Vikings assistant head coach and offensive advisor Gary Kubiak knows a lot of about winning quarterback play. First, as a player, he was a backup to the great John Elway in Denver. Next, he was a quarterback coach with the 49ers and helped Steve Young win a Super Bow in 1994. Furthermore, he was Elway’s OC and QB coach in Denver and helped the Broncos win back-to-back Super Bowl titles(1997-98). Finally, as the head coach of the Broncos, he helped the great Peyton Manning and Denver win Super Bowl 50.
Now, he is trying to bring that same magic to Minnesota with Kirk Cousins. While Cousins was unable to lead the Vikings to the playoffs last season, Kubiak believes Cousins is a good player, which is why he thinks he can help Cousins in 2019.
“I think it helps you look through the eyes of a quarterback,” Kubiak said today. “I put myself in that pocket when he’s back there. What would I think here, what would I think about that call or that situation. I know a lot about Kirk, I studied him coming out, obviously got to know him through the draft process, and then I got to know him even better through Mike [Shanahan] and Kyle [Shanahan] through the years. I know he’s driven to succeed, he’s a hell of a player, and we got to do everything we can to help him out. I look forward to that relationship. Hopefully being in there a little bit, what little bit John [Elway] let me plan my career, hopefully, I can recall some of those things.”
Adding Kubiak to the staff can definitely help Cousins. Having a guy around with his experience is very valuable for Cousins and the team. The pressure is on Cousins to live up to that three-year, $84 million contract, and maybe Kubiak can be the guy that can help him breakthrough in 2019.
