Not only the 49ers: Another NFL team wanted to hire Bill Belichick after Patriots exit

Bill Belichick may have failed to land a head coaching job after leaving the New England Patriots, but he could’ve been in the 2024 NFL season as a defensive coordinator. And it seems that the San Francisco 49ers weren’t the only team who offered him that position.

According to NFL insider Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Los Angeles Rams also wanted Belichick on Sean McVay’s coaching staff this season, but the 8x Super Bowl champ declined the opportunity.

“Belichick had multiple opportunities to join various staffs this past offseason as a defensive coordinator or some type of decorated assistant role. Not only did the San Francisco 49ers consider Belichick for their vacant defensive coordinator job, as head coach Kyle Shanahan said this summer, but so did the Los Angeles Rams, according to league sources,” wrote Schefter, who added that Belichick was in LA’s wish list but “preferred to take his career elsewhere.”

Curiously, the Rams’ opening was created by the departure of Raheem Morris, who was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as head coach. A job for which Belichick interviewed after leaving New England.

Bill Belichick looks on in the first half at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

In the end, the Rams promoted Chris Shula to fill in that vacancy. Belichick, on the other hand, will stay close to the NFL this year, but from a different role. In 2024, we’ll see the former Patriots coach on TV and social media a lot.

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Shanahan admits he wanted Belichick on the 49ers

Speaking to Tim Kawakami of The Athletic on an episode of The TK Show, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed he tried to add Belichick to his staff this season, but the latter wasn’t interested.

“I did, I threw it out to him,” Shanahan said. “He loves football so much that you never know what he … I can’t believe 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 and 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, [including defensive coordinator]. I was like ‘Would you be interested?’ And he was very nice and appreciative and he politely turned me down.“

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Bill Belichick reportedly targeting big return in 2025 NFL season

The 72-year-old may not be on the sideline this year, but it might be a bit soon to consider this his retirement. According to Schefter, Belichick aims to return to coaching in the 2025 NFL season, but “only in the right situations with good jobs.”