As high-profile coaching debuts go, Bill Belichick’s North Carolina tenure isn’t yet reaching the heights — or depths — of Mike Price, who was fired from Alabama in 2003 before even coaching a single game. But Belichick — current record at Carolina: 0-0 — is generating some very un-Belichickian press for himself and the school, and it’s worth considering exactly how long this whirlwind can last.
The latest twist: a report via Pablo Torre’s “Pablo Finds Out” podcast that Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson isn’t exactly welcome at the school’s football facility. This, on the heels of Hudson halting a CBS interview several times to take issue with the line of questioning; Belichick feuding with his own publisher about the marketing of his book; questions about how to position the role of Belichick’s son on the UNC coaching staff; Hudson appearing at the Tar Heels’ spring game in full influencer garb; and, according to Torre, a growing sense that this relationship has the potential to tarnish the reputations of both Belichick and UNC.
All this, and we’re still four months from Belichick’s debut against TCU.
On the heels of the Torre podcast, North Carolina’s athletics department released a statement clarifying the situation, at least from the perspective of Hudson’s presence at the school’s football facilities:
“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities. Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”
Look a little closer, and you can see the edges of the real issue here: Hudson “manag[ing] all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand.” For all the two decades that Belichick was winning Super Bowl rings and terrorizing the NFL, his “brand” was pretty much “sleeveless grump,” and that was it. The fact that, at age 73, he now apparently needs to have his brand “managed” is like a yellow flag at the beach: There’s not a problem yet, but the waves are getting choppier.
Price’s grand-opening, grand-closing departure from Alabama two decades ago was entirely self-inflicted; the specifics vary based on who’s doing the telling, but the Alabama administration determined over the course of the spring of 2003 that Price did not conduct himself in a manner befitting a head coach of the Crimson Tide. Belichick’s own actions haven’t been the issue — he’s been working the transfer portal to stock up a program that’s coming off a 6-7 season and five straight bowl losses. It’s what he’s brought with him to Chapel Hill that’s causing concern.
North Carolina took a significant risk by handing the keys to its program to a 73-year-old first-time college coach. Yes, Belichick is one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. But the college game is an entirely different animal, particularly in this especially fraught moment in the sport’s history. In the best of drama-free circumstances, it would be fair to wonder how Belichick could adapt his philosophies to the slippery, NIL-and-portal-infused college game.
Introducing Hudson to the mix, however, injected a mainline dose of that which Belichick loathes the most: uncertainty and unpredictability. The five-decade age difference between the two isn’t the main issue, although the TMZ-fodder element of it only adds to the swirling drama. No, the key here is how — regardless of what’s happening behind the scenes, outside public view — Hudson is clearly and obviously entrenched in Belichick’s personal and professional lives, which in turn forces Belichick to face the dreaded non-football questions.
Perhaps this little bit of brinksmanship will force both Carolina and the Belichick camp to step back, take a breath and remember they’re supposed to be on the same side. Perhaps the words of a range of “insiders” will only stoke the flames higher. Belichick can hold a hell of a grudge, and if he perceives that Hudson is being singled out, mistreated or disrespected, he won’t hesitate to air his lacerating feelings … and he’ll have a national audience listening closely.
North Carolina didn’t hire Belichick for drama; the school hired him for wins. If he can deliver the latter, Tar Heel nation will grit its teeth and put up with the former. But that’s still an unknown “if,” and there’s a whole lot of time between now and that first potential win.
