Viktor
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- Mar 19, 2019
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When a pro career didn't follow his time as a defensive back at Colorado State (2005-09), Kubiak shifted to a role as a quality control coach for Mike Sherman (2010-11) at Texas A&M. When Kevin Sumlin (head coach) and Kliff Kingsbury (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) arrived in Aggieland, Kubiak shifted to coach inside receivers as a graduate assistant the following season.
He wrapped a Master's degree in human resource development before joining the Vikings for the first time in 2013 as a quality control/assistant receivers coach.
Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer kept Kubiak on his staff in the same role after taking the helm in 2014.
It was during those two years in Minnesota, at no-frills Winter Park, when Kubiak gleaned multiple lessons from Kevin Stefanski at roughly the midpoint of the Browns head coach's 14-season run of various roles with Minnesota.
In 2013, Stefanski completed his fifth season as Minnesota's assistant quarterbacks coach before his first of two seasons as the Vikings tight ends coach.
Kubiak and Stefanski forged a strong relationship during that time. When Stefanski was promoted to Vikings offensive coordinator in 2019, he brought Kubiak back to Minnesota to be quarterbacks coach after Kubiak had coached receivers at the University of Kansas (2015) and worked as an offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos.
"I'm so grateful for that relationship, and we go back to working in the back room of the old building," Kubiak said. "I have a lot of great memories there. Kevin has taught me a lot, and not just the second time I worked for him. I got to work for him back in the Winter Park days, and there were so many times when he had his own plate of responsibilities but he would take me aside and explain something to me or help me do my job better when he didn't have to, and that's just the kind of guy he is. High-character guy and certainly a role model."