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Why the 49ers Promoted Mick Lombardi to Quarterbacks Coach

Here's my theory.
Grant Cohn|
August 26, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive quality control coach Mick Lombardi before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium. The Packers defeated the 49ers 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
August 26, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers offensive quality control coach Mick Lombardi before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Levi's Stadium. The Packers defeated the 49ers 21-10. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

INDIANAPOLIS -- I have a theory as to why the 49ers promoted Mick Lombardi to quarterbacks coach this offseason.

If you haven't heard, former 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese's contract expired this offseason and he decided to step away from coaching for a while to focus on his family according to general manager John Lynch.

So the 49ers could have gone out and hired another former quarterback to replace Griese, or they could have hired someone with lots of experience coaching the position.

Instead, they promoted Lombardi, who was a senior offensive assistant last year. Lombardi seems like a good, young coach considering he has two seasons as offensive coordinator under his belt. But he has never been a quarterbacks coach.

In 2019, Lombardi was the Patriots' assistant quarterback coach, but their starter was Tom Brady who probably taught Lombardi more than Lombardi taught him. The next season, the Patriots moved Lombardi to wide receivers coach.

So why did the 49ers choose Lombardi?

Here's my theory.

The 49ers need to sign a good backup quarterback this offseason. Lombardi was an assistant on the Patriots when Mac Jones was a rookie. Kyle Shanahan was extremely high on Jones when he came out of college.

Maybe the 49ers think Lombardi could draw Jones to the 49ers if they make him a competitive offer in the next few weeks.

Remember, Griese was Brock Purdy's biggest advocate in the organization. Now that Griese is out, anything could happen.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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