49ers Coach Kyle Shanahan: ‘Bill Belichick Declined Offer To Join’

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said during Monday’s episode on “The TK Show” podcast, hosted by The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami, that he offered former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a spot on his coaching staff. However, Belichick turned him down.

San Francisco 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan said he thought eight-time Super Bowl champ Bill Belichick would join his coaching staff

“I did, I threw it out to him,” Shanahan said. “He loves football so much that you never know what he [will do] … I can’t believe that 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. 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.”

Shanahan reiterated that he was hoping Belichick would sign on to become the team’s defensive coordinator. The job was later filled when the 49ers promoted Nick Sorensen to the position.

“I was like, ‘Would you be interested?’ And he was very nice and appreciative, but he politely turned me down.”

During the podcast, Shanahan also said he believes Belichick will be back coaching in the NFL in 2025.

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

Belichick is 302-165 in the regular season, 31-13 in the playoffs, and 333-178 overall as an NFL head coach

Belichick, 72, and the Patriots parted ways after the 2023 season, following a disastrous 4-13 season. It ended a 24-year run with the franchise during which he led New England to six Super Bowl titles.

His 296 wins with the Patriots (including playoffs) are the second most with one franchise in NFL history, trailing only George Halas (324 with the Chicago Bears). His 333 coaching wins (including playoffs) are the second most all time behind Don Shula (347).

Belichick interviewed with the Falcons for their head-coaching vacancy, but that job went to Raheem Morris. Since no team was willing to hire him as a head coach, he decided to join The CW’s “Inside the NFL” as an analyst.

Additionally, Belichick is also set to join the Manning brothers for their “ManningCast” during ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” and a weekly spot on the network’s “The Pat McAfee Show.”

Belichick faced Shanahan, Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI

Belichick battled it out against Kyle Shanahan and the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, the NFL’s first overtime Super Bowl and the Patriots’ fifth championship. New England rallied from a 28-3 deficit in the second half.

Shanahan was then the Falcons’ offensive coordinator. It was the same season quarterback Tom Brady served a four-game suspension for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal.

Had Belichick joined Shanahan’s coaching staff, it definitely would have made the 49ers’ 2024 season more interesting. Belichick, a three-time AP NFL Coach of the Year (2003, 2007, 2010), is 31-13 in the playoffs.

It would have been his first coordinator job since the 1999 season with the New York Jets. Belichick had two stints as the head coach of the Jets without ever coaching a game.

In January 2000, Belichick was introduced as the Patriots’ 14th head coach, succeeding the recently fired Pete Carroll. The Patriots gave the Jets a first-round draft pick in 2000 in exchange for the right to hire Belichick.