ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Kyle Shanahan doesn’t even pretend he no longer needs football counsel from his father, Mike.
They speak often with Mike Shanahan watching meetings and practice from his Denver-area home, flying to 49ers games or the occasional practice.
Does Klint Kubiak talk with his father, Gary?
“Absolutely, yes, all the time,’’ Klint Kubiak, the Broncos’ quarterbacks coach all season and play caller for the second-half of the season, said Friday after it was revealed Russell Wilson would be held out of the game Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals because of follow-up concussion concerns and replaced by Brett Rypien. “He doesn’t always like talking to me. He’s got better stuff to do. He’s got hobbies now.’’
Mike Shanahan was the head coach during the Broncos’ back-to-back Super Bowl title seasons of 1997-‘98 and for 14 seasons in all. His offensive coordinator through the first 10 seasons of his head coaching term in Denver was Gary Kubiak, who later became the head coach who guided the Broncos to their third Super Bowl title in 2015.
Both Mike Shanahan and Gary Kubiak are now retired from football with the exception of their unofficial roles as consultants to their play-calling sons. Kyle Shanahan is 2-0 with a third-string quarterback in Brock Purdy, who has replaced the injured Trey Lance and then Jimmy Garoppolo, and 10-4 overall to clinch the NFC West Division.
Klint Kubiak is now on to the Broncos’ backup quarterback in Rypien with Jarrett Guarantano, a rookie who is about to dress for his first NFL game as the backup QB this Sunday against the Cardinals.
Mike Shanahan still lives in the Denver area with his wife Peggy. Gary Kubiak and his wife Rhonda have a ranch outside Houston while their three sons are all working in the NFL – Klay is an assistant QB coach on Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco, and Klein is a national scout for the Dallas Cowboys.
So what’s dad up to these days?
“He stays busy,’’ Klint said. “He has his place in Texas where he spends quite a bit of time. He lives close to his mom, my grandma, and spends a lot of time with her and sees my brothers all across the United States. He came and saw us for Christmas which was awesome.
“Just being a grandpa and mowing the grass and hanging out with cows. And every now and then he’ll give me a call and, ‘“what the hell were you thinking on that play?’’’
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