Mac Jones has played for Nick Saban at Alabama. He has played for Bill Belichick in New England. He knows what high-level football culture looks like. But after spending a year with the San Francisco 49ers, he says something about that building is different.
Speaking at George Kittle’s Tight End University event in July, Jones didn’t just talk about Kyle Shanahan’s offense or the team’s Super Bowl chances. He talked about the food. The equipment guys. The fact that people actually hang out together when they’re not at work.
“Everything is good. The food is amazing. The EQ guys are awesome,” Jones said. “I’m friends with everybody in the whole organization. People hang out outside of football. It’s just totally different — even at Alabama and the Patriots.”
That last part is worth pausing on. Alabama under Saban is about as buttoned-up as college football gets. The Patriots under Belichick were famously all-business. Jones isn’t knocking either place. He’s just saying the 49ers operate on a different wavelength. And he clearly loves it.
What Tight End University Teaches About Team Culture
The event itself is a good example of what Jones is talking about. Tight End University isn’t a mandatory team function. It’s a player-run camp where tight ends from across the league gather to work on their craft. But for 49ers players, it’s also just a chance to be around each other in the offseason. Kittle, Jones and others spent time together outside of practice reps and meeting rooms.
“Everyone is just a family, and that’s so cool. I think it helps our team,” Jones said. “The best teams, you all have to be brothers, and I feel like our entire organization is like that. That’s something that I am not going to take for granted.”
Jones made eight starts in 2025 while filling in for Brock Purdy. He completed 69.6% of his passes for 2,151 yards, 13 touchdowns and a 97.4 passer rating. Those numbers reminded everyone that he wasn’t just a guy who got hot one year in New England. He still knows how to run an offense. Shanahan’s system might actually be a better fit for his skill set than what he had in his final Patriots season.
But the part Jones keeps coming back to isn’t scheme or stats. It’s the way the organization treats people. He mentioned the food specifically, which sounds like a small thing until you remember that NFL players spend basically every waking hour at the facility during the season. Bad food grates on you. Good food makes you feel taken care of. The 49ers apparently understand that.
Jones is under contract through 2026, and Purdy is the clear starter when healthy. But Jones has positioned himself as maybe the best backup quarterback in the league. That matters more than most fans realize. The 49ers have made deep playoff runs in part because they had competent quarterbacks on the roster when the starter went down. Jones fits that mold.
“Being there for next year or five years or no more years, that place is awesome,” he said.
He’s not taking any of it for granted. And he’s probably not alone in feeling that way.
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