The saga between Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson, and the University of North Carolina continued to unfurl Friday as reports suggested the legendary coach’s 24-year-old girlfriend was banned from the school’s football facilities.
On Friday morning, journalist Pablo Torre reported on his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that Hudson had been banned from UNC’s football facility. He cited two sources at the school saying that officials in the athletic department decided Hudson would not be allowed in the football facility or on the field, quoting one of them as saying, “Don’t think you’ll be hearing much from Jordon moving forward.”
Belichick has been in a public PR crisis, peaking with a tense interview to promote his new book with CBS News Sunday Morning. Hudson was seen shutting down questions about their relationship; CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil called her a “constant presence.”
Belichick released a statement through UNC after the interview claiming he had only agreed to speak about his book. CBS said the interview took place without any preconditions. The entire saga raised questions about how much influence Hudson plays in the eight-time Super Bowl–winning coach’s professional life, especially after he stopped working with former PR handler Berj Najarian. For his part, Belichick said that he and Hudson have “both a personal and professional relationship.”
In response to Torre’s podcast—which also said Hudson had forced her way onto a seven-figure commercial with Belichick—the university denied the report that Hudson is banned from facilities, telling reporters there had been “false reports about Jordon Hudson’s role.”
“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” a spokesperson for the athletic department said in a statement to Front Office Sports. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”
But Torre doubled down, standing by his reporting in a statement to FOS.
“The University of North Carolina can choose to describe or change its position on Jordon Hudson’s involvement however it wishes, following the publication of our episode,” he said. “We requested comment and filed dozens of FOIA requests that were not satisfied. And we stand by the specific reporting in our episode, which came from the highest levels of the football program.”
A UNC spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question about whether Hudson had ever been banned from the facility previously.
Belichick signed on to lead the UNC program in December and will earn a salary of $10 million annually. Hudson reportedly was central to the collapse of an agreement that Belichick and North Carolina had with NFL Films to film Hard Knocks on campus.
