Why the 49ers Won't Miss New Seahawks Offensive Coordinator Brian Fleury

This is a strange move.

The Seattle Seahawks are hiring San Francisco 49ers tight ends coach and run game coordinator Brian Fleury to replace Klint Kubiak as their offensive coordinator, according to reports. Fleury has never called plays in his career.

From the 49ers' perspective, Fleury isn't a big loss. He didn't develop George Kittle. Kittle was a great tight end well before Fleury became his coach in 2022. I bet Fleury learned more from Kittle than Kittle learned from Fleury.

In 2025, the 49ers gave Fleury the title of run game coordinator. Under his direction, the 49ers' run game ranked 30th out of 32 teams in yards per carry. Nothing he called worked. The run game was vanilla and ineffective.

Jan 17, 2026; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (23) is tackled b y. Seattle Seahawks co — Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

The next 49ers' run game coordinator could be offensive line coach Chris Foerster, who held that title from 2022 to 2024.

From the Seahawks' perspective, this seems like a weak hire. They're the best team in the NFL. Surely, they could have found an offensive coordinator with some experience calling plays.

The Seahawks presumably chose Fleury because he knows Sam Darnold from Darnold's year in San Francisco, plus they want to keep Klint Kubiak's system in place, and those two coached together on the 49ers in 2023. I wouldn't be surprised if Kubiak personally recommended Fleury to the Seahawks before taking the job as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

But Fleury is a significant step down from Kubiak. Kubiak had called plays for a season in New Orleans before the Seahawks hired him last year. He wasn't a complete mystery like Fleury is.

Feb 10, 2026; Henderson, NV, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Klint Kubiak speaks at introductory press conference at Intermounta — Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Fleury might be a good play caller. He also might be a horrendous one. There's no way for the Seahawks or anyone to know.

This is quite similar to the Eagles promoting Kevin Patullo to offensive coordinator after winning the Super Bowl and losing Kellen Moore. That mistake essentially ruined the Eagles' 2025 season. Now, Patullo is out after just one year, and you wonder if Fleury will meet the same fate. The Seahawks don't have time for him to go through growing pains.

Which means it's quite likely that the gap between the Seahawks and the 49ers just got smaller. We know the Seahawks have an incredible defense, but their offense is nothing special. Their freaking kicker probably should have been the Super Bowl MVP.

Don't be surprised if Fleury is back on the 49ers' coaching staff next year.

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