NFL Rumors: Former scout urges Kyle Shanahan to get Bill Belichick for 49ers DC role
Bill Belichick still has a chance to remain employed in 2024. On Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers fired Steve Wilks as defensive coordinator after a single season.
The decision came in the wake of their loss at Super Bowl LVIII, where they gave up a critical rushing play by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in overtime, eventually leading to the game-winning touchdown.
According to sportscaster and former scout John Middlekauff, that's where the former New England Patriots coach could perfectly slot in. On his Volume Sports podcast 3rd and Out, he said:
"I'm not acting like Bill Belichick even wants to be a coordinator. He should have been the head coach in Atlanta. Anyone that acts like Bill Belichick has lost his fastball - he just needs a better quarterback.
"Now part of that is on him. He needs to give up personnel control. Listen, Jed York runs in Silicon Valley circles. If Bill Belichick wanted one year, $35 million to coach, he'd give it to him. Now, would Bill do it? I don't know. But 100% that's my first goal."
Rob Parker believes 49ers should replace Kyle Shanahan as coach with Bill Belichick
Another sportscaster, Rob Parker, believes the 49ers should go a step further and make Bill Belichick their new coach.
On Wednesday on Fox Sports Radio's "The Odd Couple" podcast with actor and guest host Kerry Rhodes, Parker, a sports anchor for Detroit-based TV stations WXYZ-TV and WMYD, made his case for such a coaching change.
He argued that Kyle Shanahan's propensity for blowing double-digit leads in major games had made him a massive liability for owner Jed York:
"Bill Belichick is the way for the 49ers to finally win again. Belichick knows how to win, he knows how to close games out, that’s why it’s worth making the move.
"Bill Belichick is known for defense. ... You can’t be afraid to hold on. The nucleus of teams falls apart, and you don’t have ten years to make a run. Your run might be over before you know it, so you need to capitalize on it, and Kyle Shanahan has proven that he can’t get it done."
One of the said blown double-digit leads, coincidentally, was at Super Bowl LI. The Atlanta Falcons, whose offense Shanahan was coordinating at the time, were up 28-3 on Belichick's Patriots, only to notoriously collapse and lose in overtime - the first time it happened in the game's history.