The Kubiak family has spent a lifetime around football. This week, it apparently is spending a little less time talking about it with one another.
And that includes Gary Kubiak, the father of Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak and 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak.
With Klint preparing his Raiders to face younger brother Klay and the 49ers on Sunday, there are limits to what needs to be shared.
Especially in the family group text.
“Well, my dad doesn’t really know how to text very well,” Klint joked. “No, I think we kind of avoid each other. See you, talk after the game.”
There will be plenty to discuss then. For now, the brothers have jobs to do on opposite sidelines, Klint as the Raiders’ head coach and offensive architect and Klay as San Francisco’s offensive coordinator.
Their father, Gary, has a more complicated assignment: figuring out where to direct his rooting interest.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask him,” Klay said. “Rooting for good competition and a good handshake after the game.”
That would be a fitting finish for a matchup whose connections extend well beyond two brothers.
Gary Kubiak and Mike Shanahan built a coaching relationship that helped shape the football lives of their children. Now Klint is preparing to face Mike’s son, Kyle, with Klay working alongside the 49ers’ head coach.
For Klint, growing up around their fathers’ work provided an education he could not fully appreciate until later.
“Just really fortunate to grow up in that environment,” he said. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I got to be exposed to a lot of football at a young age, and I’m very grateful for that, myself and my brothers.”
In 2023, that shared upbringing became a shared workplace when Klint and Klay coached together in San Francisco.
The experience gave them more than a chance to compare football ideas. After college, separate careers and marriage had taken their lives in different directions. Working together allowed Klint to see his brother as a husband and a coach, navigating the demands of both.
“But when you’re kind of in the fire with your brother every day, it definitely builds a closer bond,” Klint said.
Klay remembers the same season as an opportunity to learn how his brother worked and viewed the game. It also took them through the playoffs and a Super Bowl run together.
“I would love to get that chance again someday to work with him again, but it was pretty cool,” Klay said.
Sunday offers a different version of that experience. They can appreciate the journey that brought them here while trying to make the afternoon difficult for each other.
Klay resisted the suggestion that their advancing careers necessarily make these meetings carry greater personal stakes.
“Nah. We just see it as a blessing, honestly, to be able to share a field together,” he said.
The gratitude is real. So is the competition.
“It’s another game for our team and we’ve just got to compete and play our best, so that’s really it,” Klay said.
The family reunion can wait until afterward.
By then, even Gary might have something worth texting.
