Longtime San Francisco 49ers quarterback and former ESPN analyst Steve Young is headed back to the sidelines.
Young will work as an assistant coach for Menlo School’s girls flag football team this fall, the Bay Area high school announced Monday. Young will work under head coach and fellow former 49ers quarterback John Paye — who is also the head girls basketball coach and a Menlo alum.
“Flag football will be a wonderful opportunity for young women to show their talent,” Young said in a statement. “Football is a great team game that teaches tremendous life lessons. I want to help build women’s flag football.”
California first approved girls flag football as a sanctioned high school sport in February. The season is set to start in mid-August and will run through early November, though it will be determined on how many other area schools field teams.
Young played in the NFL for 15 seasons, 13 of which were with the 49ers. The former BYU star won three Super Bowls in San Francisco, and was named the Super Bowl MVP in the 1994 season after beating the San Diego Chargers. He finished his career after the 1999 season, and threw for more than 33,000 yards and 232 touchdowns.
Young was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005. He worked with ESPN as an analyst on a part-time basis before joining full-time in 2021, though he was among the mass layoffs in June.
Paye played collegiately at Stanford, where he took over after John Elway as a freshman, and briefly joined Young on the 49ers for two seasons. Paye has coached the Menlo girls basketball team to four state titles, and currently coaches Young’s oldest daughter. Both of Young’s children are set to join the new flag football team.
“There’s certainly a good amount of excitement in the Menlo community,” Paye said in a statement. “I’ve been getting photos and videos of some of the basketball players out with their friends practicing and training on their own for the season.”
