One of the top Super Bowl contenders tried recruiting Bill Belichick to their coaching staff, but the ex-New England Patriots head coach surprisingly declined their offer.
The Patriots and Bill Belichick parted ways in January after 24 years together. Belichick led the organization to six Super Bowl championships (2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018) and nine AFC Championship banners.
Belichick was widely expected to land a new head coaching job, but he was surprisingly passed over in the 2024 hiring cycle. In fact, the Atlanta Falcons were the only team that interviewed Belichick, but they hired ex-Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris for the HC role.
Speaking to The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami on “The TK Show”, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed that he offered Belichick a job on his staff, but the future Canton member politely said no:
“I did (reach out to him), I threw it out to him. He loves football so much…I can’t believe that he’s not a head coach of a team right now…I was like ‘Would you be interested?’ (in a defensive coordinator role). He was very nice and appreciative, but he politely turned me down.”
The 49ers fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 58. Nick Sorensen, an assistant on Shanahan’s staff since 2022, was promoted to the DC position.
Also: Shanahan talks about his offer to Bill Belichick to do anything he wanted with the 49ers this year, and Belichick’s polite no thanks. https://t.co/a89MuH1YZz
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) July 23, 2024
Bill Belichick had been employed on an NFL coaching staff every year since 1975, but it looks like that remarkable streak will end this year. Of course, it’s always possible that a team will try to hire Belichick in the midst of the season if they decide to make a change.
Bill Belichick Will Surely Be Hired In 2025
It’s hard to envision teams passing on Belichick as a potential head coaching option for a second straight year. He’s the greatest head coach in NFL history, and the 72-year-old clearly hasn’t lost his passion for football.
Belichick would be the ideal hire for a team in win-now mode that continuously falls short of their Super Bowl aspirations. The Dallas Cowboys make sense if Jerry Jones decides to move on from Mike McCarthy, for example.
