The 2024 NFL season will be different for Bill Belichick, who couldn’t land another coaching job after leaving the New England Patriots. Instead, he’ll be working as an analyst this year, keeping a close eye on Kyle Shanahan’s San Francisco 49ers and the rest of the teams in the league.

Even though the new season is still a few weeks away from us, Belichick has already started to appear in the media. In a recent appearance on the Pat McAfee Show, for instance, he showed nothing but praise for Shanahan, who led the Niners to the Super Bowl last year.

“Kyle’s great,” Belichick said. “I love Kyle. A ton of respect for him, his dad, and the way they coach the game, what they’ve done for the game. I love Kyle and Mike Shanahan, and I think they do a tremendous job. But they’ll just leave our personal relationship aside on that one. But I studied them a lot and I’ve learned a lot from both Kyle and Mike. They’re great coaches, and their teams are very competitive.”

Belichick reportedly turned down offer to join Shanahan’s staff at 49ers

Belichick’s praise towards Shanahan comes after rumors of a reported invitation to join the 49ers‘ coach and his staff. The 6x Super Bowl champion reportedly rejected the offer, but has refused to confirm this.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan speaks to the media during San Francisco 49ers media availability ahead of Super Bowl LVIII at Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort and Spa on February 07, 2024 in Henderson, Nevada.

“I appreciate the question,” Belichick said. “I’m just going to keep all those conversations that I had between any other coaches or teams or whatever, just, we’ll keep those private. I appreciate the conversation.”

Kyle Shanahan was open to having Belichick as 49ers DC

In an interview with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, Shanahan claimed he was open to having Belichick on his staff in any role the former Patriots coach wanted, including defensive coordinator.

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

Shanahan expects Belichick to have new coaching job in 2025

Belichick interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons’ head coaching opening after leaving the Patriots, but it was former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator who got the job. The 72-year-old will have different media jobs this year, though chances are he’ll target a return to coaching in 2025.

“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.”