A new coach will be in charge of instructing George Kittle and the rest of the San Francisco 49ers tight ends. The team is promoting offensive quality control coach Brian Fleury to tight ends coach, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Fleury replaces former assistant head coach and tight ends coach Jon Embree, now part of Mike McDaniel's staff with the Miami Dolphins.
Fleury spent the last two seasons as the 49ers' offensive quality control coach. He was the team's defensive quality control coach in 2019. Before joining the 49ers, he spent three years with the Miami Dolphins as the team's football research analyst (2016) and director of football research (2017-18).
The following is from his official bio on the 49ers' online site.
In his roles with the Dolphins, Fleury worked closely with defensive coordinator Matt Burke to help prepare for upcoming opponents and follow NFL trends. He assisted the team's defensive backs in 2018 after assisting the defensive line in 2017 and linebackers in 2016.
Fleury joined Miami from the Cleveland Browns, where he was the team's outside linebackers coach in 2015 and assistant linebackers coach in 2014. In 2015, OLBs Armonty Bryant (5.5) and Christian Kirksey (3.5) set career highs in sacks. In his first season with the Browns, Fleury helped coach Paul Kruger to the most productive season of his career, as he set career highs in tackles (53), sacks (11.0) and forced fumbles (four). Kruger's 11.0 sacks tied for the fifth-most in team history at the time and were the most by a member of the Browns since 2006. In addition, the Browns finished second in the NFL with 21 interceptions, while also finishing tied for fourth in takeaways (29).
Prior to his time in Cleveland, Fleury spent the 2013 season as a quality control coach for the Buffalo Bills, working with the linebackers. He helped develop rookie LB Kiko Alonso, who registered 159 tackles, four interceptions, 2.0 sacks, four passes defensed, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble and was named PFWA NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. The Bills set a franchise record with 57 sacks, the second-most in the NFL in 2013. Buffalo's defense also finished 10th in the NFL in total defense (333.4 yards per game).
Before Buffalo, Fleury spent four seasons (2009-12) at Towson University where he served as the special teams coordinator/defensive backs coach. He helped the team achieve top-10 national rankings in kickoff return yardage (24.28 yards per return) in 2011 and punt return defense (3.46 yards per return) in 2010. Towson won the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) in 2011 and earned a share of the conference title in 2012.
Fleury was an assistant at Sacred Heart University for four seasons, spending one year (2005) as secondary coach and the following three (2006-08) as defensive coordinator. In 2008, the Pioneers posted an 8-3 record, which ranked as the third-highest win total in the history of the school. Fleury began his coaching career as an intern and graduate assistant at the University of Maryland from 2003-04. In 2003, the Terrapins went 10-3, earned a victory in the Gator Bowl and finished 17th in the nation in the final poll.
Fleury began his collegiate career at Maryland before transferring to Towson, where he played quarterback for four years (1999-2002) and earned a degree in sport management from the school in 2002. He and his wife, Natasha, have one daughter, Nadia.