49ers Former Patriots HC Bill Belichick was surprisingly shut out of the coaching cycle this past offseason and will spend 2024 doing TV analysis and preparing for another crack at things in 2025. However, he presumably had opportunities to coach in a lesser capacity, including apparently with the 49ers. 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan revealed he gave Belichick an open-ended offer to join his staff for the year.
“I did, I threw it out to him,” Shanahan said in a podcast interview with the Athletic’s Tim Kawakami . “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.” “I’m sure he’s going to be back in the league next year, and I could be going against him,” Shanahan added.
“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.
” Despite reporting to training camp, 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk was not in uniform and not practicing on Day 1. ( Matt Barrows ) Shanahan said Ai.