This season, there was a chance we might have seen Bill Belick on the sidelines alongside San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan.
With the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick and the franchise amicably parted ways in February after 24 seasons and six Super Bowls.
Still, Belichick’s name was being mentioned in relation to several coaching openings across the league.
Before the franchise hired Raheem Morris of the Los Angeles Rams as their 19th head coach, he was even given the opportunity to interview again with the Atlanta Falcons.
Belichick found himself without a coaching post for the first time since 1975 and without a head coaching position since 1999 as all of the open spots in the NFL started to fill up. However, fresh information earlier this week indicated that Shanahan and the 49ers were connected to his name:
Steve Wilks, the 49ers’ former defensive coordinator, just three days after the team had suffered their second Super Bowl defeat in the previous four years.
Shanahan informed reporters that he had sacked
After taking over as the Carolina Panthers’ interim head coach in 2022, Wilks was only with the franchise for a single season.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Shanahan initially contacted Belichick to extend an offer to take over as defensive coordinator, a role that Belichick hasn’t held since 1985 while working for the New York Giants under head coach Bill Parcells.
The call ultimately appeared to be ineffective, as Shanahan soon elevated passing game expert Nick Sorensen to the
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Shanahan even threw the ball into Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s court before hiring Sorensen, according to The Athletic.
But that discussion also ended in a stalemate as Kansas City made sure to extend Spagnuolo’s contract after it ended after the team’s most recent Super Bowl victory over the Niners.
As of right now, Sorensen has taken over as the Niners’ new defensive coordinator, leaving Belichick unemployed.
It’s unclear what the incredibly accomplished 71-year-old will occupy his endless free time, but his son Steve—who was just employed as a DC intern at the University of Washington—did allude to the prospect of his father dabbling in the media.
