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Why the 49ers Promoted Klay Kubiak to OC Instead of Brian Griese

The 49ers said Griese left to spend more time with his family.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese watches the action from the sideline in the third quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images
Sep 9, 2024; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese watches the action from the sideline in the third quarter against the New York Jets at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

This was surprising.

When Kyle Shanahan decided to hire an offensive coordinator this offseason, he didn't promote Brian Griese who played quarterback in the NFL and was the 49ers' quarterbacks coach for three years.

Instead, Shanahan promoted Klay Kubiak, who was the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2022 and 2023, which means he was Griese's underling. In 2024, the 49ers promoted Kubiak to passing game specialist while they did not promote Griese. Clearly, this was a sign of things to come.

In retrospect, Kubiak has been on the coordinator track since the 49ers hired him in 2021. That year, Kubiak was a defensive quality control coach, which is Step 1 in Kyle Shanahan's offensive coordinator development program. Shanahan wants offensive play callers to have a comprehensive understanding of the defenses they're trying to attack. Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik followed the same track on the 49ers.

Which means the 49ers promoted Kubiak because he probably will get scooped up by another team soon. As opposed to Griese, who has never called plays. So he might be a head coach one day, but most likely not a coordinator.

When the 49ers announced that they had promoted Kubiak, they also announced that Griese decided to leave the team. The 49ers said Griese left to spend more time with his family. I wonder if he also left because he got passed over and probably never would get promoted on the 49ers. Who knows?

I'm guessing that Kubiak will be Robert Saleh's offensive coordinator and play-caller if/when Saleh becomes a head coach again, which could happen as soon as next season.

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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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