Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Klint Kubiak Plans To Build a Balanced, Smart, Tough & Physical Offense In Seattle

New Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak outlined his vision for Seattle’s offense while also discussing what made the job attractive.

Feb 11, 2025 at 06:21 PM

John Boyle

Seahawks.com Senior Reporter

The Seahawks took their time hiring a new offensive coordinator last month, a process that was deliberate by design, head coach Mike Macdonald said.

And after interviewing several candidates, some of them more than once, and consulting with general manager and president of football operations John Schneider, as well as other trusted members of his coaching staff, Macdonald knew that the right fit for his team was Klint Kubiak, who was introduced as the team's new offensive coordinator on Tuesday.

"It's well documented that we took our time with our search," Macdonald said, sitting next to Kubiak. "We wanted to be pretty extensive. Felt like it was important to talk to a lot of people and understand what kind of the lay of land was out there. In order to do that it takes a team of people. It wasn't just me kind of doing my thing, It was a whole team effort… As the process started to unfold, it became really clear that Klint was the best option for us. Really excited about it.

"Really just it's twofold. Klint as the person, as a man, man of really high integrity, high character, passion for the game, passion for his players, humility. I just really respect Klint as a person. Excited for him to work with our players. As a coach, just the scheme expertise, this guy has been around the game for a long time and well documented with his family and have so much respect for his brothers and for his father, Gary (Kubiak). I worked with him in 2014, but the passion for the game, the scheme expertise, the track record with the quarterback. Guys have played at a really high level every stop that he's been. The evolution of the scheme too and being able to fit it to your personnel, Klint has a really great vision for where he wants our offense to go. It was very clear with that with the personnel we have on our roster. We'll talk about it as we go here, but I definitely believe that aligns with how we want to rock."

For Kubiak, who was a candidate for multiple offensive coordinator jobs this offseason, the Seahawks job was an attractive one for several reasons, not the least of which was a chance to work with Macdonald, as well as the talent on the roster and the way the entire organization is run.

"Number one was having a chance to coach with Mike," Kubiak said. "To be on a team that's coached with a dang good defense because you know how powerful that is. We want to be able to contribute to that and play complementary football with them. Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, Jaxon (Smith-Njigba), Charles Cross, the list goes on. There are a lot of really dang good football players on this roster that I'd love to coach. I want to be a part of helping their careers and helping them so we can win as a team. I think the personnel, the coaching staff here, John Schneider, the reputation the Seattle Seahawks have as a first-class organization. That's just common knowledge around the NFL.

"I know how big of an opportunity it is, and I don't take it lightly. We've got some really impressive coaches on our staff to work with, and that's what it's really about is our staff and what we do together. It had nothing to do with me. It's us communicating a vision to our players together, and that is critical. That's what we're in the weeds of right now as a coaching staff. So, there's plenty of work to do, and I'm really fortunate to be a Seattle Seahawk and looking forward to the challenge."

Kubiak, most recently the offensive coordinator for the Saints, is a student of the Shanahan scheme that is prevalent in the NFL, a variation of the West Coast Offense made popular by Mike Shanahan, for whom Klint's father, Gary, worked as an offensive coordinator before becoming a head coach. Not every version of the Shanahan scheme is the same—one can watch the Rams, 49ers, Packers and Dolphins to see that—but some of the key aspects Kubiak plans to bring to Seattle are strong fundamentals, the outside zone running scheme, and the balance that allows a team to win different ways.

"I think the number one thing is that you better have more than one way to win," Kubiak said. "We're going to have an identity, we want to be smart, we want to be tough, we want be physical. Those are three critical attributes, but it's important that we can run the football, that we're a successful throwing team. We've got to have all of our guys contribute on special teams, and we have to communicate that to the offense how important it is to win as a team. There's not one way to do it. So, here going from April to June, we better get rocking on the fundamentals so that we can win multiple ways come the fall."

Both Kubiak and Macdonald noted that, for all the creativity a coordinator can bring to an offense, it's things like repetition and fundamentals that can really make an offense click.

"Klint's been around this scheme since he probably took his first breath," Macdonald said. "He knows it cold. It's been fun to learn it over the last few days, but I think it's the repetition and time on task. The reads are consistent for the quarterback, the O-line tracks are the same, the running back tracks are the same. Much like we're doing on defense, when we call a coverage we're going to be repping this thing hundreds of times between now and January and February. The same thing goes offensively, our guys are going to get really good at what we do. Got no other option to do so, so we're going to hang our hat on those things."

Added Kubiak, "I can just say that learning it from my dad and getting to be a part of that offensive staff in 2016. And then being around guys like Kyle Shanahan, being in Denver with Justin Outten running a similar scheme, similar verbiage. Every year you've got to keep evolving and studying the league and changing your concepts up a little bit, but the fundamentals, they're not going to change. I think that's the thing that we have to harp on the players is being fundamentally sound, and all the bells and whistles will come. But, the most important thing is that we get good at the fundamental stuff, throwing and catching and blocking. No matter what we do schematically, it always comes down to that and being good at that."

Kubiak spoke on a few occasions about his excitement to work with Smith, calling the presence of the quarterback a “huge draw,” but he also wants to build an offense that doesn't require Smith, or any quarterback, to be a one-man show.

"I feel like (the run game) is important, because if you drop back 50 times in the game, it's tough," he said. "You've got to be a balanced team. I think balance is important. Sometimes you've got to drop back 50 times to win the game, and sometimes you've got to run it 50 times. But when it all comes through, we want to be balanced, and we want to be able to win multiple ways."

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