Klint Kubiak was driving home after a day working in the East Texas oil fields when he received a call. It persuaded him to change course and head down a long road that led, eventually, to Las Vegas.
More than a decade later, as confetti fell on the field of Levi’s Stadium, the 38-year-old confirmed the NFL’s worst-kept secret: He will be taking over as Raiders head coach.
Kubiak has established himself as one of the sharpest young minds in football. Over the past 12 months, as offensive coordinator, he helped guide the Seattle Seahawks to Super Bowl glory. Now, he has been handed the keys to a failing franchise.
The Las Vegas Raiders need this appointment to work – so does minority owner Tom Brady. The legendary quarterback joined the Raiders in October 2024, with owner Mark Davis giving him a ‘huge voice’ in the organization’s future.
But the first head coach of Brady’s tenure, Pete Carroll, lasted only one season after Las Vegas ended with a 3-14 record – the joint-worst in the NFL. It is into that mess that Kubiak has chosen to walk, and only time will tell if it is a wise decision.
In truth, though, no call the new head coach makes will be more pivotal than one he answered in the car all those years ago.
Klint Kubiak took over as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders after winning the Super Bowl
Raiders minority owner Tom Brady has put his faith in the ex-Seahawks offensive coordinator
Kubiak’s brothers Klay (left) and Klein (center) are on the staff of rival franchises
It was late 2012, and Kubiak was in his early 20s, working at a graduate assistant with the Texas A&M Aggies, when he decided coaching might not be for him.
‘I was making $17,000,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘I was recently married. I didn’t feel like I was contributing much to the relationship. So I felt like I had to get a job and to go make some money, and another year as a GA wasn’t going to get it done.’
He felt it was time to go, no matter that football is the family business – Kubiak’s father, Gary, is a former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl-winning coach, while his brothers Klay and Klein are both on the staff of rival franchises (the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, respectively).
‘I had a cousin of mine that worked for [an oil field service] company and he got me a job with these guys. I just wanted to try out what life was like outside of football,’ Kubiak recalled. ‘My first job was to inventory a lot of pipe in East Texas. I don’t remember a lot about it, other than I knew I was out of my element.’
A couple of weeks into the role, Kubiak was driving back toward College Station, home of Texas A&M, when his phone rang. It was one of his former wide receivers.
‘A guy that I was really hard on, that I didn’t think would ever talk to me again,’ Kubiak said. ‘He basically said: “Hey, thank you for working with me and helping make me better.” I ended up quitting that [oil] job the next day and trying to get back into football.’
A few months later, ahead of the 2013 football season, Kubiak joined the Minnesota Vikings and began a 12-year long journey to the Raiders.
He shared this story with the Daily Mail in San Jose, just days before the Seahawks beat the New England Patriots in the 2026 Super Bowl. That night, he refused to be drawn on whether he was moving to Las Vegas.
But he still had a message for the person who called him back to the game, Uzoma Nwachukwu, who, after a brief NFL career, now works in marketing and real estate: ‘If he reads this or hears about this, he really changed my life.’
Kubiak’s father, Gary, led the Denver Broncos to victory in Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium
Kubiak, 38, built a Super Bowl-winning offense as offensive coordinator of the Seahawks
The Daily Mail asked Kubiak if he would have stayed in the oil fields had they not reconnected.
‘I have never thought of that,’ he said before pausing for several seconds. ‘That probably was a blessing… it was a great job, but something was missing. And that was just the joy of being a being a coach.’
The phone call taught him a valuable lesson: Football is really about relationships.
Now, Kubiak said he has never looked back. He spent three seasons – 2010, 2011 and 2012 – at Texas A&M before briefly stepping away and then getting his NFL break.
His first stop back was with the Vikings as an offensive quality control coach. He then had a string of coaching stints in Kansas, Denver, San Francisco and New Orleans before taking his talents to Seattle.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Mike Macdonald brought him to the Seahawks, where Kubiak built a Super Bowl-winning offense anchored by quarterback Sam Darnold and star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Kubiak played down his role in Smith-Njigba’s rise, telling the Daily Mail that the receiver often had ‘way better ideas than what I would have told him.’
‘It’s all on him,’ Kubiak said. ‘It’s his work ethic, it’s the way he practices, it’s how smart he is that makes him a great player.’
Others disagree.
The Seahawks’ performances made Kubiak one of the most coveted coaches in football and persuaded the Raiders to tie him down with a five-year deal. Among those to celebrate the appointment was Nwachukwu.
‘Let’s go!!!’ the former receiver posted on social media, praising Kubiak’s journey. There was no mention of those oil fields or that phone call.
It was a phone call from Texas A&M wide receiver Uzoma Nwachukwu that changed his life
Kubiak said it was Brady’s ‘passion’ that got him excited at the prospect of joining the Raiders
But Kubiak told the Daily Mail he is ‘really thankful for those years, because you find out a lot about yourself and you see how much you love something… what I learned is that if you’re passionate enough about something, you’ll make it work, and it’s not all about money.’
Kubiak was not the only family member to take a detour en route to the NFL.
His younger brother Klay, 37, taught high school English. He is now offensive coordinator for the 49ers.
‘Anybody in any job, you have to start somewhere challenging,’ Kubiak said last week.
No one is born to belong in the NFL, but few coaches have been given a better education than Kubiak.
His father spent nearly eight seasons as head coach of the Houston Texans before leading the Broncos to victory at Super Bowl 50 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara – that was a decade before Klint earned his own ring on the same field.
For a time, the father and son worked together on the Broncos and the Vikings. Kubiak admitted that he had long been daunted by his father’s shadow.
‘I just never wanted to let him down,’ he said. ‘But as you get older, you realize you just have to be your own man… because the players will see right through it if you’re not.
‘I wouldn’t be talking to you guys if it weren’t for my dad. And I don’t get to coach in the NFL at a young age without him allowing me to be on his staff… [then] you’re the head coach’s son – you better make sure you make your dad proud, you don’t want to be slacking it at all.’
On Monday, Kubiak touched down in Las Vegas with his wife, Tessa, and their four children. ‘The biggest life lesson I’ve learned from this season is that I’m blessed to be married and have a have a great family,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘[They] support me and have moved around while we do this crazy job.’
The Kubiak brothers pose with their dad, Gary, and the Lombardi Trophy in an old family photo
Under Kubiak, Sam Darnold completed his NFL resurrection by winning the Super Bowl
Unfortunately, neither his wife nor his kids can help revive the Raiders.
Among Kubiak’s first jobs? Convince star defensive end Maxx Crosby to stay amid rumors he wants out. He’s also got to decide whether Fernando Mendoza is the quarterback he wants to build his team around.
The Raiders hold the number one overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Mendoza led Indiana to an unlikely national championship, but last year Las Vegas gambled on Geno Smith and that backfired spectacularly.
The big calls just keep on coming. So how does Kubiak cope with the pressure of life in the NFL meat grinder? ‘It’s really easy,’ he said. ‘It’s [about] where you find your identity. I don’t find my identity in coaching football… my identity is in Christ.’
His success, however, is also the result of hard work and long nights – Kubiak has been known to sleep on a couch at the practice facility.
Now, the hope for Brady and company is that he can lead the Raiders toward better days.
Kubiak has already been to two Super Bowls, including one in Las Vegas. He was the 49ers’ passing game coordinator when they suffered an overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Raiders home field, Allegiant Stadium.
The coach knew Brady might come calling. But he didn’t need to do any interview prep in the build-up to the Super Bowl because he had already put in the work last summer.
‘If you wait ’till they call you and ask you, then it’s too late,’ he said. On Sunday, Brady was in the crowd to see the crowning moment of Kubiak’s career so far.
Kubiak has already been to two Super Bowls, including one in Las Vegas
‘You better make sure that your guys are ready to play because no PowerPoint you have – or anything you’re gonna say – really matters without the substance behind it.’
When Kubiak did meet the Raiders for an interview, it was Brady’s ‘passion’ that ‘got [him] excited’ at the prospect of joining Las Vegas.
‘One of the main draws to come here is to work with him,’ the new head coach said. ‘He made the mistake of giving me his cell phone number… he might wish he never did that because I’m gonna be calling him a lot.’
Raiders fans will hope those conversations prove as significant as the call Kubiak received near the oil fields in Texas.