Brian Griese has left the San Francisco 49ers, which left fans wondering why. We now know the reason thanks to general manager John Lynch.
Lynch spoke with the media on Wednesday and disclosed that Griese stepped away from coaching to spend time with his family. According to Lynch, Griese had only made a 3-year commitment to the 49ers upon taking the job as quarterbacks coach in 2022.
“He had given it some thought on the front end and at the time he gave us a three-year commitment. He’s a very principled guy… I think family and certain other things. I don’t want to speak for Brian, but other things were pulling at him and respect that he made a tough decision but one he thought was best for him and his family,” Lynch said.
When a coach steps away from a job to spend time with his family, usually that’s a nice way of saying they were asked to leave. But the opposite appears to be the case with Griese, who was well regarded and wanted back by San Francisco.
49ers reporter David Lombardi even pointed out that Griese was uncertain after his first season as a coach whether he would return for two more years, so it’s not terribly surprising he did not keep going beyond that.
Re: the departure of Brian Griese — worth noting that after his first season with 49ers (2022) there was some question about whether he'd return due to family ties elsewhere.
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) February 26, 2025
Ultimately, Griese did return for two more seasons and John Lynch said this at the 2023 combine:
"He…
Griese was so well regarded as a coach that he even received a request to interview for the New York Jets’ head coach job, which he declined. Now we know that Griese did not decline that interview because of something held against the Jets, but because he was done with coaching.
Griese, 49, was an NFL quarterback for 11 seasons from 1998-2008. He was drafted in the third round by the Denver Broncos in 1998 and won a Super Bowl as a backup to John Elway. Griese became Denver’s starting quarterback after Elway retired and made the Pro Bowl in 2000. After spending his first five seasons with the Broncos, Griese played for the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears. He was mostly a backup throughout his career.
Griese was lauded for the development work he did with Brock Purdy, who went from being “Mr. Irrelevant” to making the Pro Bowl in the 2023 season. The 49ers want to have Purdy around for a long time now.
