The Raiders are interested in Klint Kubiak for their vacant offensive coordinator position, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. Since Kubiak is currently the 49ers’ pass-game coordinator, and since the Niners’ season has not yet come to an end — they host the Lions in today’s NFC Championship game — Las Vegas cannot conduct an in-person interview with him at this point.
If San Francisco should lose today, Rapoport says the Raiders might bring Kubiak in for an interview. But as the Silver-and-Black plan to hire their OC in the next several days one way or another, it sounds like Kubiak will not get the chance to meet with Vegas brass if the Niners advance to the Super Bowl.
Without Kubiak in the mix, the Raiders and head coach Antonio Pierce would be choosing from a list comprised of Luke Getsy, Thad Lewis, Kliff Kingsbury, Mike Sullivan, and Alex Van Pelt. The club was also connected to Dan Pitcher, Zac Robinson, and Shane Waldron, but all three of those candidates accepted OC jobs elsewhere.
Kubiak, 36, has enjoyed multiple NFL play-calling stints, succeeding his father, Gary Kubiak, as Vikings OC under Mike Zimmer in 2021 and taking over during the Broncos’ lost 2022 season under then-HC Nathaniel Hackett. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan hired the younger Kubiak as his pass-game coordinator this past offseason, and the 49ers nearly became the rare team with three 1,000-yard pass catchers. Deebo Samuel, who missed two games, finished 108 yards shy of joining Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle in the 1,000-yard club.
Although the Raiders’ decision to remove Pierce’s interim tag and name him the permanent head coach has been well-received, the team’s QB position is decidedly unsettled. Las Vegas’ free agent acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo last offseason proved to be a poor decision, and Garoppolo looms as an obvious release candidate. Although Aidan O’Connell played well enough for a fourth-round rookie, he hardly cemented himself as the franchise’s long-term answer. The Raiders currently hold the No. 13 pick in the draft, which will prevent them from acquiring one of the top passers in this year’s collegiate class, barring a trade-up.
Kubiak has interviewed for the Saints’ and Bears’ OC jobs in this year’s cycle, as our coordinator tracker shows. Chicago ultimately hired Shane Waldron for the post, though Kubiak is presumably still in the running for the New Orleans gig.