Much is made about the type of coach that an NFL team brings in. Is he from an offensive background, or did he rise through the defensive ranks? Is he going to call the team's plays on his side of the ball, or will he be a CEO-style coach?
The Las Vegas Raiders officially hired Klint Kubiak earlier this week, who played Division I safety but has coached exclusively on offense. The expectation was that, as an elite play-caller for the Seattle Seahawks, Kubiak would continue to do that in Las Vegas.
But as a first-time head coach, a lot is going to be thrown at him. An argument could certainly be made for Kubiak pawning that duty off onto his offensive coordinator. Kubiak, however, confirmed that he will call offensive plays for the Raiders. And it won't be as overwhelming as fans think it will be.
Klint Kubiak will call plays for Raiders, but insists on group effort
During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Kubiak was directly asked whether or not he'll continue to call the offensive plays. Again, he said that he will, but his answer was a bit of a twist, and one that Raider Nation should be excited about.
"Yeah, I do. But I hope you guys know I've never called a game by myself. That's something we do as a coaching staff together. We plan together, we communicate on game day together. Quarterback coach, pass game coordinator, run game coordinator, that is a group effort," Kubiak said. "I plan on continuing to collaborate with our coaches and making everybody a part of the gameplanning process. Whoever sends it into the QB and says, 'Wristband 13.' I think anybody can do that. But how we communicate on game day will be really important."
Fans know that the whole coaching staff is involved in the game-planning process, and they play a pivotal role in getting things ready for Sunday. But it might not have been widely understood that these assistants are actively consulting on gameday. Kubiak isn't just left entirely to his own devices.
It's refreshing to hear that, not only will the Raiders' head coach not be a dictator of sorts that meddles in everything, but instead, Kubiak will work together with everyone. Not fighting for whose idea or approach will win out. Finding that answer together.
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Kubiak was also asked about how he intends to balance play-calling duties with everything that becoming a head coach entails. Though he'll be a rookie in his role next year, Kubiak seems to have an advanced understanding of the job and a humility in how he'll approach things.
"Well, it's yet to be seen. There's going to be some learning there, but I'm really confident in the staff that we're going to put together," Kubiak said. "And I'm going to need some tough love from [John] Spy[tek] to give me some good feedback on what we're doing right and what we're doing wrong. Have a really good game management plan and make sure we have those meetings throughout the week so that things don't surprise us on Sunday."
Not only is Kubiak going to do what he's great at, which is calling plays, but he is going to lean on what he believes will be a great coaching staff. Nothing will be done in a vacuum or independently. Everyone will have their area of expertise, but coaching the Raiders will be a collaborative effort.
Perhaps the best thing about Kubiak is that he doesn't pretend to have all the answers. This isn't an Antonio Pierce situation where, due to lack of experience, he really didn't have all the answers, or the connections to build a staff that could help him out. Kubiak is just humble and trusts his assistants.
That sure sounds like a recipe for success in Las Vegas after years of authoritarians and coaches who were underqualified. Expect a schematic overload for the Raiders, one that puts the team's players in a position to succeed. But don't expect Kubiak to do it alone.