Seattle just reached into the 49ers’ building again, and George Kittle didn’t need a long statement to say how he felt about it.
After reports on Feb. 15 that the Seattle Seahawks are hiring 49ers tight ends coach/run game coordinator Brian Fleury as their offensive coordinator, Kittle responded on social media with a simple: “sad.”
For 49ers fans, it was a small moment that still carried weight. Fleury wasn’t just another assistant on Kyle Shanahan’s staff, he was a coach who helped shape one of the league’s most unique stars, and someone Kittle has publicly credited for making him sharper in the details.
49ers News: Brian Fleury’s move hits Kittle differently because it’s been a real partnership
Fleury has been with the 49ers since 2019, first working on the defensive side before flipping over to offense. He became the team’s tight ends coach in 2022, and added the run game coordinator title in 2025.
That timeline matters, because it overlaps with Kittle’s prime, and with years where San Francisco’s offense leaned heavily on tight end versatility: blocking on the edge, selling play-action, and turning the middle of the field into a runway.
In a past profile by The Athletic, Fleury explained how his background shapes the way he teaches, pointing to both his experience playing quarterback and coaching defense.
“Playing quarterback gave me a lot of familiarity with the offense from the quarterback’s perspective,” Fleury said, adding that his defensive coaching background helps him understand how defenses structure responsibilities, and how tight ends can exploit them.
That kind of perspective is exactly what can build trust between a coach and a player like Kittle, whose game is built on nuance as much as violence.
Kittle has already told people what Fleury meant to him
Kittle’s “sad” reaction wasn’t just about losing a coach he likes. He’s previously praised Fleury in unusually specific terms. the kind that tells you this wasn’t a surface-level relationship.
“He’s big on all his details on every single play,” Kittle said. “He knows absolutely everything going on in the offense. … Sometimes a new point of view can reveal a lot of different things that I’ve never seen before, so I appreciate that from Coach Fleury.”
Kittle also pointed to Fleury’s defensive background as a separator, saying the tight ends benefitted from how Fleury breaks down responsibilities and structure “as a defensive coach.”
That’s the key takeaway for 49ers readers: this wasn’t just a “position coach leaves” blip. This was a coach Kittle openly credited for helping him see the game differently.
NFL News: What Fleury’s hire signals and what it means for San Francisco next
From Seattle’s side, the hire strongly suggests scheme continuity. Fleury comes from the Shanahan tree, and reporting around the move has noted the expectation that the Seahawks will keep major foundational elements intact, including an outside-zone-based run game.
For the 49ers, it creates an immediate offseason to-do: replacing a tight ends coach who wore multiple hats, and doing it while a division rival now gets a direct window into how San Francisco has taught technique and details in that room.
Kittle’s one-word post landed because it captured that reality in real time. Losing Fleury isn’t just a staff shuffle; it’s a personal hit for one of the faces of the franchise, and another reminder that coaching continuity in the NFL is always temporary, even for teams that feel stable.
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