Belichick Declined Offer to Join 49ers

The G.O.A.T. coach, winner of six Super Bowl rings, Bill Belichick is out of the coaching ranks at least for the time being, after mutually agreeing to end his 24-year legendary run with the New England Patriots.

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed to The Athletics’ Tim Kawakami on recent episode of The TK Show podcast that he offered Belichick a spot on his staff but was “politely” turned down.

“I did, I threw it out to him,” Shanahan said, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “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.”

Having the greatest coach of all time on his staff would have been a whirlwind dynamic for Shanahan, to say the least. He deserves a round of applause for having confidence and belief in himself for not being intimidated by the shadow that Belichick’s presence would cast. Making such an unprecedented offer shows Shanahan’s reverence for Belichick and his security in his own job.

In a head scratching turn of events, the 49ers parted ways with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks following Super Bowl LVIII, after just one season on the job, opening the door to the possibility of Belichick filling that role. The organization eventually elevated Nick Sorensen to the position.

Belichick, 72 years-of-age, was a hot commodity, linked to several jobs this offseason, and interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons for their head coaching position, but he did not land one. The Falcons went on to hire Raheem Morris. He is scheduled to work in media as an analyst for Inside the NFL during the upcoming season.

Shanahan believes it will be a one-year sabbatical for the coach with 302 career NFL wins, just 19 short of Don Shula.

“I’m sure he’s going to be back in the league next year, and I could be going against him,” Shanahan said. “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.”