The New England Patriots made a big decision by parting ways with Bill Belichick this offseason. Despite his revolutionary tenure in Foxborough, which resulted in six Super Bowl wins, the 71-year-old couldn’t find a team for the 2024 NFL season.
While no teams seemed to want him as head coach, it looks like Belichick had a chance to come back in another role. According to Mike Silver of the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco 49ers approached Belichick to fill in their vacancy at defensive coordinator, but made no progress.
In the end, the Niners promoted Nick Sorensen, who was already part of Kyle Shanahan’s staff in the defensive unit. Apart from Belichick, San Francisco reportedly reached out to Chiefs’ DC Steve Spagnuolo and defensive backs coach Dave Merritt among other candidates during their DC search.
The job was up for grabs as Shanahan decided to fire Steve Wilks, who had been at the position for only one year, in the wake of the 49ers’ loss to the Chiefs at Super Bowl LVIII.
What’s next for Belichick
The former longtime Patriots coach interviewed twice for the head coaching opening at the Atlanta Falcons, who ultimately opted to appoint Raheem Morris as Arthur Smith’s replacement.
Other teams looking for a head coach this offseason were the Chargers, Raiders, Commanders, Panthers, and Titans; but none of them showed interest in having Belichick to lead their new era.
The future of the most successful coach in football history remains unclear, though it looks like he could be on TV during the 2024 campaign.
“Yeah, I think he’s good,” Belichick’s son Steve said on the Green Light with Chris Long podcast, via CBS Sports. “Let the stuff roll off your back and move forward. He doesn’t dwell, unless we lost the game and he needs to get on some guys, but eventually you gotta turn the page. Honestly I wasn’t too involved in any of that stuff [Bill leaving the Patriots], he did his thing, I did my thing and that was kind of that. He’s definitely pursuing some other stuff whether it’s TV or a regular on ‘Green Light’ or whatever it may be.”
A job on TV looks like a strong possibility for the 6x Super Bowl champ in 2024, with The Athletic reporting that Peyton Manning has already shown interest in having Belichick on Omaha Productions.
