Former Saints assistant follows Klint Kubiak to Raiders in obvious move

Klint Kubiak announced himself as the Las Vegas Raiders head coach, and now he’s bringing Andrew Janocko along with him. The duo has been together in both of the last two seasons. Kubiak brought Janocko on to his staff with the New Orleans Saints, and the joined the Seattle Seahawks together as well. 

New Orleans isn’t where Kubiak and Janocko’s story begins. The duo spent a year together in Minnesota from 2019 to 2021. When Kubiak was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, he made Janocko his quarterbacks coach. Janocko had spent the last half decade working his way up the Vikings coaching ranks and had recently shifted from an offensive line focus to a wide receiver focus.

Kubiak's time in Minnesota with Janocko clearly left an impact. They spent three years together, and Kubiak has made sure to bring Janocko along to every stop where he had a position of power. It took Kubiak a couple years to become a coordinator again, but he made sure to bring Janocko to New Orleans. Naturally, Janocko was a key assistant for Kubiak to bring over from the Saints.

Andrew Janocko got a promotion but not the one he was looking for

The duo continuing their history in Vegas felt like a no brainer, but there was a chance that Janocko would decide to stay in Pacific Northwest. When Kubiak took the Raiders gig, there was some belief the Seahawks would promote from within. They just won a Super Bowl and had one of the best offenses in the league en route to the championship. 

Janocko was one of the leading candidates to take on that role, but the Seahawks decided to go in a different direction. Instead of taking one of their candidates already on staff to maintain continuity, the Seahawks went to a divisional rival to find Kubiak’s replacement. 49ers tight end coach and run game coordinator Brian Fleury will be the new offensive coordinator.

Once Seattle made that decision, Janocko went ahead and made the move to Las Vegas. It's still a step up to offensive coordinator, but the Seahawks would have given him a chance to call his plays. It's also a ready made offense. It would have given Janocko a greater responsibility that would have looked even better as he attempts to climb the ranks.