ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The West Coast offense isn’t dead. It simply gets passed on from generation to generation.
Nathaniel Hackett, the Broncos’ freshly hired head coach, is closing in on forming his offensive staff. Sources say Hackett is interviewing Justin Outten for his offensive coordinator position and Klint Kubiak for another top offensive staff position.
Kubiak’s father, Gary Kubiak, was the Broncos’ offensive coordinator under Mike Shanahan from 1995-2005, then later became Denver’s head coach in 2015-16. Gary Kubiak led the Broncos to their Super Bowl 50 title in 2015 and last winning season (9-7) in 2016.
Klint Kubiak, who played football and graduated from Regis High School and Colorado State, just finished his 12th year in coaching, eighth in the NFL. He was a Broncos’ offensive assistant from 2016-18, then moved on to the Minnesota Vikings, where he was a quarterbacks coach from 2019-20 and offensive coordinator this past season.
The Kubiaks are steeped in the West Coast bootleg pass, stretch zone running system. So is Hackett, whose father Paul Hackett was on Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers’ staff in the early to mid-1980s. Then again, so are the coaches who are to meet in Super Bowl 56. Rams’ head coach Sean McVay learned the West Coast system under Mike Shanahan in Washington and Bengals’ head coach Zac Taylor was hired away from McVay’s staff and Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator, Brian Callahan, previously served as an offensive system under Gary Kubiak in Denver.
Outten was previously an offensive assistant under Kyle Shanahan with the Atlanta Falcons, then was a tight ends coach the past three seasons for the Green Bay Packers under head coach Matt LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
As the Hackett/Outten/Kubiak trio takes shape at the top of the Broncos’ offensive coaching staff, Hackett’s defensive coordinator is between Los Angeles Rams’ secondary coach Ejiro Evero and Ravens’ defensive line coach Anthony Weaver. Both have interviewed for the job. Evero is considered the favorite as he has long ties to Hackett.
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