The 49ers pursued a former New England Patriots legend this offseason for the second time in as many years.
Kyle Shanahan, who admitted before February’s Super Bowl that he and the Niners had tried to convince Tom Brady to join them rather than retiring, told The Athletic’s Tim Kawakami on Tuesday that he reached out to Bill Belichick about joining the 49ers in some capacity this spring.
“He loves football so much that you never know,” Shanahan said of the coach who parted ways with the Patriots in January after 24 seasons. “I can’t believe that he’s not a head coach of a team right now. I know what I would do if I was an owner. 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 the simplest form, so I just threw it all out to him.”
Shanahan said the offer included the possibility of taking over the 49ers’ defense, succeeding Steve Wilks as defensive coordinator after his one-year stint.
“He was very nice and appreciative, but he politely turned me down,” Shanahan said. “… It could be good, too, because I’m sure he’s going to be back in the league next year and I could be going against him.”
The 49ers ultimately promoted Nick Sorensen from defensive passing game specialist to defensive coordinator.
Shanahan knows first-hand about Belichick and Brady’s accomplishments after his 2016 season as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator ended with the Patriots erasing a 28-3 Atlanta lead to win Super Bowl LI in overtime.
That was the last game before Shanahan became the 49ers’ head coach. This offseason, the Falcons interviewed the 72-year-old Belichick, whose 333 wins are second all-time behind Don Shula, for their head coaching job before ultimately hiring Raheem Morris. According to Shanahan, Belichick may be informally helping out the University of Washington, where his son is defensive coordinator, between appearances on ESPN’s “Pat McAfee Show” and the “Manningcast” feed of Monday Night Football featuring former playoff foes in Peyton and Eli Manning.
Shanahan also said Tuesday that soon after the 49ers’ 2022 season ended in the NFC Championship Game, he had assured Purdy he would be the starter for the 2023 season if he was healthy, except for one condition.
“The only way it won’t be your job is if Tom Brady decided to come here and play one year,” Shanahan recalled telling Purdy a week after the quarterback injured his elbow in the loss to the Eagles.
“He was hurt, there was questions with him and I was talking about Tom Brady.”
It was in that same conversation that Shanahan told Purdy he was the quarterback of the 49ers’ future over Trey Lance. Shanahan said he viewed the overall conversation as a compliment, noting Brady’s standing as an all-time great and the investment the 49ers had made to acquire Lance.
After Brady retired, Purdy took the starting job and became an MVP candidate for the Super Bowl runner-up, passing for the most single-season yards in 49ers history. Shanahan and the Niners surely hope this offseason’s talks with Belichick have a similar impact on the promoted Sorensen and his defense.