Fansided

Gary Kubiak says he’ll take Broncos job if offered

By CM Towle

facebooktwitterreddit

Current Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak says that he will take the Denver Broncos head coach position if it is offered.

More from Baltimore Ravens

Bad news for Ravens fans who had to be more than happy with the Kubiak offensive revamp in the 2014 season. After saying he’d like to stay on as the Ravens OC, Kubiak has now interviewed for the Broncos head coach position and he says he will take the job if it’s offered to him, according to a story by Pro Football Talk. Kubiak originally said that he would not be accepting a head coach position and that he wanted to stay with Baltimore.

However, what he obviously meant is that he would not be accepting a head coach position unless it was offered by his old friend and teammate, and now current Broncos GM, John Elway. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, no decision will be made until Tuesday, but it sounds like Kubiak is Elway’s favorite for the job.

There’s no doubt about it though, it’s a big blow to the Ravens if Kubiak ends up leaving. The Ravens showed major signs of finding a much stronger offensive identity than they’ve had in the last few seasons since they won the Super Bowl. Losing Kubiak after only a year would seriously slow down that momentum. Kubiak was the one who brought in running back Justin Forsett, who was a big part of saving the Ravens offense. He also meshed well with Joe Flacco and used his mobility to help power the offense. It was arguably Flacco’s best season, marred only by an early exit from the playoffs.

If Kubiak is gone, then the Ravens might consider hiring Kubiak disciple Kyle Shannahan or promote from within with quarterbacks coach Rick Dennison, who also happened to be Kubiak’s OC while they were in Houston. Both options would make the transition less jarring and maybe help them pick up where Kubiak left off.

As for the possible Kubiak-Manning tandem, that might be a little trickier. Kubiak likes the mobile quarterback and putting the quarterback in motion. Manning is one of the least mobile quarterbacks in the NFL, even if he is one of the greatest of all time. It’s possible this seriously calls into question whether Manning will be back in 2015, or perhaps the Broncos are simply saying they can move on without him if they have to. Manning obviously hasn’t made a decision one way or the other yet and there’s no doubt the Broncos would still love to have him back, but they’re clearly taking steps to be prepared if he decides to retire.

The Denver Post reports that the Broncos had two other interview candidates in Teryl Austin and Doug Marrone scheduled, but both cancelled and the Broncos didn’t bother replacing them. It sounds more and more like Kubiak is their man.

More from FanSided

Home/Baltimore Ravens