What makes Seahawks OC Kubiak a strong head coach candidate

When the Seattle Seahawks chose Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator in early 2025, the hiring didn’t necessarily jump off of the page.

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Kubiak’s résumé included two separate one-year stints as an OC in the NFL, neither of which was with successful teams. He had his first go-around as an OC with the 2021 Minnesota Vikings, who went 8-9 and finished in the middle of the pack in total yards. His second time as an OC was in 2024 with the New Orleans Saints, who went 5-12 and finished in the back-half of the league in offense.

Clearly the Seahawks saw something in Kubiak, and now other teams in the league have taken notice. Following Seattle’s 14-3 run through the regular season to earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs, Kubiak is one of the top names on the head coach carousel. As of Thursday afternoon, five of the eight teams looking for a head coach for 2026 reportedly have interest in Kubiak.

NFL Network reporter Steve Wyche spoke about Kubiak as a potential head coach when he joined Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob on Wednesday, and he had some insight on what stands out about Kubiak. In particular, he pointed out that Kubiak has some wrinkles to his style of offense that shares a lot in common with that of the San Francisco 49ers under head coach Kyle Shanahan, Los Angeles Rams under coach Sean McVay, and Vikings under coach Kevin O’Connell.

“He’s going to get serious consideration at some places,” Wyche said, “because even when he was in New Orleans and they weren’t winning games because of their personnel last year, people were like, he’s kind of doing some things with the Shanahan/McVay offense, Kevin O’Connell offense, that are different from all of them.”

With the exception of Shanahan, Kubiak may have a leg up on any other coach running this style of offense because of his background. The offense is based upon the one that Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s father, and Gary Kubiak, Klint’s father, pioneered when they were respectively the head coach and offensive coordinator during a highly successful period for the Denver Broncos.

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Despite being just 38 years old, Kubiak has been in the coaching ranks since 2010, with the vast majority of his experience coming in the NFL.

“He’s well thought of, of course you’ve got the pedigree, but he’s not new, either,” Wyche said. “I mean, he’s been doing this for a while – not necessarily calling plays the full time, but understanding that he’s paid his dues. So I think that there’s probably a pretty good chance, unless he blows some interviews, that he’s going to be a head coach somewhere next year.”

Hear the full Wyman and Bob conversation with NFL Network’s Steve Wyche in the podcast at this link or the player below. Catch Wyman and Bob from 2-7 p.m. weekdays on Seattle Sports.

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