SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers have promoted assistant Klay Kubiak into the offensive coordinator role that had been vacant the past two seasons and replaced Brian Griese as quarterbacks coach.
Coach Kyle Shanahan announced several changes and additions to his coaching staff on Tuesday after previously hiring Robert Saleh as defensive coordinator to replace the fired Nick Sorensen and Brant Boyer as special teams coach to replace Brian Schneider.
Shanahan had expressed his intention at the end of the season to promote Kubiak into the role that hadn't been filled since Mike McDaniel left to become head coach in Miami after the 2021 season.
But the 49ers needed to interview at least two minority candidates to comply with the Rooney Rule before making Kubiak's promotion official.
Kubiak is the son of longtime NFL coach Gary Kubiak, who gave Shanahan his first job as a position coach and a coordinator in the NFL when he was head coach in Houston. The younger Kubiak is entering his fifth season as an assistant in San Francisco and served as the passing game specialist last season.
The other major change on the staff includes promoting Mick Lombardi from senior offensive assistant to quarterbacks coach. Griese had held that role for the past three seasons and played a key role in the development of quarterback Brock Purdy. Griese is no longer on the staff.
Among the additions to the staff are former Jacksonville head coach and longtime defensive coordinator Gus Bradley as assistant head coach of the defense, Ray Brown as defensive backs and cornerbacks coach, Greg Scruggs as assistant defensive line coach and Colt Anderson as assistant special teams coach.
The Niners also hired Jake Lynch, the son of GM John Lynch, as a defensive quality control coach. Jake Lynch was a graduate assistant at the University of Washington last season.
Offensive line coach Chris Foerster was given the assistant head coach title and receivers coach Leonard Hankerson will also be a passing game specialist this season.
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FILE - San Francisco 49ers offensive passing game specialist Klay Kubiak looks on during NFL football training camp in Santa Clara, Calif., July 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.
Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.
Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:
— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”
— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”
— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.
—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.
Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”
— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”
— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.
People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
