Mark Grieb

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Mark Grieb
Biographical details
Born (1974-05-23) May 23, 1974 (age 51)
Torrance, California, U.S.
Playing career
1994–1996UC Davis
1997Anaheim Piranhas
1997Milwaukee Mustangs
1998Scottish Claymores
1999–2008San Jose SaberCats
2001Las Vegas Outlaws
2011–2012San Jose SaberCats
Position(s)Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2000–2001Stanford (GA)
2003Menlo (OC)
20??Monterey Peninsula (assistant)
20??Foothill (assistant)
2011Menlo (WR)
2013–2014Menlo
2017–Sacred Heart Prep
Head coaching record
Overall8–13
Accomplishments and honors
Awards

Mark Richard Grieb (born May 23, 1974) is a former Arena football quarterback who spent the majority of his career with the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League (AFL). Grieb currently serves as the head coach of the Sacred Heart Prep Gators football team in Atherton, California. He was a 13-year veteran of the AFL, having played quarterback for the Anaheim Piranhas (1997) and San Jose SaberCats (1999–2008, 2011–2012). Grieb also played in NFL Europe for the Scottish Claymores (1998) and in the XFL with the Las Vegas Outlaws (2001). Grieb is the second quarterback in AFL history to throw for over 47,000 yards, over 900 touchdowns, and over 3,800 completions.[1] He officially retired on November 8, 2012. He played college football at University of California, Davis. Grieb passed for 48,803 yards between the Arena League, XFL and NFL Europe.[2]

Grieb appeared in three ArenaBowls, winning titles in 2002, 2004 and 2007.

Early life

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Grieb attended Oak Grove High School in San Jose, California, where he was a student and a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball.

College career

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Grieb played college football at UC Davis. He began his Aggies career on the junior varsity team his freshman year and redshirted behind starting quarterback Khari Jones. In 1994, starting quarterback Eric Walcha was injured in the season opener. The following week against Cal State Northridge, Grieb made his first collegiate start in a 52–13 loss.[3] Grieb started and won the following week against Southwest Texas State.[4] On the season he appeared in seven games (2 starts) and threw for 595 yards.[5] In 1995, Grieb led the Aggies to a 6–3–1 record while throwing for 2,226 yards and 17 touchdowns to just six interceptions. In 1996, Grieb and the Aggies finished the regular season 6–4, making the 1996 NCAA Division II Postseason. Grieb threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns against No. 1 Texas A&M–Kingsville in a 17–14 upset. He finished his career in the school's top 10 in six different offensive categories. As a senior, he passed for a school-record 3,230 yards and 25 touchdowns, and earned First-team CoSIDA All-Region honors, was a Football Gazette All-American pick, and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which is given to the NCAA Division II college football MVP.

Statistics

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Season Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Avg TD
1994 UC Davis 7 2 1–1 49 91 53.8 595 10.9 1 7 97.0 17 -39 -0.4 0
1995 UC Davis 10 10 6–3–1 163 286 56.9 2,226 7.8 17 6 137.7 42 -11 -0.2 2
1996 UC Davis 10 10 6–4 168 306 54.9 2,461 8.0 17 8 135.6 56 -70 -0.8 2
Regular season totals 27 22 13–8–1 380 683 55.6 5,282 7.7 35 21 131.4 115 -120 -1.0 4
Postseason totals 3 3 2–1 61 94 64.8 769 8.1 8 4 153.2 7 -26 -3.7 0
Career totals 30 25 15–9–1 441 777 56.8 6,051 7.7 43 25 134.0 122 -146 -1.2 4

Source:[6]

Professional career

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Anaheim Piranhas

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In 1997, Grieb signed with the Anaheim Piranhas of the Arena Football League. He began the season as third-string quarterback. Due to injuries, Grieb earned his professional start against the Florida Bobcats in week four. In his first career start, Grieb led the winless Piranhas to their first victory of the season. Grieb threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more as he was named game MVP honors. Grieb and the Piranhas were winless in the following three games, which led to a trade where they acquired veteran quarterback John Kaleo. He remained the backup the backup to Kaleo for the rest of the season.[9] On the season, Grieb led the team with 20 touchdown passes to four interceptions while completing 56% of his passes for 1,003 yards. At the conclusion of the season the Piranhas ceased operations. Grieb was then selected by the Buffalo Destroyers in the 1998 AFL dispersal draft, but opted to play for the Scottish Claymores instead.

Scottish Claymores

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In 1998, Grieb signed with the Scottish Claymores of the NFL Europe (NFLE). Grieb started the season as the backup quarterback to Jim Ballard. In week four against the England Monarchs, Grieb replaced Ballard due to an injury. Grieb completed 8-of-18 passes for 91 yards and an interception in the loss.[10] Grieb started the following week against Barcelona, where he completed 15-of-25 passes for 231 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Grieb led the Claymores to their first victory of the season 30–10 over the Dragons.[11] He remainder the starter the following week against Rhein, but was just 13-of-27 passing for 146 yards with one touchdown and interception in the loss.[12] Grieb's only other statistics on the season came the following week against England where he was 2-for-2 passing for 31 yards.[13]

San Jose SaberCats

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On March 13, 1999, Grieb was traded to the San Jose SaberCats in exchange for Tony Burse and Melvin Phillips.[14] During the 1999 season, Grieb was the backup quarterback to Scott Wood. In 2000, Grieb became the starting quarterback of the SaberCats and led them to a 12–2 regular season record and second round postseason appearance. In February of 2001, Grieb joined the Las Vegas Outlaws midway through their inaugural season until their season concluded on April 7. He rejoined San Jose and made his first appearance on May 4 against Oklahoma. By week nine, Grieb replaced John Dutton as the starting quarterback. He set Arena League records with 10.2 yards per passing attempt and 134.2 passer rating. San Jose made the playoffs for the second consecutive season, but fell to Nashville Kats in the second round. In 2002, on his way to completing an AFL regular season record 13–1 year, he was injured against the Arizona Rattlers, sustaining a season-ending broken collarbone. Dutton, Grieb's backup at the time, took over and continued to help lead the team to the ArenaBowl, winning it against the same Rattlers. On the season Grieb was named Arena Football League Offensive Player of the Year and First-team All-Arena.

In 2003, Grieb led the SaberCats to a 12–4 record before falling to the Rattlers in the second round of the playoffs. In the 2004 season, Grieb and SaberCats defeated Arizona in the ArenaBowl XVIII. Grieb was named the games most valuable player.[15] The SaberCats made the playoffs the following two seasons while Grieb led the league in passing yards in back-to-back seasons for the first time in his career. In 2004 he was named Second-team All-Arena and was named First-team All-Arena in 2005.

In 2007, Grieb led the SaberCats to a 13–3 record and a ArenaBowl XXI championship. Grieb was once again named the games most valuable player against Columbus and joined George LaFrance and Stevie Thomas as the only players to accomplish this feature. On the season Grieb threw 100 touchdown passes for the first time in his career. In 2008, Grieb led the SaberCats back to the Arena Bowl, but fell to Philadelphia 59–56. He led the league with 100 touchdown passes. At the conclusion of the 2008 season, the league was suspended for 2009 with Grieb a free agent. In 2011, when the SaberCats started back up, they signed Grieb back to the team for his 11th season with the team. In week six, Grieb won his 100th game as a starting quarterback in the Arena League.[16] The following week against Philadelphia, Grieb won his 100th game as the starting quarterback of the SaberCats.[17] On the season, Grieb led the league in passing yards for the third time in his career. The following season he would throw for a career high 5,744 yards and 112 touchdowns. In what would be Grieb's final season, he finished second all-time in single season passing yards. In the same season, Utah's Tommy Grady threw for a record breaking 5,870 yards. On November 8, 2012, Grieb announced his retirement from professional football.

Las Vegas Outlaws

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Headed into week four of the 2001 XFL season, Grieb was signed by the Las Vegas Outlaws. He was signed due to injuries of projected starter Chuck Clements and a separated shoulder of starting quarterback Ryan Clement.[18] Third string quarterback Mike Cawley started the week prior, but was released due to poor play.[19] Grieb was given an angle of being a young man signed off the street who was pursuing his MBA, ignoring his career in arena football. The signing reconnected Grieb with his former head coach Jim Criner, who he had played for with the Scottish Claymores in the 1998 season. Grieb surpassed backup quarterback Jim Ballard on the depth chart, who he had backed up for in Scotland.

Grieb started his first game for the Outlaws less than a week after being signed. Against San Francisco, Grieb completed 11-of-23 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown as the Outlaws defeated the Demons 16–9.[20] Grieb remained the starter the following week against Chicago, where he went 9-of-18 passing for 98 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Outlaws lost to the Enforcers 15–13, and Clement returned from his injury and was named the starter. Criner had previously mentioned to the media that Grieb would remain the starter.[21] Grieb returned to action four weeks later against San Francisco in week nine when Clement was injured on a late hit penalty in the fourth quarter. Grieb completed 2-of-2 passes for 21 yards in his lone series before Clement returned in the loss. Grieb then started the season finale against Memphis, but was only able to manage three points offensively. On the season, Grieb appeared in four games (3 starts) and completed 37-of-78 passes for 408 yards and three touchdowns to four interceptions.

Records and awards

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Grieb holds several records in AFL history including:

  • Pass completion percentage for one year: 73% (since broken)[22]
  • Passer rating for one year: 134.15[23]
  • Career passer rating: 121.93 (since broken)[24]

Career statistics

[edit]
AFL Offensive Player of the Year
Arena Bowl MVP
Won the ArenaBowl
AFL record
Led the league

AFL

[edit]
Regular season
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A TD
1997 ANA 8 4 1–3 88 158 55.7 1,003 6.3 20 4 104.0 6 15 2.5 2
1999 SJ 12 1 1–0 17 45 37.8 135 3.0 2 0 60.9 3 14 4.7 0
2000 SJ 14 13 11–2 217 339 64.0 3,107 9.2 62 3 129.5 13 35 2.7 2
2001 SJ 8 6 5–1 157 229 68.6 2,343 10.2 47 4 134.2 6 24 4.0 0
2002 SJ 13 13 12–1 249 385 64.7 3,346 8.7 70 5 126.4 5 13 2.6 0
2003 SJ 16 16 12–4 310 477 65.0 3,971 8.3 72 16 116.5 8 -4 -0.5 0
2004 SJ 16 16 11–5 335 459 73.0 4,111 9.0 75 7 133.5 9 2 0.2 1
2005 SJ 16 16 9–7 375 547 68.6 4,803 8.8 84 16 123.2 10 17 1.7 1
2006 SJ 16 16 10–6 395 604 65.4 4,834 8.0 83 10 122.6 19 -45 -2.4 0
2007 SJ 16 16 13–3 397 563 70.5 4,578 8.1 100 12 125.4 8 27 3.4 2
2008 SJ 16 16 11–5 415 606 68.5 4,611 7.6 100 18 118.1 14 43 3.1 1
2011 SJ 18 18 7–11 455 677 67.2 5,310 7.8 95 25 115.0 17 25 1.5 4
2012 SJ 18 18 12–6 476 705 67.5 5,744 8.1 112 20 120.1 7 32 4.6 3
Career 187 169 115–54 3,886 5,794 67.1 47,896 8.3 922 140 121.9 125 198 1.6 16
Postseason
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A TD
2000 SJ 2 2 1–1 36 63 57.1 388 6.1 9 2 97.9 3 11 0.0 1
2001 SJ 2 2 1–1 44 68 64.7 571 8.3 14 0 130.6 1 1 1.0 0
2002 SJ did not play due to injury
2003 SJ 2 2 1–1 37 62 59.7 572 9.2 11 2 116.4 0 0 0.0 0
2004 SJ 3 3 3–0 76 108 70.4 819 7.5 17 0 131.7 3 3 1.0 1
2005 SJ 1 1 0–1 34 55 61.8 392 7.1 6 1 103.0 0 0 0.0 0
2006 SJ 2 2 1–1 52 70 74.3 634 9.0 13 1 135.4 2 15 7.5 2
2007 SJ 3 3 3–0 81 107 75.7 824 7.7 19 1 132.9 3 10 3.3 0
2008 SJ 3 3 2–1 76 108 70.4 837 7.7 23 4 117.2 2 0 0.0 0
2012 SJ 1 1 0–1 26 57 45.6 263 4.6 5 2 66.6 0 0 0.0 0
Career 19 19 12–7 462 668 69.1 5,300 7.9 117 13 128.4 14 40 2.9 4

NFLE

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Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A Lng TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A Lng TD
1998 SCO 4 2 1–1 38 72 52.8 499 6.9 53 3 4 65.7 10 24 2.4 7 0
Career 3 2 1–1 38 72 52.8 499 6.9 53 3 4 65.7 10 24 2.4 7 0

XFL

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Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GP GS Record Cmp Att Pct Yds Y/A Lng TD Int Rtg Att Yds Y/A Lng TD
2001 LV 4 3 1–2 37 78 47.4 408 5.2 41 3 4 54.9 2 -2 -1.0 -1 0
Career 4 3 1–2 37 78 47.4 408 5.2 41 3 4 54.9 2 -2 -1.0 -1 0

Coaching career

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On April 3, 2013, Grieb was named the head football coach at Menlo College.[25] In February 2015, Menlo dropped its football program. On April 26, 2017, Grieb was named the head football coach at Atherton's Sacred Heart Preparatory.[26]

In 2021, Grieb led the SHP Gators to their first state championship title, winning the CIF Division 5A crown. They also won the CCS Division 4 and CIF NorCal 5A titles en route to the state championship.

Teaching career

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Grieb briefly taught chemistry at San Mateo High School. Grieb taught chemistry and biology at Gunn High School before departing for Sacred Heart Prep's head football coaching position.[27] Grieb currently works as a chemistry teacher at Sacred Heart Preparatory.

Head coaching record

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College

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Menlo Oaks (NAIA independent) (2013–2014)
2013 Menlo 5–5
2014 Menlo 3–8
Menlo: 8–13
Total: 8–13

High school

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Year Team Overall Conference Standing Bowl/playoffs
Sacred Heart Prep Gators (Peninsula Athletic League) (2017–present)
2017 Sacred Heart Prep 3–7 1–4
2018 Sacred Heart Prep 11–2 4–1
2019 Sacred Heart Prep 8–4 3–2
2020 Sacred Heart Prep 5–1 3–1
2021 Sacred Heart Prep 8–7 2–3 Nor-Cal 5-A Football Champions
2022 Sacred Heart Prep 11–2 5–0
2023 Sacred Heart Prep 6–5 3–2
2024 Sacred Heart Prep 7–7 1–4
Sacred Heart Prep: 59–35 22–17
Total: 59–35
      National championship         Conference title         Conference division title or championship game berth

Source:[28]

References

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  1. ^ Mark Emmons (November 8, 2012). "San Jose SaberCats quarterback Mark Grieb retires". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 9, 2012.
  2. ^ "Mark Grieb Passing stats". statscrew.com. August 14, 2025.
  3. ^ "CSUN Exploits Davis Mistakes". latimes.com. August 14, 2025.
  4. ^ "Ichiyama scores twice as UCD blanks Gaels". thesacramentobee.com. August 14, 2025.
  5. ^ "Proud Tradition Is Passed On at UC Davis". sfgate.com. August 14, 2025.
  6. ^ "Final 1996 Division II Cumulative Football Statistics Report". NCAA. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  7. ^ "First round boxscore". Corpus Christi Caller-Times.com. August 14, 2025.
  8. ^ "semifinal boxscore". sacramentobee.com. August 14, 2025.
  9. ^ "Marking his Mark". August 14, 2025.
  10. ^ "Claymores Lose Auld Enemy Battle". claymores.com. August 14, 2025.
  11. ^ "Claymores Slay Dragons for First Win". claymores.com. August 14, 2025.
  12. ^ "Claymores Fail to Douse the Fire". claymores.com. August 14, 2025.
  13. ^ "Parker's kick crowns the Monarchs". claymores.com. August 14, 2025.
  14. ^ "Transactions March 13, 1999". August 14, 2025.
  15. ^ Tom FitzGerald (April 29, 2005). "SABERCATS QUARTERBACK / On inside looking out / UC Davis grad posts huge stats in AFL, wonders why he never got a shot in NFL". www.sfgate.com. The Hearst Corporation. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  16. ^ "SaberCats Earn First Road Win, 42–33 Over The Talons". San Jose SaberCats. April 16, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  17. ^ "SaberCats Defeat Soul 68–61; Move to 5–2". San Jose SaberCats. April 22, 2011. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  18. ^ "Outlaws top XFL with seven players on all-league 1st team". lasvegassun.com. August 14, 2025.
  19. ^ "QB MARK GRIEB ADDED TO OUTLAWS ROSTER". all-xfl.com. August 14, 2025.
  20. ^ "Grieb, signed Monday, leads Las Vegas past Demons". espn.com. August 14, 2025.
  21. ^ "QB is on the Mark". lasvegassun.com. August 14, 2025.
  22. ^ "Completion Percentage Season Leaders (min. 150 Attempts)". arenafan.com. August 14, 2025.
  23. ^ "QB Rating Season Leaders (min. 150 Attempts)". arenafan.com. August 14, 2025.
  24. ^ "QB Rating Career Leaders (min. 500 Attempts)". arenafan.com. August 14, 2025.
  25. ^ "San Jose SaberCats Standout Mark Grieb Tabbed as Menlo Football Head Coach". www.menloathletics.com. Menlo College. April 3, 2013. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  26. ^ "Football: Former SaberCats quarterback new Sacred Heart Prep coach". www.mercurynews.com. The Mercury News. April 26, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  27. ^ "Departing teachers share memories, future plans: Mark Grieb". gunnoracle.com. The Oracle. May 19, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  28. ^ "Sacred Heart Prep Football History". maxpreps.com. June 8, 2025.