Chris Foerster is in 11th overall season with the 49ers and first as the team's assistant head coach/offensive line coach. He spent the previous three seasons (2022-24) as San Francisco's run game coordinator/offensive line coach after spending the 2021 season as offensive line coach. He also worked as the team's offensive line coach from 2008-09 and 2015. Foerster spent the 2020 season as the 49ers assistant offensive line coach after serving as a consultant with the 49ers for two seasons (2018-19).
In 2024, Foerster's offensive line helped the 49ers offense finish tied for second in yards per play (6.2), fourth in total yards (6,397), yards per game (376.3) and passing yards per game (249.1) and tied for sixth in yards per rush (4.7). Foerster also oversaw the development of rookie draft pick OL Dominick Puni, who was named to the Pro Football Writer's of America All-Rookie Team.
The 2023 San Francisco 49ers finished with top-five marks in total offense (398.4), scoring offense (28.9), rushing yards per game (140.5) and passing yards per game (257.9). The 49ers offense registered 491 total points and 6,773 total yards in 2023, both of which were the second-highest single-season marks in franchise history. Foerster once again coached T Trent Williams, who was named Associated Press First-Team All-Pro for the third-consecutive season and selected to the Pro Bowl Games.
In 2022, the 49ers offensive line went five games without allowing a sack, matching the most registered by the 49ers in a single season since 1980 (2000). Williams was selected to his 10th Pro Bowl and earned Associated Press First-Team All-Pro honors for the second-consecutive season. The 2022 49ers offense averaged 5.94 yards per play, which ranked fourth in the NFL.
The 2021 49ers offensive line saw three of five members earn Pro Bowl honors in Williams, G Laken Tomlinson and C Alex Mack. Williams was selected to the Associated Press 2021 First-Team All-Pro list for the first time in his career. San Francisco's offense finished the season averaging 127.4 rushing yards, ranking seventh in the NFL.
In 2020, the 49ers offensive line was anchored by All-Pro Williams, who was named to his eighth Pro Bowl, and Tomlinson, who started all 16 games. The 49ers offense averaged 370.1 yards per game (118.1 rushing yards; 252.1 passing yards) and ranked tied for 10th in the NFL with 19 rushing touchdowns.
Prior to returning to San Francisco, Foerster spent two seasons (2016-17) with the Miami Dolphins as the run game coordinator/offensive line coach (2017) and offensive line coach (2016). In 2016, the offensive line was critical to Miami's four-win turnaround from 2015. After starting the season 1-4, the Dolphins won nine of their final 11 games to earn a playoff berth and their first winning season since 2008. During those 11 games, the team's offensive line helped the Dolphins rank third in the NFL with 132.9 rushing yards per game and tied for third with just 13 sacks allowed.
In 2014, Foerster's unit assisted RB Alfred Morris to reach 1,000 yards for the third consecutive season (1,074) and earned a trip to the 2015 Pro Bowl. His offensive line aided one of the NFL's top rushing attacks during the 2012-13 seasons as well.
Washington ran for a league-leading 4,873 yards in that two-season span and was one of only two teams to average at least five yards per carry across those two years (5.01). In 2013, Foerster's unit powered Washington to the fifth-most rushing yards in the league (2,164) and helped the team rush for 2,000 yards in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2005-06. Those seasons led to Pro Bowl honors for Williams, the first two of his career.
In 2012, Foerster led a unit that helped Washington rush for a team-record 2,709 yards, ranking first in the NFL in that category for the first time since 1933. The team's offensive line was a major part of Washington's first NFC East Championship since 1999, blocking for the team's young backfield that featured rookie QB Robert Griffin III and Morris, who also was a rookie. Morris set a new single-season team high in rushing yards with 1,613, while Griffin III led all quarterbacks with 815 rushing yards that season.
Foerster helped groom two rookies as starters in 2011, as undrafted free agent T Willie Smith and seventh-round pick G Maurice Hurt started a combined 11 games for Washington in Weeks 9-16. The offensive line featured 10 different starting combinations that season. During the 2010 season, Foerster's offensive line featured four new starters that helped Washington lead the league in receptions of 50-or-more yards (nine).
Prior to joining Washington, Foerster spent two years (2008-09) working with the offensive line of the 49ers. In 2008, he was originally brought on as co-offensive line coach before being named offensive line coach in Week 8 of the season. In 2009, Foerster's unit helped RB Frank Gore rush for 1,120 yards, his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season. Gore set a career high with 10 rushing touchdowns that season and was selected to the Pro Bowl. During his time with San Francisco, he also assisted in the development of perennial Pro Bowl T Joe Staley.
From 2005 to 2007, Foerster was the offensive line coach and assistant head coach for the Baltimore Ravens. Under Foerster, 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee T Jonathan Ogden made the Pro Bowl in all three seasons. In 2007, RB Willis McGahee rushed for 1,207 yards, the second-highest total of his career, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl. In 2006, the Ravens offense set team records for fewest sacks allowed (17) and most wins in a season (13) with Foerster.
Before joining the Ravens, Foerster was the offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins (2004), tight ends coach for the Indianapolis Colts (2002-03) and offensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1996-2001). While in Tampa Bay, Foerster helped three players make a combined five Pro Bowl appearances – C Tony Mayberry (1997-99), C Jeff Christy (2000) and G Randall McDaniel (2000). As the assistant offensive line/tight ends coach for the Minnesota Vikings (1993-95), Foerster helped tutor 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee G Randall McDaniel, who earned Pro Bowl appearances in all three seasons.
Foerster also worked in the collegiate ranks, serving as the offensive line coach for the University of Minnesota (1992), assistant offensive line/special teams coach at Stanford University (1988-91) and offensive line coach for Colorado State University (1983-87). He began his coaching career in 1982 as a graduate assistant at Colorado State.
Foerster graduated with a degree in history after a successful playing career with CSU as a center from 1979 to 1982, starting as a walk-on before earning a scholarship as a sophomore.
Foerster and his late wife, Michelle, have three children: Kathleen, Jake and Micah.
