Kubiak will replace Slowik on 49ers coaching staff

The 49ers have again mined the Shanahan-Kubiak connection to fill their offensive coaching staff.

Klint Kubiak, the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach last season, will be the Niners’ new passing game coordinator under Kyle Shanahan, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero first reported.

Bobby Slowik vacated the position to become the Texans’ offensive coordinator under Houston head coach and former 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans.

Kubiak’s brother, Klay, is an assistant quarterbacks coach for the 49ers. Their father, Gary, was Denver’s offensive coordinator under Shanahan’s father, Mike, from 1995-2005, after serving as the 49ers’ quarterbacks coach for the 1994 team that won Super Bowl XXIX.

Klint Kubiak was the Vikings’ offensive coordinator for head coach Mike Zimmer’s final season in 2021.

Kubiak took over play calling duties this season for Denver in November after the offense struggled under head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

In 2023, Kubiak will work with two young quarterbacks recovering from injuries in Trey Lance and Brock Purdy. Lance is expected to be ready for offseason team activities after fracturing his ankle in Week 2, and Purdy is set to undergo surgery on an elbow ligament next week. If all goes well, he could return around the start of training camp, but if he requires a full UCL replacement, he will miss more time.

Kubiak joins defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, who was hired last week, as new members of the 49ers’ coaching staff.

One more connection to those Mike Shanahanera Broncos is 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese, whom Kyle Shanahan hired out of the Monday Night Football booth. Denver drafted Griese in 1998 and he took over the starting spot in 1999 after John Elway’s retirement.