When Brian Griese watches a film, he sees the big picture.
Football gripped his life for decades, as a high school star at Miami, a national championship winner at Michigan, a Pro Bowler for the Broncos, and a renowned broadcaster.
In 2024, he finds himself at the San Francisco 49ers’ practice facility, tucked away in a room, with a remote in hand.
“I love being a quarterbacks coach,” Griese said of a room that includes Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen. “But I missed my family and I felt like there was a way for me to make a bigger impact.”
It was at this point that my column expanded, deserving more than just Griese’s musings on Bo Nix (don’t worry, that’s coming).
Griese is someone who took my calls and made me smarter about football. He offers honest assessments and contextualizes things based on his unique experiences.
The time to talk seemed right. The second season of Nix is ready. And Darnold, who is reviving his career in San Francisco, just led the Seattle Seahawks to a Super Bowl victory.
Griese knows Darnold. He has knowledge of Nix. And he understands his position.
Could what happened to Seattle happen to the Broncos?
“I don’t see why not. I’m impressed with Bo, the person, the quarterback, the way he processes it,” Griese said. “He’s got a strong defense. And you just saw what the Seahawks did with great defense, running the ball and guarding it. There’s no reason Denver can’t do that. Bo improved last season, and that doesn’t always happen when the league films you. He’s going to continue to get better, but they’re going to need some more offensive weapons.”
Nix threw for 3,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He led the NFL with seven fourth-quarter comebacks, something Griese said, “built trust not only among the coaches, but also teammates and everyone in the building.”
Even so, criticism of Nix still exists. NFL.com recently and foolishly ranked him 18th overall, behind Aaron Rodgers.
For Nix to take the next step, his spray diagram had to look more like a Jackson-Pollock painting than an Etch-A-Sketch. He needs to make more passes in the middle of the pitch and calm his frenetic feet.
Griese wasn’t comfortable discussing specifics about Nix – he watched Broncos games last season as a fan – but explained how he trains his quarterbacks.
“You have to slow down to play fast,” Griese said. “What I mean by this is you have to make your reads. If you miss the first read to go to the second read, that player is probably protected by inside backing because you never ignore the defender. If you make those moves, it helps create patience.”
Griese pointed to Purdy and Darnold as examples, providing a peek behind the curtain. Before the 2024 season, the quarterbacks decided on a set of core values: accountability, honesty and empathy. Griese’s job is to get in front of them, his timing and consistency making his expectations clear to them.
He watched Purdy develop from the last pick in the draft to leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl in his second season. Darnold, on his fifth team, won a big game last Sunday.
“I get emotional when I talk about Sam because I know what he’s going to be like when he walks into my house (in 2024),” Griese said. “He had been thrown on the scrap heap, labeled a failure. He could have had a good life to spare. But not once did he complain or make excuses. He said, ‘I just wanted to see how good I could be.’ It all starts with humility and his ability to learn from mistakes.”
His story has the same thread as Griese’s story. As the Broncos’ starting quarterback in 1999, Griese was ill-equipped for success. He replaced John Elway, something I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. And she had yet to process the loss of her mother 11 years earlier, which had impacted her relationships personally and professionally.
With the pressure reaching pipe-burst levels on the Broncos, Griese did something he would have been advised to leave behind. He and his wife, Brook, founded Judi’s House in honor of his mother, providing a place to help grieving families find connection and healing.
“I feel like I’m the only 12-year-old kid who lost his mother,” Griese said. “I wish I had a place like that to help me with what I’m going through.”
Griese became a Pro Bowler in 2000, winning 45 NFL games and playing 11 seasons. His impact on Denver was greater because he did things when we weren’t alert. To date, Gambling House has served more than 16,000 children and families in the metro area.
Griese remains competitive, but his genuine concern for vulnerable groups makes his epiphany in the quarterback room two years ago understandable. The fourth chapter of his life demanded a different platform.
Griese submitted an application to Stanford University, interested in their executive program. He thought he would not be accepted. This is primarily aimed at CEOs, and Griese views himself as an athlete, thus downplaying his decades-long impact on society.
He got a scholarship. The focus is on sustainability. He aims to find solutions to help in the real world. That’s why he met with educators at the Colorado School of Mines on Thursday to exchange ideas.
But the trip from the Bay Area to Denver was double, triple if you count my annoyance.
Griese sat down with Guild CEO Bijal Shah at the company’s headquarters to chat about his transition from player to coach and implementing effective leadership techniques.
It only took a few minutes to see his advice resonate with employees, to understand how his vision for quarterbacks helped shape his outlook on life.
“As a player, you can determine the outcome. As a coach, you help someone control the outcome,” Griese said. “There’s less control. But you push and challenge them, making them uncomfortable. Eventually, you get comfortable with being uncomfortable, and the only way for that to work is through trust.”
Griese is no longer busy coaching. He was relaxed, funny, made jokes at my expense. The why and the how have never seemed stronger.
“I’m back in school, trying to create an avenue for athletes, people who are trusted, to talk about important issues,” Griese said. “I left football, but I will not leave sport.”
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