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.