At a few points during the Kyle Shanahan era, the 49ers showed interest in Tom Brady. One of those memorably included John Lynch asking about the then-Patriots quarterback and Bill Belichick quickly dismissing anything of the sort. With Brady now retired, the 49ers did turn their attention to his longtime head coach.
Famously going just 1-for-8 in terms of interviews with HC-needy teams this offseason, Belichick is set to sit out the year. He has booked multiple TV gigs — with the Manningcast and Inside the NFL — but remains interested in returning to the NFL in 2025. This will, however, be Belichick’s first season out of the NFL since 1974. Shanahan attempted to see if he could change that.
The 49ers extended an invitation for Belichick to join their staff in some capacity, giving the 24-year Patriots HC the option of choosing a role. It is unclear if this overture took place before the 49ers decided on Nick Sorensen as their DC, but Belichick undoubtedly could have held a key role with San Francisco’s defense had he sought one.
“I threw it all out to him, like whatever he’d want to do. I was like, would you be interested?” Shanahan said, via The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami (subscription required). “He was very nice and appreciative, but he politely turned me down. He loves football so much that you never know what he would want.”
Belichick did memorably send Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers at the 2017 trade deadline, after having aimed to avoid trading Brady’s then-backup. The 49ers quickly accepted, sending a second-round pick to the Pats for a player who became their starting quarterback through the 2022 season. This mutually respectful relationship may again feature the two coaching against one another, but that will not come in 2024.
Only the Falcons interviewed Belichick for their HC job, though the Commanders spoke with the eight-time Super Bowl winner (two as a DC). The 49ers also had Steve Spagnuolo on their radar for the DC position, but the Chiefs quickly extended their standout defensive play-caller. Belichick, 72, has not held a non-HC or coordinator role in the NFL since 1996, when he served as the Pats’ DBs coach under Bill Parcells. He will still try for another chance at a top job in 2025, and the 49ers will almost definitely not be on his radar.
The NFC East continues to come up here, as ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler said during an appearance on Talkin’ Ball with Pat Leonard (of the New York Daily News) Belichick would likely want the Eagles‘ job “in the worst way.” NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran also pointed to this being a fit, saying the Eagles would be the more likely destination compared to a Cowboys or Giants landing.
Philly and Dallas looked into Belichick this offseason but stuck with their existing HCs. Nick Sirianni may not have been all that close to the hot seat, but the Super Bowl HC hired new offensive and defensive coordinators. After a second-half collapse, Sirianni should not be considered especially safe going into his fourth season in charge. Mike McCarthy is famously on a lame-duck contract, which he admitted Wednesday (via the Dallas Morning News’ David Moore) is “a challenge.”
The Giants also have not featured much patience post-Tom Coughlin, though their HCs in that span have given them little reason to stay the course. Two years after a Coach of the Year season, Brian Daboll has moved toward a hot seat. Belichick reuniting with the Giants would be a fascinating storyline, as he collected his first two rings as Parcells’ DC from 1985-90. But Big Blue may be transitioning at quarterback next year. The Cowboys and Eagles are closer to contention, and Fowler noted earlier this offseason the appeal these two teams — along with the Giants — would have for Belichick.
The 29-year HC veteran is a Howie Roseman fan as well, per Curran. Belichick was ready to cede some personnel control had he landed the Falcons gig. A partnership with the Eagles or Cowboys, where established front office hierarchies are in place, would not feature nearly the level of control Belichick held in New England.
With no NFL HC being hired past age 66, Belichick may only have one more offseason as a realistic candidate. His running ties to NFC East clubs stand to make the 2025 cycle one of the most memorable in modern NFL history.
A Shanahan offense and a Belichick defense would be a pretty incredible combination.
Until the first loss and the rumors of Bellichick taking over as head coach start.
Shanahan has made it to at least the conference championship four of the last five years. People on the internet or with talk radio hours to fill might talk, but I don’t think his seat is even one loss away from room temperature, let alone hot, and especially not to replace him with a 72-year old.
That’s why it’ll be interesting to watch Darnold in MINN. Maybe Shanahan made him a future all-pro QB?
Let’s not go crazy here.
I still feel like any team would want him as a DC. Whether he’d do that or not seems to have been answered this offseason. Not sure as many teams still view him as the ideal head coach, especially if that comes with personnel control. But whether or not he finds a job in 2025 depends on what level of control he’ll cede, as I’m assuming at least one team in that cycle will give him a shot
BB only whiffed on drafting WR’s. You’re blind if you think otherwise.
Where is Farty and his bag of wind, I mean, “wisdom”?
I am reminded of an old Rolling Stones lyric … “Who wants yesterday’s papers? Who wants yesterday’s girl? Nobody in the world.”
In today’s NFL, Belichick is yesterday’s girl.
The Jets never were…
“Famously going just 1-for-8 in terms of interviews with HC-needy teams this offseason”.
This comes off as an undeserved cheap shot. I’m not going to ask Sam how many media outlets didn’t want to interview him when he was seeking employment.
McCarthy is indeed a “lame duck” though
People have speculated about Belichick’s lack of fit with Jerry Jones, but has no one considered his potential to mismatch with Howie Roseman? The last time that the Eagles hired a franchise controlling head coach, it came at the expense of Roseman before he was eventually restored to his role. Roseman is a very strong willed GM, and he has a very successful and longstanding resume to prove it-would he be okay ceding control to Belichick for some presumably drastic changes for a few short years? Would Belichick, on the other hand, be willing to do the same?
I think Howie had a great offseason and I really can’t see why the Eagles need to make drastic changes. Dallas looks to be an imminent train wreck and could probably benefit more from having Belichick. Jerry Jones does a lot of postering but as long as the Cowboys remain the most financially valuable sports franchise, he will be content to let his son and others mismanage the team.
America’s Team has a history of hiring other clubs’ castoffs, but they’re not gonna risk a fan revolt. Jerry and Stephen Jones must be well aware that Belichick is a career loser without Brady.
If you think Belicheck isn’t a great coach your naive
NJ swamp creature is a jealous never has been.
I can’t stand to watch the NFC East.
I get they are big market, east coast teams with historic rivalries, but…so bored with them. Seems like half of the national games are the same NFC East matchups over and over and over again.
There are 51 prime time games scheduled for Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays but only 2 of those games involve an NFC East matchup.
Then 66 will hate watching Fox where most every featured doubleheader game is America’s NFC East Game of the Week. And the first 3 games Tom Brady will call for Fox? Dallas, Dallas, Dallas.
Unfortunately, Fox can’t keep their politics out of their sports broadcasts. Especially for football. Been going on for years.
Trump 2024 baby!!!!
A shame ignorance isn’t painful!
Doesn’t seem like a good match. Belichick is a “pick players to fit the scheme” kind of coach, whereas the 49ers are clearly in need of a “fit the scheme to the players” kind of team.
I dunno, I’d actually say that it’s the opposite. Looking at Shanahan’s players, you can clearly see that he has a type: RAC receivers who aren’t necessarily very tall, two way tight ends who catch a lot of passes but need to be blockers first, zone blocking proficient linemen, smaller, agile backs who can hit those zone blocking schemes, and a game manager style QB who makes smart decisions first and slings it second. This isn’t to say that Shanahan’s approach is inherently bad, but he does intentionally seek players who fit his very clear roles in his offense.
Belichick, on the other hand, was known for having the most specialized player roles in the NFL. He’d use what the player’s greatest strength was as his respective role, but he often changed it if the player could excel elsewhere. Same goes for opponents. If an opposing team has just one really good receiver, Belichick might have his best corner shadow him with backup, even though he had him drop into zones the week before, One week, a player might rush the outside edge, and the next might be covering the deep middle. The game changes from to opponent Jonas Gray was a famous example-one week, he rushed for 200+ yards against the Colts. Within two weeks, he was off the roster
So, not saying that one is inherently better than the other overall, but I’d say that Shanahan is the more system focused coach, whereas Belichick is the more adaptable one.i do agree, completely with you that it does seem not possible. Too many mid-regime changes, snd the Shanahan regime is pretty secure in being there, too. Belichick, despite being adaptable, would still need time to learn the players and system to run, even if he and Shanahan shared a vision.
I think it has always been a favorite discussion topic for football fans at the local watering hole. Personally, I think great players can make a bad system work but I’m less certain a great system with bad players can work.