Bill Belichick will enter the 2024 NFL season without a coaching job, but that isn't because he wasn't offered one after leaving the New England Patriots.
The legendary head coach was a candidate for the San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator position after the team parted ways with Steve Wilks. Head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that not only did he offer Belichick the DC job, but he was willing to give him any role he wanted.
"I did, I threw it out to him," Shanahan told The Athletic's Tim Kawakami on the latest episode of Audacy's "The TK Show". "He loves football so much that you never know what he -- I can't believe he's not a head coach of a team right now. I know what I would do if I was an owner so that shocks me and the last thing you want to do is insult someone like Bill Belichick. But I know he just loves ball in its simplest form, so I threw it all out to him, whatever he wanted to do, (including defensive coordinator). I was like 'Would you be interested?' And he was very nice and appreciative and he politely turned me down.
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"I'm sure he's going to be back in the league next year and I could be going against him. He could be in the NFC West. It would have sucked if he came here and then he was going against us, so that's the stuff you have to be careful about. But he's the best and I just like talking to him."
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Belichick interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons' head coaching position but was passed over in favor of Raheem Morris. The 72-year-old has since shifted his focus to television as a co-host on Pat McAfee's draft special and a soon-to-be analyst on Inside the NFL. He also made a memorable appearance on Netflix's Roast of Tom Brady.
While it'll be odd not seeing Belichick pace the sideline this season, we likely haven't seen the last of him coaching in the NFL. ESPN's Dan Graziano reported Friday that "people close to Belichick say they believe he still wants to coach -- at least long enough to get the 15 wins he needs to surpass Don Shula atop the all-time wins list -- and that he'll have his eye on potential opportunities as this season goes along."
As for Shanahan and the Niners, they ended up promoting Nick Sorensen to the defensive coordinator role. Ex-Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley was hired to the staff as an assistant.