Fresh off winning his first Super Bowl, Klint Kubiak has a massive turnaround attempt ahead of him in Las Vegas.
It's a daunting task for any coach, but Kubiak knew he wanted the responsibility as soon as he began talking ball with Raiders minority owner Tom Brady. You know, that Tom Brady.
"Yeah, I'm really excited to work with Tom," Kubiak said during his introductory press conference on Tuesday. "He made the mistake of giving me his cell phone number, so he might wish he never did that because I'm gonna be calling him a lot. What I'm excited about is that we're really different. We have different offensive backgrounds, how we can pull ideas from each other, but obviously he's the greatest that's ever done it."
Kubiak knows what a football-obsessed life looks like. His father, Gary, was the backup quarterback to John Elway in Denver for nine seasons, transitioned to coaching and spent the next quarter-century on NFL sidelines as either a quarterbacks coach, offensive coordinator or head coach. Klint grew up in that environment, placing him on a course for his own coaching career that morphed into the Autobahn over the last few years, leading him on a path to Brady's Raiders.
He understands the transformation of the Raiders won't happen overnight, but expressed faith in Las Vegas' long-term outlook because of the presence of Brady, off whom Kubiak is excited to bounce ideas.
After all, if anybody is going to set a standard of excellence, it's a seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
"In the interview process, the passion that he spoke with on all things football just got me excited about the opportunity to work with him," Kubiak continued. "So, I know plenty has been said and speculated about how that relationship's gonna go and that's one of the main draws to come here, is to work with him, to get to work with (general manager John) Spy(tek). These are great football minds, and if we collaborate they way we're supposed to, then we are going to pull the best out of each other."
Kubiak is widely expected to be tasked with acclimating 2025 Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza to the NFL in his first season -- Las Vegas has the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft -- pairing coach with hopeful franchise quarterback with the goal of propelling the Raiders out of the cellar toward success.
He'll have the greatest to ever play the position on standby for assistance.
