watch leading up to draft season. A low-volume passing attack with two prominent receivers and a pass-catching running back in Cook makes it tough to bank on Smith being a weekly contributor, however.

All things considered, Kubiak’s system should keep Minnesota’s core playmakers in position to be quality fantasy options, especially if the defense continues to take its lumps.

Minnesota Vikings coaching staff and front office: News and notes

Miss anything? Stay up to date with Vikings Wire’s page for Minnesota Vikings staff news.

The Vikings saw Kevin Stefanski leave last offseason and become the head coach of the Browns.

Stefanski, who was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator, went on to become PFWA’s Coach of the Year, after leading Cleveland to a playoff berth, followed by a postseason victory over the Steelers.

The Vikings replaced Stefanski with Gary Kubiak, who was promoted to the position. With Kubiak’s retirement, Minnesota has to look for yet another offensive coordinator — the sixth time the team has done so during the Mike Zimmer era.

Miss any updates with the Vikings’ coaching staff? See the news and notes from the offseason so far:

Report: ‘Many expect’ Klint Kubiak to become Vikings new OC

Minnesota Vikings QB coach Klint Kubiak is expected by many to become new Vikings OC, according to a report.

The Vikings are in the midst of yet another offseason where the team will have to replace their offensive coordinator.

Minnesota’s offensive coordinator from 2020, Gary Kubiak, announced that he was retiring. That leaves a void that could be filled by an internal candidate according to a report.

Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune reported that, with Gary Kubiak officially retiring, many expect Vikings QB coach Klint Kubiak to take over as the offensive coordinator.

This shouldn’t come as a huge shock. Earlier, before Kubiak had officially retired, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported that Klint Kubiak and Hue Jackson would both get looks if the Vikings were to lose their offensive coordinator to retirement this offseason.

Kubiak retiring means that the Vikings will have to look for their sixth offensive coordinator under Mike Zimmer. Here are some of the candidates who would be decent fits as the new Minnesota OC.

Vikings announce that Minnesota OC Gary Kubiak has retired

Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak has made his retirement official.

Throughout the Mike Zimmer era, the Vikings have had plenty of instability at offensive coordinator. Gear up for more of that heading into the 2021 season.

Gary Kubiak, Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in 2020, has made his retirement official, the team announced Thursday.

“I’ll miss the competition, the planning, game days, and being part of a team,” Kubiak said in a statement, via the Vikings’ Twitter account. “But, more than anything, I’ll cherish the friendships I’ve made along the way with players, coaches and staff. I love the game of football and will forever be its biggest fan.”

Kubiak was hired by the Vikings as an offensive assistant for the 2019 season. Before that, he was well respected as an offensive mind with several stints around the league. Most notably, he won the Super Bowl as head coach of the Denver Broncos.

Kubiak’s retirement means the Vikings will have to find a sixth offensive coordinator during Zimmer’s time with the team. Here are some possible candidates to replace Kubiak.

Expect diverse skillsets from Robert Saleh’s Jets staff

Robert Saleh wants his coaching staff to have a diverse skillset, so they an teach things that he doesn’t know how to do.

New Jets head coach Robert Saleh already has a vision for what he wants his first coaching staff to look like.

Saleh spoke at the QB Coaching Summit last year and described what he would look for in an NFL coaching staff. He explained how diversity beyond the color of one’s skin is important for a staff. Having different values and different personalities are key, but bringing in people who do things that you can’t is what makes a group of coaches succeed.

“Your staff completes you,” Saleh said.

The 41-year-old thinks of himself as a great coach — his players have backed that up — but he said he wouldn’t want 20 Robert Salehs on the sideline. Saleh knows that he is not perfect and can’t do everything by himself, and that’s where he needs to be able to count on his coaching staff to pick him up.

“You have to know your weaknesses,” Saleh said. “You have to connect and understand yourself and you have to understand what you can’t give a player. No one coach can give you everything.”

Saleh has learned a lot about coaching philosophy from some great mentors throughout his 16-year NFL coaching career. He’s worked under Gary Kubiak, Pete Carroll and Kyle Shanahan, all of whom have stressed how important it is to have a well-run organization.

While schemes and play-calling are also part of the job, a head coach has to nail setting a standard first. Saleh seems to understand this.

Saleh will now get a chance to implement his staff-building philosophies with the Jets. We’ll see if he can deliver upon those ideologies and turn the Jets into a winning football team.

Robert Saleh’s winning pedigree is exactly what the Jets need

The new Jets coach brings the teachings of Pete Carroll and Kyle Shanahan to New York.

Newly-appointed Jets head coach Robert Saleh is well-known for his passionate sideline demeanor and how he systematically turned the 49ers defense into one of the best units in the league over his four-year span. A lot of that can be attributed to Saleh’s own personal style of coaching, but it also comes from his background working with some of the best minds in the NFL.

Saleh began his coaching career with the Texans in 2005, first as a defensive intern and then as a defensive quality control coach and assistant linebackers coach. Saleh was in Houston with Kyle Shanahan – then the wide receivers coach and eventually the 49ers head coach who hired Saleh in 2017 – and also saw first-hand how to rebuild an organization under the direction of Gary Kubiak.

The Texans were 18-36 during their four years of existence prior to Kubiak’s hiring but went 37-43 during Saleh’s final five years with the team. It’s not a great improvement, but the year after Saleh left for Seattle, Houston did win the AFC South in back-to-back seasons.

It wasn’t until Saleh joined the Seahawks in 2011, though, that the lessons really began. Under the direction of head coach Pete Caroll, defensive coordinator Gus Bradley and linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr., Saleh learned the ins and outs of how to build a great defense. During Saleh’s three years in Seattle, the defense ranked seventh, first and first in yards allowed and fourth, first and first in points allowed. 

Even more important than defensive schematics, though, was a coaching philosophy Saleh said he observed from Caroll’s staff. The Seahawks have been one of the most successful teams in the league since Caroll took over in 2010 and a lot of that can be attributed to coaching and talent development.

The Seahawks cultivated homegrown talent and worked with players to produce the Legion of Boom that won a Super Bowl in 2013 – Saleh’s final year in Seattle – and almost won another in 2014. They accomplished so much, in part, by turning late-round draft picks like Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor and K.J. Wright into household names and developing early-round picks like Earl Thomas and Bobby Wagner into stars. 

“The biggest influence I took from coach Carroll is from a philosophy standpoint,” Saleh told ESPN in 2017. “Understanding who you are as a person. Understanding what’s important to you as a person. And, how to apply it to the message that you’re trying to deliver. Understanding that everybody has a style and that every style is the right style provided you apply it in the right way. So, just from a philosophy standpoint, speaking to people, handling people is where I have my greatest growth from coach Carroll.”

Saleh transferred that mentality to Jacksonville when he joined Bradley’s staff as a linebackers coach in 2014. Though the Jaguars didn’t win much – Jacksonville won only 11 games in Saleh’s three years there and Bradley was fired before the end of the 2016 season – Saleh helped develop linebacker Telvin Smith and the defense improved from 26th in points allowed in 2014 to sixth in 2016.

Everything came together once Saleh joined Shanahan and the 49ers in 2017. All of the learnings, observations and ideas formed into one of the NFL’s most successful defenses. Shanahan explained Saleh planned everything when he hired him as defensive coordinator, according to SI’s Robert Klemko.

“He knew exactly what he wanted to do. Mapped out from beginning to end,” Shanahan said n 2017. “It was a fool-proof plan, and you could tell he’s been thinking about it for a long time.”

The 49ers’ defense improved over the first three seasons under Saleh, culminating in a top-two defensive DVOA finish, per Football Outsiders, and a Super Bowl berth. The defense finished second in yards allowed that year and eighth in points. Saleh’s defense faltered in 2020 after a bevy of injuries decimated the defensive line and secondary, but the unit still finished sixth in DVOA and fifth in yards allowed.

“The system has evolved into its own unique deal within the league,” Saleh said at the end of the 2020 season, per the Mercury News. “We’re not old-school Seattle like when we came in here. We created a system unique to the 49ers. It’s been cool because we’ve been able to do it together, not only as a staff but the players who’ve been here. It’s been a great experience.”

Saleh may have learned how to build a great defense from his earlier coaching stops, but he credits his 49ers bosses with how to run an organization, a mentality he will likely bring with him to the Jets.

“If you look at how teams run themselves, Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch], in my eyes, they’re the standard,” he said. “They’re phenomenal.”

Now in New York, Saleh will be on his own at the top. He’ll have his coaching staff and GM Joe Douglas around him, but Saleh’s influence will be seen all over the team as it heads into the 2021 season. It will be a challenge, but not one Saleh doesn’t have lessons and mentors to pull from in his pursuit of building a winning culture with the Jets.

Report: If Vikings OC Gary Kubiak retires, Hue Jackson and Klint Kubiak will get looks

The Minnesota Vikings may have an opening at offensive coordinator this offseason. Hue Jackson and Klint Kubiak will reportedly get looks if so.

The Vikings have had five different offensive coordinators during the Mike Zimmer era and the team may have to make it six this offseason.

That’s because current Minnesota offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak is leaning towards retirement, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network.

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano reported what they were hearing about the latest openings across the league, and the Vikings’ potentially open offensive coordinator spot came up. Here’s what the two wrote:

“One note for the assistant coaching carousel: Don’t be surprised if Mike Zimmer at least talks to old friend Hue Jackson for the Vikings’ offensive coordinator job if Gary Kubiak retires. ‘[Kubiak is] taking some time to mentally think about the season and where he’s at healthwise, and he’ll decide what he wants to do,’ Zimmer said Tuesday.

Jackson is hoping to get back into coaching. Vikings quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak, Gary’s son, has done good work with Kirk Cousins and would also get a look.”

Neither of these candidates are very shocking. Kubiak would be a sign of continuity and Jackson is a well-established coach whom Zimmer is familiar with. I think either would be a decent choice.