The San Francisco 49ers are already undergoing some significant changes to their coaching staff, but they appear to have avoided needing to make another.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan fired defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen and special teams coordinator Brian Schneider after San Francisco’s 6-11 finish to the 2024 season. The search to replace that duo is on, but there was a chance they’d also need a new quarterbacks coach.
QB coach Brian Griese was tapped by the New York Jets to interview for their head coach opening, but Brian Costello of the New York Post reported Griese declined the interview.
Via the NY Post:
The Jets have also asked to interview Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who played for the Jets in 2017-18. McCown has not been a coordinator in the NFL yet but is seen as a coach on the rise. One coach the Jets requested who declined the request was 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese.
It’s not a huge surprise Griese turned down the opportunity. He just got into the coaching ranks in 2022 and his chances of getting the job were slim in a massive pool of candidates. According to Costello, the Jets have completed 12 head coach interviews and have five others lined up.
For Griese it would have meant a ton of preparation to get in front of an ownership group that may or may not know what it wants in a coach. He may also simply not aspire to lead an NFL team. Regardless of his reasoning, the 49ers will surely be thankful that finding a QB coach isn’t added to their offseason to-do list.
Griese has done a nice job overseeing the development of QB Brock Purdy, and with Purdy due for a sizable extension that will make him the 49ers’ signal caller for the foreseeable future, having the only QB coach he’s had as a pro along for the ride is preferable.