Klay Kubiak promoted to offensive coordinator by 49ers
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — After a disappointing 2024 season, San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan figured to make plenty of changes to his staff.
On Tuesday, the Niners and Shanahan revealed the extent of those changes. In addition to previous additions of new defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, the 49ers announced the hiring of or a change in title for 14 coaches on Shanahan’s staff.
Headlining the list is the long-awaited promotion of Klay Kubiak to offensive coordinator. Kubiak is heading into his fifth season with the team, previously working as the offensive passing game specialist (2024), assistant quarterback coach (2022-23) and defensive quality control coach (2021).
At his end-of-season news conference, Shanahan announced that Kubiak would be promoted to offensive coordinator after he called plays in the preseason and in the season-ending loss to the Arizona Cardinals. But Shanahan will continue as San Francisco’s offensive playcaller.
“I think Klay’s done as much as anyone on offense these last two years,” Shanahan said on Jan. 8. “This is his second year doing that and he gets better and better each year at it. Just hasn’t had the official title yet and now he’ll get the official title, which he more than deserves. But it’s more about recognizing what he’s already been doing at a high level.”
Kubiak’s promotion was delayed a bit as the 49ers needed to satisfy the league’s Rooney Rule requirements before they could make his move official. Shanahan interviewed former Oregon co-offensive coordinator Junior Adams and Iowa State passing game coordinator Noah Pauley before promoting Kubiak. Adams joined the Dallas Cowboys staff as receivers coach earlier this month.
With Kubiak moving into the offensive coordinator title, the Niners also made a change at quarterbacks coach, the title Brian Griese has held for the past three seasons. Mick Lombardi, who was hired as senior offensive assistant in 2024, is replacing Griese in that job.
Chris Foerster, who has been the team’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator since 2022, also received a new title as assistant head coach in addition to his offensive line duties.
On the other side of the ball, the 49ers hired Gus Bradley as a veteran addition to Saleh’s staff. Bradley’s title is assistant head coach of defense as he brings 12 years of defensive coordinator experience split among stops with the Indianapolis Colts, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks. He also spent four seasons as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jake Lynch, son of general manager John Lynch, has also joined the staff as a defensive quality control coach.
Other new additions to the staff include Colt Anderson (assistant special teams), Ray Brown (defensive backs/cornerbacks) and Greg Scruggs (assistant defensive line). Other coaches getting a change in title: Ronald Blair III (special teams quality control), Joe Graves (offensive assistant/quarterbacks), Patrick Hagedorn (chief of staff, football), Leonard Hankerson (wide receivers/passing game specialist), Andrew Hayes-Stoker (offensive assistant/wide receivers) and Jacob Webster (offensive quality control).
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta responds to the “serious” allegations surrounding kicker Justin Tucker. (0:18)
Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta said Tuesday that the number of sexual misconduct allegations made against kicker Justin Tucker is “serious and concerning” but indicated that the team will wait before determining his future in Baltimore.
“I think we’re fortunate that the league is doing an investigation,” DeCosta said at the NFL scouting combine. “We’ll wait as patiently as we can for as much information as we can, and we’ll make our decisions based on that.”
This marked the first time a Ravens official has fielded questions about Tucker since accusations of inappropriate behavior first surfaced 26 days ago.
In total, 16 massage therapists from eight high-end Baltimore-area spas have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Tucker, according to The Baltimore Banner. All of the incidents reportedly occurred during sessions from 2012 to 2016, which were Tucker’s first five seasons in the NFL.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the accusations against Tucker are “not what you want to wake up and read.”
“That’s what we’re waiting to try to do is reconcile it,” Harbaugh said. “That’s what the process is for. That’s why you’ve got to come to an understanding if you can, about what happened. We’ve all got questions, but nobody knows exactly what happened. So, let’s see where the review takes us.”
DeCosta was asked about the Ravens’ zero-tolerance stance for domestic violence, which Harbaugh referred to three years ago when asked about Deshaun Watson’s 11-game suspension following accusations of sexual misconduct with massage therapists. DeCosta echoed what then-Ravens president Dick Cass said in 2015, that there is no set policy, and the team will look at each case individually.
“There are no absolutes,” DeCosta said. “In this case, we’re still awaiting as much information as possible.”
DeCosta said he has spoken to the league in Baltimore and is not sure how long the NFL’s investigation will take. Investigators for the NFL have been in Baltimore speaking with some of the women who have accused Tucker of sexual misconduct, a source told ESPN last week.
According to DeCosta, the Ravens were unaware of any allegations against Tucker until the Banner contacted them about an investigative piece on Tucker, which was later published Jan. 30.
DeCosta acknowledged that he has spoken to Tucker.
“I’m going to keep those comments to myself … which I think is probably the smart thing to do,” DeCosta said. “But at some point, we did meet, and that’s what I’m going to say about that now.”
Harbaugh said he spoke with Tucker about a week and a half after the allegations surfaced.
“[It was] just more from a perspective of being together for all these years, kind of what he was going through … and how he handled it with his family,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh said Baltimore will be looking at kickers in the draft.
“We’re looking at every position, but I’d say the kicker position would’ve been a priority no matter what,” Harbaugh said. “Justin’s our kicker. We love him and I always expected him to keep going forever, but nobody goes forever.”
Tucker has denied any wrongdoing, issuing a statement on social media Jan. 30 in which he called the allegations “unequivocally false.”
He wrote that the initial Banner article “takes innocuous or ambiguous interactions and skews them so out of proportion that they are no longer recognizable. … This is desperate tabloid fodder.”
Tucker has been accused by the women of sexually inappropriate behavior that included exposing his genitals, brushing some with his exposed penis and leaving what they believed to be ejaculate on the massage table.
Tucker could be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. At his news conference during Super Bowl week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addressed the allegations against Tucker, saying, “They are obviously serious issues, and he is taking that seriously, as are we.”
Last week, in a statement to ESPN, a league spokesperson said, “We do not provide details or updates of the review process while investigations are ongoing.”
Tucker, 35, is a seven-time Pro Bowler who is the most accurate kicker in NFL history. He is the longest-tenured player on the Ravens and the last remaining player from their Super Bowl championship team in 2012.
ESPN
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49ers officially announce coaching staff changes, including Klay Kubiak’s move to OC
The 49ers announced shortly after the end of their season that they planned to make Klay Kubiak their new offensive coordinator and they officially announced the move on Tuesday.
Kubiak was the offensive passing game specialist in 2024 and the assistant quarterbacks coach the two previous seasons. Head coach Kyle Shanahan will still call the team’s offensive plays.
Special teams quality control coach Ronald Blair III, assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Foerster, offensive assistant/quarterbacks Joe Graves, chief of staff Patrick Hagedorn, wide receivers coach/passing game specialist Leonard Hankerson, offensive assistant/wide receivers Andrew Hayes-Stoker, quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi, and offensive quality control coach Jacob Webster also have new titles.
The 49ers also announced that they have hired assistant special teams coach Colt Anderson, assistant head coach of defense Gus Bradley, defensive backs/cornerbacks coach Ray Brown, defensive quality control coach Jake Lynch, and assistant defensive line coach Greg Scruggs have joined Shanahan’s staff.
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