CNN —
The University of North Carolina on Friday denied that football head coach Bill Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, is prohibited from the team’s football facility.
Journalist Pablo Torre released an episode of his podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out” on Friday that included multiple claims about Hudson and her alleged influence on Belichick, who is embarking on his first season as the UNC football coach after an enormously successful period as a coach in the NFL. Among the claims was that two sources had told Torre that Hudson was prohibited from UNC’s football facility.
When asked for comment, the university’s athletics department outright denied that reporting.
“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” Carolina Athletics said in a statement.
“Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”
Torre responded in a social media post on X, saying, “UNC can now choose to describe or change its position on Jordon Hudson’s involvement however it wishes, following the publication of our episode. 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.”
Torre’s podcast and the athletics department’s subsequent denial is the latest flashpoint in Belichick’s unusual start to life in the college coaching ranks. The eight-time Super Bowl champion – six as head coach with the New England Patriots and two as an assistant with the New York Giants – was named the Tar Heels’ head football coach in December after spending a year away from the game after parting ways with the Patriots after the 2023-24 NFL season ended.
Belichick’s father coached at the school in the 1950s and he described his arrival in Chapel Hill as a sort of homecoming for him, even saying in his initial news conference that his first words were “Beat Duke” in reference to the Tar Heels’ archrivals.
But in recent weeks, the 73-year-old’s relationship with Hudson has become the story of the UNC offseason.
An interview with “CBS Sunday Morning” went viral after Hudson interrupted when CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil asked how Belichick and the 24-year-old Hudson had met. The eight-minute CBS interview with Belichick was about his life in football ahead of the release of his new book, “The Art of Winning.”
Dokoupil asked Belichick how he handles the public’s “invested” interest in his relationship with his girlfriend.
“Never been too worried about what everybody else thinks,” Belichick said. “Just trying to do what’s best for me and what’s right.”
Belichick was then asked how the pair met. Hudson interrupted from off-camera, saying, “We’re not talking about this.” Belichick said in a later statement that the couple met on a 2021 flight to Palm Beach, Florida. The admission matched an Instagram post from Hudson earlier this year, which she said they met in February 2021.
Dokoupil later referred to Hudson as a “constant presence” during the taping of the interview.
That interview set off a battle in the press between Belichick and CBS. Belichick accused the network of not honoring expectations about the scope of the interview while CBS denied that there were any preconditions or limitations to the conversation.
During an appearance at the NFL Honors event in February, the age gap between Belichick and Hudson was the subject of multiple jokes, including by host Snoop Dogg.
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