The Vikings’ coaching staff already looks a lot different this offseason than it did during 2020. Minnesota has made some changes already, but there is a pretty big position that remains open: Offensive coordinator.
Minnesota’s offensive coordinator from last season, Gary Kubiak, retired, so now the team has to look for its sixth OC during the Mike Zimmer era.
Zimmer talked about how the offense could look going forward with Paul Allen on KFAN Radio’s “9 to Noon” show (H/T Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated).
“There’s so many things that we did well offensively last year,” Zimmer told Allen, via Ragatz. “I like the continuity of the offense. But I think there’s some other things that we can add as well to make us even better. We had an awful lot of penalties last year offensively, which we need to change. Obviously we’ve got a good run game. We need to really look at the personnel and try to figure out where we can go from here and how we can get to the next step.”
If Zimmer is striving towards continuity with an offensive coordinator candidate, Klint Kubiak and Tyke Tolbert certainly ring bells. Kubiak, Gary’s son, has been the team’s quarterbacks coach. While Tolbert has been a coach for the Giants, he also worked under Gary Kubiak during the Broncos’ Super Bowl run. His hiring would suggest that Minnesota will use a similar offensive style to the one the team utilized in 2020.
Regardless of whether the Vikings go for continuity or innovation with the hire itself, it is a positive sign that Zimmer thinks the team can add things. They should do that, at least, if Minnesota wants a bounce-back season.