During his time as a safety at Colorado State, Klint Kubiak was still star-struck enough by the possibility of a NFL playing career not to think too seriously about following in his father's footsteps as a coach.
"I was naive enough as a player to think I would play in the NFL for 15 years," he said Tuesday in a video news conference. "I put all my time and energy into that."
Had that happened, Kubiak would be in the final act of his playing career. Instead, a week before his 34th birthday, he is the Vikings' new offensive coordinator, charged with getting the most out of a quarterback just 18 months his junior and, the team hopes, carrying his father's offense forward.