Analysis: Klint Kubiak is the right guy at the right time for the Raiders

Editor's note: Este artículo está traducido al español.

The masses judged Super Bowl 60 as guilty of failing to provide an entertaining game, and new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak should be implicated as an accessory to the crime.

Kubiak, in his final act as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator, stuck to a vanilla game plan that veered aggressively away from taking any risks. The 38-year-old deduced that the Seahawks could beat the New England Patriots almost solely with their run game, starring Kenneth Walker, to create long, sustained drives.

He was right, and Seattle cruised to a 29-13 victory.

This isn’t always the way Kubiak’s offenses operate. On the contrary, two weeks before the Super Bowl, he had a major hand in one of the most exciting games of the playoffs.

Kubiak positioned Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, whom many were still accusing of a tendency to shrink in big games, to attack knowing that hitting explosive plays would be paramount to defeating the Los Angeles Rams.

Again, Kubiak was on target. Darnold had the best game of his career, throwing for 346 yards and three touchdowns on 25-of-36 passing, in a 31-27 NFC Championship Game win for the Seahawks.

“I do (call plays) but I hope you guys know that I’ve never called a game by myself,” Kubiak said Tuesday in Las Vegas. “That’s something to do as a coaching staff together. We plan together, we communicate on game day together — quarterbacks coach, pass-game coordinator, run-game coordinator. That is a group effort.”

And it’s exactly what the Raiders need.

It may have taken five hires since moving to Las Vegas alone, but owner Mark Davis led by his new set of confidants finally brought in a coach that fits perfectly with where his franchise stands at the moment.

Signing Kubiak to a five-year deal less than 48 hours after he hoisted the Lombardi Trophy marks a major success. Kubiak’s introductory news conference Tuesday morning at the team’s headquarters in Henderson only provided further confirmation.

No, it wasn’t the rah-rah affair these events produced from the past two years — with Pete Carroll in 2025 and Antonio Pierce in 2024. Kubiak didn’t exude the confidence-bordering-on-arrogance of Josh McDaniels in 2022 either.

But it was long past time for Las Vegas to transcend bluster and turn to someone who fits better from a football perspective and welcomes more collaboration.

That’s the profile of Kubiak, whose offense is modern but moldable to the situation and talent around him — an ideal setup for the Raiders’ presumed No. 1 overall pick at April’s NFL Draft, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

And the coach is already eager to work in ideas from general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady, the pair Davis has empowered as the top of the organizational chart when it comes to football decisions.

“(Brady) made the mistake of giving me his cellphone number, so he’s probably going to wish he never did that,” Kubiak cracked with one of his only jokes of his 35-minute session with media. “I’m going to be calling him a lot.

"What I’m excited about is we really have different offensive backgrounds and how we can pull ideas from each other. … Plenty has been said and speculated about how that relationship will go, but that was one of the main draws to come here: to get to work with him and get to work with Spy," Kubiak said. "These are great football minds, and if we collaborate the way we’re supposed to, we’re going to pull the best out of each other.”

That may sound easy, if not common sense, but it’s been neither with the Raiders over the last decade.

The organization arrived in Las Vegas in 2020 with somewhat of a power struggle as then-general manager Mike Mayock tried to stand out beyond the shadow of then-coach Jon Gruden.

The next permanent duo, McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler, were more in lockstep as a pair, but they shut out any other voices including a group of players that ended up feeling alienated.

Pierce and general manager Tom Telesco proved an odd fit — not to mention with short-lived offensive coordinator Luke Getsy thrown into the mix. Carroll strong-armed Spytek from their opening news conference and couldn’t get onto the same page with offensive coordinator Chip Kelly either.

Another commonality among all those names: They all felt stuck in their ways to a certain extent. Gruden and McDaniels fielded the best Raider offenses in Las Vegas but were stubborn and dismissive of any philosophy that wasn’t their own.

Kubiak’s flexibility is long overdue for the Silver and Black.

Spytek said Kubiak’s offensive mind played only a minor role in the hiring; it was more about who he was as a person.

Kubiak deflected a pair of questions about Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who led the Hoosiers to their first football national championship.

Those were both nice sentiments, but Davis was a little more forthcoming.

Davis didn’t fully commit to Mendoza but grinned widely every time his name was broached, and he said Kubiak’s play-calling prowess was a deciding factor in zeroing in on him over the other 14 candidates interviewed.

“It mattered with where we are this year with the No. 1 pick and a good chance that it could land on the offensive side of the ball,” Davis said. “We wanted a bright offensive mind.”

Davis is consciously trying to stray from being front and center with the Raiders. He didn’t speak during the news conference and sat in the back row, only answering questions afterward when media approached.

Instead, Davis brought in six Raider legends — running back Marcus Allen, quarterback Rich Gannon, cornerback Mike Haynes, defensive end Howie Long, quarterback Jim Plunkett and cornerback Charles Woodson — to sit on the dais with Kubiak.

Several members of the current team sat in the audience, including two of arguably the roster’s four most important players: left tackle Kolton Miller and running back Ashton Jeanty.

The two others who belong in that group, edge rusher Maxx Crosby and tight end Brock Bowers, were not seen in the news conference but met with Kubiak earlier in the day.

Yes, the same Crosby who’s been subject to trade rumors over the last month including a recent report that indicated he vowed to never play for the Raiders again.

“I got to drink a cup of coffee with Maxx this morning, loved talking ball with him and look forward to continuing those conversations,” Kubiak said. “He was the first one in here this morning working out.”

“We want him to be a part of our success going forward. There’s no doubt about that. He’s one of the best players in the NFL so that’s a no-brainer to get to have Maxx and see him continue to have success with this organization.”

Davis reiterated his desire to keep Crosby and said he had not spoken to him about the latest rumors.

Kubiak might be the one to salvage the franchise’s relationship with Crosby, which undoubtedly splintered at the end of last season.

Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald told ESPN the quality that would serve Kubiak best as a head coach is his commitment to being “a team player.”

His offenses during his last two years as a coordinator — including the 2024 Saints, which got off to a red-hot start that drew Kubiak his first wave of praise — have been attractive as well.

Kubiak tends to distance himself from taking the credit, but all the evidence that’s required was on display in the final two games of last season and how differently he plotted for his team to steal both victories.

“The Super Bowl itself was a two-week grind getting ready for that game,” Kubiak said. “Just pouring your heart and soul into that game plan and see our players go out and have success, that’s why you do it. That’s why you coach, that’s why you play — to go win a world championship. That was a complete blessing, and to get on an airplane and come here and meet everybody in a short period of time is exciting. But all these things, all these smiles, they eventually wear away and you’ve got to go get to work. That’s what I’m excited about doing.”