It’s not known how to foster comfort when an offensive coordinator changes jobs four times in four seasons.
However, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr feels he has found his comfort zone with first-year coordinator Klint Kubiak. Carr is set to start for the Saints in his second season as a starter this Sunday in the Caesars Superdome against Carolina.
After eighteen seasons with a system based on Sean Payton’s installation in 2006, Kubiak was given the task of implementing a new offensive scheme in New Orleans.
“I feel more comfortable starting this time than I did any other time, because I was able, through a lot of experience, (to ask) really, how do I get ready faster?” Wednesday, the 11-year veteran stated. “How can I become more at ease more quickly?
“Reps with my guys was a significant part of that. That helps that I’ve done that for an entire year. Some things are rather easy to find out.
We had to improve because we were requested to throw certain things and routes that I had never thrown before. However, there was a lot of carryover there for the most part.
“After that, I would walk outside and lead the practice by myself before each session we had. Hence, I would increase the repetitions since I could spend all day studying or watching movies until I was blue in the face, but you have to actually get out and do it. It is necessary for you to perform physical exercises, perform footwork, observe the routes, and see the reads. And we took action in that direction.
“The season is about to start, and we’re simply going to keep getting better at it. I have all these game reps coming up. I’m confident with our current situation. We simply need to go execute it now.”
Carr stressed the importance of going forward and doing it multiple times on Wednesday. Because he is aware that the outcomes from the previous season—a 9–8 record, 3,878 passing yards with 25 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a completion percentage of 68.4%—were completely unsatisfactory.
Nonetheless, Kubiak’s aggressive setup has given him a boost in confidence.
“One thing about this system, it’s very clear to me,” Carr remarked. We’ve covered a lot of ground when it comes to advancement. I think the best part is knowing when to do it. Today, I had a query regarding something.
“I said to myself, ‘This, this, and this.'” When do you want me to have a certain thought? He said, “I’ll tell you.” Play without worrying about anything. And I feel liberated by it.
“There are instances where, ‘Hey, if it’s there, now I want you considering it,’ but we’re not going to just toss it up into triple coverage, just because he wants to put it there, take a shot, or do this. Hey, this is the last time I want you to think about it. He has been attempting to make anything appear one way to return to that since he noticed something and is attempting to demonstrate it. Though I have no idea what’s going through his mind, I’m getting there.
However, he keeps things really simple for me—it’s not like a big alert thing or anything.” It’s like, “I’m going to be very clear so you know where your eyes should be and what you should be doing every time you touch that ball.” There isn’t any uncertainty at all.
“Klint makes it known to me so that I can be free. He is quite clear about that. He is also intelligent. He is aware of my extensive system experience and the several voices of prior offensive coordinators I carry around in my mind. He’s extremely clear with me about what and when he wants, even though I’ve heard a lot of different things about specific plays.”
Carr added that Kubiak isn’t requesting that Carr be robotic, though.
“He’s given me a little bit of freedom to do some things, because he trusts me,” Carr added. And since we have mutual trust, I believe it to be significant.
“I just stay in that yard until he feels comfortable, and I trust him to let me know when it’s time. He trusts me to do certain things.” After that, give it to him.”
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