Griese Pursuing 2nd Super Bowl Ring as San Francisco's Quarterbacks Coach

The star quarterback of Michigan's 1997 national champions has turned Purdy into a 49ers difference-maker, and Griese's playing career is recalled in a book chapter

Photo by Robert Kalmbach,

Courtesy of Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan

Brian Griese rolls to his right to complete the game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Jerame Tuman in the pivotal, comeback win over Iowa in the undefeated 1997 national championship season.

By Steve Kornacki

Brian Griese was a Super Bowl XXXIII champion as a backup quarterback to Denver Broncos Hall of Famer John Elway, and will attempt to get a second championship ring in Sunday’s Super Bowl LVIII as quarterbacks coach for the San Francisco 49ers.

The quarterback of Michigan’s 1997 national champions spent two seasons as the analyst for ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” before joining Kyle Shanahan’s coaching staff. Griese’s head coach on that Broncos championship team was his father, Mike Shanahan.

And, it should be noted, Brian and Bob Griese are the only father-son quarterback Super Bowl champions.

Brian has helped develop Niners quarterback Brock Purdy -- the final selection in the 2022 NFL Draft as a seventh-rounder and the No. 262 overall pick – into a contender for NFL MVP.

Griese is joined by three Michigan players on the San Francisco roster: placekicker Jake Moody, cornerback Ambry Thomas and receiver-returner Ronnie Bell.

Former Wolverine defensive lineman Mike Danna will be playing for the Kansas City Chiefs in the game in Las Vegas.

Griese, 48, and his wife, Brook, have a daughter, Lia, and a son, Nathan.

For an in-depth look at Griese’s playing career, please enjoy his comments to us in this chapter from our book:

“Miracle Moments in Michigan Wolverines Football History,” by Derek Kornacki and Steve Kornacki, Skyhorse Publishing, New York City, 2022.

“Brian Griese’s Emotional Journey with

His Father and Their Pasadena Hug”

Brian Griese saved what was arguably his best college performance for his final game as a Wolverine.

Griese passed for 251 yards with three touchdowns and one interception in Michigan's 21-16 Rose Bowl win over Washington State on Jan. 1, 1998.

The late Keith Jackson, perhaps the best play-by-play announcer college football has ever had, announced in his folksy manner as the Wolverines celebrated the victory and undefeated season on the field: "The MVP -- I'm standing beside his proud Daddy…Go ahead and cry."

Bob Griese, the color analyst for that game on ABC-TV, had his eyes well up with tears.

"I've done well all year," said the father, who usually insisted on calling his youngest son "Griese" while describing the Wolverine quarterback on broadcasts. "…But, well, this is special."

Brian said he was taken aback by that scene when finally able to view it, noting that his father is loving but seldom emotional.

"I've got a question!" Jackson demanded on air. "Did his old man ever win this trophy?"

His father also led his team, Purdue, to victory over USC in Pasadena by a 14-13 score on Jan. 2, 1967. But that was a defensive struggle, and both Boilermaker touchdowns came on short runs with Griese adding the point-after kicks. The MVP of that game 31 years prior was Purdue defensive back John Charles.

Now, the father had plenty of accomplishments. He was elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame and Pro Football Hall of Fame, leading the Miami Dolphins to two Super Bowl wins and his own perfect season in 1972. But his son had the Rose Bowl MVP on him.

"After the game," said Brian, "I saw my dad in the hallway underneath the stadium going to talk to you guys in the media room. We didn't say a word. We just hugged each other, and it was a special moment. That was the moment that -- we'd been through a lot, losing my mom -- it's still there. It's right under the skin."

His mother, Judi, died of breast cancer in 1988, and the two older Griese boys were on their own. Brian and Bob became closer than close. They were everything to each other. Bob had remarried to Shay, and life went on. But they couldn't help but think of losing Judi in their joy. She had been gone nearly 30 years when we spoke with Brian about that Pasadena moment 20 years ago. And he once again became very emotional, fighting back tears. That hug with his father always will tug at his heartstrings. 

Brian wasn't even supposed to be the best quarterback in that Rose Bowl. That was Washington State's Ryan Leaf, who became the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, while Griese went in the third round to the Denver Broncos. But Brian was the star of stars that evening.

Griese's last game in Michigan Stadium was a memorable victory over Ohio State that earned the Big Ten title and sent the Wolverines to Pasadena. He got carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates while holding a long-stemmed red rose.

His father and Jackson also did that game, and surprised him hours after the game.

"I had a party at my house," said Griese. "It was kind of an impromptu thing, and a bunch of the guys came over. The funny memory that I have is (Glen) Steele and (Zach) Adami and everybody's in my little house we were renting in that neighborhood over by the Blue Front. And the door opens, and we didn't know who was coming in. And in walks…Keith Jackson."

Griese dragged out the pronunciation of the legendary announcer's first and last names and paused.

"And then my dad walks in behind him," Griese continued. "And the whole room stops and looks up, and they both say, 'CONGRATULATIONS!' We had a great time, and celebrating with my dad and Keith after that was pretty cool.

"It was fun; it was a good memory."

Griese was 3-0 against the Buckeyes, with two wins coming in starts and the 1996 victory coming in relief.

For all Griese did in Michigan's 1997 national championship season, there was nothing more pivotal than his ability to right the ship in the second half on Oct. 18 in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines had fallen behind, 21-7, and Griese had thrown three interceptions. Two of them led to Hawkeye touchdowns.

How Griese handled himself in the half-time locker room set the tone for a comeback.

"Guys, that's the worst half of football I've ever played," Griese said. "I'm going to go out there and play the best half."

Offensive tackle Jon Jansen said, "There was no, 'whoa is me' in him. We all felt the confidence."

Griese engineered a 71-yard drive on the first possession of the second half, finishing it with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Russell Shaw.

Two drives later, Griese ran the final yard on a 67-yard drive for the touchdown to make it 21-all.

Griese's two-yard touchdown pass to All-America tight end Jerame Tuman capped a 77-yard drive with 2:55 remaining to play for Michigan's first lead in the game.

Final score: Michigan 28, Iowa 24.

Still, Griese had to turn around his career before he could be trusted to turn around games. He was a holder on placement kicks as a freshman, started 10 games as an injury replacement during his sophomore and junior seasons, and did not become the established starter until he was a fifth-year senior.

He also was arrested for a minor incident at the Scorekeepers sports bar in Ann Arbor and tried Coach Lloyd Carr's patience in other ways, too. But Brian took the punishment, learned from his mistakes, and became a shining example of grabbing opportunity before it gets away.

Carr recalled what he saw happen in 1997: "All spring and summer he was working as hard as he could. He got in the best shape of his life; he matured, he grew up. He was everything you wanted."

Griese threw for 2,293 yards with 17 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 1997, and was named first team All-Big Ten.

Receiver Tai Streets, who hooked up with Griese on two touchdown passes in the Rose Bowl, said, "Griese was just outstanding all year."

Griese was the recruiting host to Jansen, a co-captain in 1997, and he watched him persevere and grow from walk-on to all-conference.

"Brian's career at Michigan was always over-shadowed by these big recruits coming in," said Jansen. "Scott Dreisbach came in and started as a red-shirt freshman (in 1995) and then you've got Tom Brady (one year behind Dreisbach). And there was Jason Kapsner coming in from Minnesota who was supposed to be the next great thing. So there were all these quarterbacks everyone was talking about, including Scot Loeffler, who came in with Brian. Loeffler had a shoulder injury and never really had a chance to play.

"And Brian just always showed up and did his work, and had one incident. But for four years opportunity didn't present itself. In the fifth year, they have this battle, and they gave him the ball and said, 'This team is yours. Let's go!' And he was ready."

What enabled Griese to make it through all the challenges?

"He was never too high, never too low," said Jansen. "He could seem aloof. And sometimes people would say, 'I'm not sure he cares about it.' But that wasn't true. In my opinion, what you need is a guy who gets in the huddle, and is in control no matter what the situation is. When Brian runs 40 yards against Penn State, and the only thing he's trying to do is catch his breath to call the next play. He's not cheering. It's what's next, and I think that's really what served him so well during all of those four years when he didn't play. It was always: 'What's next?' "

Griese had other major college scholarship offers but chose to walk on initially at Michigan, which had built a reputation for producing NFL quarterbacks. He left No. 5 in school career passing yardage with 4,383, ranking behind only Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins, Jim Harbaugh and Steve Smith.

Griese won a Super Bowl with Denver while backing up John Elway, was selected to the 2000 Pro Bowl team, and threw for 19,440 yards in 11 NFL seasons.

He did even bigger things off the field.

Griese, in 2015, won the Big Ten's Ford-Kinnick Leadership Award, named for 1934 Michigan MVP and 38th President of the U.S. Gerald Ford and 1940 Heisman Trophy winner Nile Kinnick. Griese also won the conference's Dungy-Thompson Humanitarian Award in 2014, and became the first Big Ten player to ever win both of those awards.

Brian founded Judi's House in 2002, named in honor of his mother, with a mission to help grieving children and their caregivers in the Denver area, and the organization expanded its reach by developing a curriculum shared around the country.

He also helped establish the Champions for Children's Hearts golf weekend in 2007 along with 1997 championship teammates Steve Hutchinson and Charles Woodson. The event helped fund construction and the development of a congenital heart center at Michigan's Mott Children's Hospital.

Brian became a college football analyst for ESPN in 2009, and hooked up with his father to write a book, "Undefeated", which chronicled their lives during perfect football seasons and living through and leaning upon one another after losing Judi to cancer.

Their emotional hug after Michigan's win in Pasadena said even more about life's triumphs than football's victories.

For more on all things Wolverines football, also check out my first book:

“Go Blue! Michigan’s Greatest Football Stories,” by Steve Kornacki with foreword by Lloyd Carr, Triumph Books, Chicago, 2013.