Offensive Coordinator Klay Kubiak Press Conference

Offensive Coordinator Klay Kubiak

Press Conference – October 23, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was a rookie your dad’s first year in Houston. Do you remember much about him? Do you remember your dad saying this guy’s going to be a head coach someday? Did anything strike you about him?

“Yeah, he was rookie of the year, I think, his rookie year. I think he was a second-round pick and just right away he was the leader of their defense. They had a young team, young defense and he was the leader. And I know my dad just was so thankful to have him because he was just a guy who just stepped in and became this leader and this smart, tough, charismatic player and just really led that franchise for however long he was there. He was the guy. And whether or not he knew he was going to be a coach, you’d have to ask my dad. But just those traits were there, those leadership qualities.”

When you watch the Houston defense, how familiar does it look and how has he maybe evolved it from what he was doing here?

“Yeah, it’s his defense. It’s the defense he’s been running. It’s what he ran when he was here. Obviously, there’s some tweaks. There’s new things. There’s always things that are evolving. But the thing about it is, that’s why it’s good. There’s a core philosophy and it’s the way they play and that’s what sticks out. It’s what it’s always been. And it’s why they’re a top defense because they know their identity. They play their system very well, very sound, very physical and they play with their hair on fire. So that’s why they’re one of the top defenses in this league.”

Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was just talking about last week how he thought head coach Kyle Shanahan did a really good job with the messaging with the game. He said that a couple of times. Is that something that you kind of keep your ear out for and you appreciate like what a head coach has to do week-to-week as far as that messaging?

“For sure. Yeah, it’s something you’re learning as you watch a head coach operate like that. Someone who is very much dialed into the offense and the scheme of everything. But then after all that said and done, he has to pull back and think about, okay, ‘what’s the message to the team? How do I want this team to play on Sunday?’ And not just the offense, not just how we’re going to move the ball, but ‘how do I want my team to play?’ Kyle’s able to balance those things out. I think that’s one of his greatest strengths. As a coach, he can balance those two things. And I agree, we had a good message. In any game you go into every game with a goal, a way you want to play. And it just so happened, it worked out for us on Sunday.”

Do you remember your dad kind of working on that being something that he would try to do week-to-week? Do you remember when that sort of came online for you that that was a thing?

“Yeah, for sure. I just remember when he was a head coach, he’d come home like on Friday afternoon, we would talk and he’d tell me, ‘I think I want to say this to the team tomorrow. Here’s what I think we need to hear. Here’s what I think our guys need tomorrow night.’ As you start to talk to them the night before the game. What’s cool is I think as a head coach, you don’t really know what that message is on Tuesday or Wednesday. It has to kind of sink in as the week goes on. And then when you get to Friday and you get to Saturday, you really get a feel for where your team’s at and then you really know what the right words are. And I just know we would always have those conversations. My dad would come home Saturday after the team meeting, we’d say, ‘what’d you tell them? What’d you tell them?’ We wanted to hear it because it was such a cool kind of inspiring thing. And then you’d go watch the game and you could hopefully feel the team playing that way.”

Did you get a chance this week to talk to your brother at all. It’s kind of unique, you guys are going against the same team in back-to-back weeks. Have you had a chance to kind of compare notes?

“Yeah, we talk every week. That is kind of interesting, we’ve kind of been following each other this year, but he’s not revealing too much and vice versa. We’re divisional foes. But we always talk after games, just kind of, ‘Hey, what were you seeing in the defense?’ How’d they look to you live?’ Just kind of sharing little stuff like that, but just pretty much the norm.”

When you guys brought in OL Matt Hennessy last year, you guys signed him to a two-year deal, which you don’t see a lot of for guys coming in that late. What did you see in him then that you liked about him? How much do you think maybe even just those extra couple of weeks help him now?

“It was just getting the guy here early and getting him into practice right away. You notice his athleticism right away. That’s what stood out, the way he moves. He’s been in a similar type of scheme where he has blocked in the zone scheme. So, he had a good feel, but just a really good athlete playing the position. And then, yeah, he got a head start. He got the offseason. He had a great camp. I loved the way he got better in camp. And so, we expect him to step in there and play good football for us.”

What kind of adjustment is that for maybe QB Mac Jones or whoever?

“It’s always a little bit of an adjustment. You’re talking about cadence and just timing of things. There’s some communication, but at the end of the day, there’s trust. We think Matt’s going to go in there and play good just like [OL] Jake [Brendel] did. And we’ll be rolling.”

You have a couple really fast weapons in RB Isaac Guerendo and WR Jordan Watkins that you’re not really utilizing. Do you see a role for Guerendo in this offense? Would Watkins’ presence create some space for you guys?

“Jordan’s coming back from the injury, and it’s just been a matter of getting him back into practice and getting his conditioning back and then getting him elevated when we can. And he’s got to get out there and take advantage of his ops. I think I said this about [RB] Jordan James last week. He’s doing a great job of being ready for that moment for when the time comes and who knows when that’s going to come, but we like where he is at. Isaac, there’s definitely a role for Isaac. Isaac, he’s got great speed. He does great things in the pass game. It’s the way we’ve used our backs, it’s been [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] and [RB] Brian [Robinson Jr.]. I think Isaac’s doing everything he has to do in practice to be ready for when we need him and that can come up with injury, that can come up anytime in the game. But he’s been doing a good job.”