While the Monday Night Football broadcast booth is gaining a new analyst in Troy Aikman, it’s also officially losing one in Brian Griese. The former NFL quarterback is leaving ESPN to become the new quarterbacks’ coach for the San Francisco 49ers, per Adam Schefter.
Former Monday Night Football analyst Brian Griese is leaving ESPN to become the Quarterbacks Coach for the 49ers, sources tell @SethWickersham and me. Griese and Kyle Shanahan have known each other for years; Griese played QB in Tampa when Shanahan was on the Bucs coaching staff.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 5, 2022
Griese and head coach Kyle Shanahan have some history together. The quarterback out of Michigan was drafted by the Denver Broncos in 1998, then coached by Mike Shanahan, Kyle’s dad. After a few years there, Griese started bouncing around the league, first with the Miami Dolphins and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was in Tampa where he and Kyle, then the offensive quality control coach, crossed paths.
The quarterback would bounce to the Chicago Bears and then back to Tampa before calling it a career in 2008. Griese joined ESPN as an analyst in 2009 and joined the booth for Monday Night Football in 2020.
The presumption is that with Aikman coming in, Griese and the rest of the current MNF crew will be moved elsewhere. So it does seem like a logical time for him to consider the next steps, though few would have expected this kind of career move. As Andrew Marchand noted, Griese’s contract with ESPN was up as well, so it was likely either this or a move to a different network.
Griese's contract was up with ESPN and …https://t.co/Z71LJNeE2B https://t.co/YTzd5YuFs3
— Andrew Marchand (@AndrewMarchand) March 5, 2022
Presumably, Griese will now be entrusted with helping to develop second-year quarterback Trey Lance. Technically, Jimmy Garoppolo is still the starting QB for the franchise, but all signs point to him moving on one way or another before next season.
There is, of course, the extremely outside chance that Griese could end up coaching Tom Brady, though those rumors appear to be just that at this point.
There were some pretty strong reactions on social media to the news that Griese would take on this role with San Francisco, especially with no coaching experience.
Griese replaces Rich Scangarello and that *should* be the final piece of the coaching staff puzzle for Kyle Shanahan. Griese played three seasons for Mike Shanahan, knows the offense. https://t.co/3TGjcRoP3O
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) March 5, 2022
Source confirms+I'm told the interviewed former #Bears QBs coach John Defilippo and a few others… https://t.co/25f1VKJWVU
— Adam Caplan (@caplannfl) March 5, 2022
Griese is a sharp guy, so this should be interesting. https://t.co/iJg0ZuUHwM
— Dieter Kurtenbach (@dieter) March 5, 2022
Just found my “if Lance is bad” scapegoat https://t.co/VSaRYz2lfY
— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) March 5, 2022
This is….a surprise https://t.co/odg1Y5WRQO
— Niners Nation (@NinersNation) March 5, 2022
Instant reaction: How does pairing an older guy, dropback passer, who hasn’t played in like 15 years, with no coaching experience make sense for Trey Lance’s development? 🤨 https://t.co/HQWvHU5JPi
— Simon Samano (@SJSamano) March 5, 2022
I believe this will be Brian Griese’s first ever coaching job, so if nothing else this should be interesting? https://t.co/K63saxljqs
— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) March 5, 2022
It will certainly be interesting to see how Griese is able to adjust into a coaching role back on the field and what kind of impact he can make on Lance and the 49ers’ quarterbacks.