I kept waiting for a besotted, hoodwinked boyfriend to show up at ACC media days.
All I saw was a football coach.
If you’re like me, you followed the breathless offseason coverage of NFL legend turned North Carolina coach Bill Belichick, his relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, and her apparent sway over the veteran coach.
Some even suggested Belichick’s self-described “muse” put him under her spell, like she’s some sort of Svengali who bamboozles her 73-year-old boyfriend.
If you’re like me, you see this situation as a molehill, built into a mountain during the slow news portion of the college football calendar.
When Belichick spoke Thursday at his conference’s media days, he looked and sounded like a college football coach. He spoke to how he spent the offseason “reinforcing the roster.’ North Carolina’s transfer haul that 247Sports ranks as the third-best in the ACC supports this. He explained his excitement for coaching college players, because they’re more receptive to coaching and have formed fewer bad habits than their older NFL counterparts.
Belichick is longer in the tooth than most coaches, but he’s a shade younger than Nick Saban, and, as he spoke to the evolution of the fullback position, he sounded like a man in possession of his wits. Belichick navigated this presser more coherently than a couple of U.S. presidents I’ve observed, anyway.
As for Hudson’s apparent influence over Belichick, I wouldn’t call that a nothing burger. It was strange to see the clout she wielded and roadblocks she erected during that now-infamous interview Belichick gave to CBS, while he attempted to promote his book.
This, though, seems more of a single-patty burger than a gut-busting triple patty, so long as Hudson doesn’t start calling plays or dictating recruiting strategies.
Jordon Hudson influences Bill Belichick’s brand. So what?
Belichick has said Hudson’s place in his life is personal and “doesn’t have anything to do with football.” She’s not employed by the university. She manages activities related to Belichick’s personal brand, and she clearly flexes muscle on his public appearances and messaging.
Belichick is hardly the first coach to acquire an affection for a younger woman, and Hudson, a former cheerleader, is hardly the first WAG to massage her man’s media messaging.
The Athletic obtained and reported on emails Hudson sent to North Carolina’s communications and marketing staff in which she suggested messaging strategies. In those emails, she came off as overbearing, but strategically sound.
I’ve been in plenty of postgame news conferences where a spouse listens intently from the back of the room. I’ve covered a program where the coach’s wife sometimes attended practice.
At North Carolina, wide receiver Jordan Shipp told an ESPN Radio affiliate that Sally Brown, wife of former coach Mack Brown, had an active and visible presence around the program.
Saban occasionally credited his wife, Terry, for her suggestions on his messaging and how he comported himself, and he said she influenced his retirement decision. Terry Saban also helps steer her husband’s kids foundation.
I’m not saying Belichick’s new-to-the-block “muse” will be the next Terry Saban, the ultimate stateswoman of coaches’ spouses.
But, how can we be sure Hudson won’t help Belichick’s public persona?
Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin used to date a 20-something former cheerleader. He still raves about how she positively influenced his worldview.
Belichick, with Hudson’s help, botched the CBS appearance, but it’s not as if the man was loquacious while coaching the New England Patriots. At Thursday’s ACC event, Belichick came off calculated and confident and even mildly humorous.
Belichick survived and thrived operating within the unrelenting spotlight of an east-coast NFL media market. Compared to that, navigating college football media should be a cakewalk. Not a single reporter asked Belichick about Hudson or her involvement with how he operates the Tar Heels during his media days news conference. He fielded nothing but softball questions from the gathered press.
Will Bill Belichick succeed at North Carolina? Talent is the key
Here are the brass tacks. Belichick will succeed at North Carolina if he maintains booster buy-in (meaning NIL dollars) and uses that to assemble and develop a roster capable of contending in the ACC.
I don’t care who you’re dating or how often she interrupts your book-tour interview with CBS, college football is a profession of talent assembly. If Belichick attracts more talent than his peers and develops it well, the Tar Heels should fare OK, as long as he’s checked-in mentally. If he fails to do that, he won’t succeed.
Veteran defensive back Will Hardy described sensing a “new spark” and a “new energy” injected into the program upon Belichick’s hire.
That extends to the fan base. UNC announced that all of its home games are sold out.
Belichick and his staff flipped the roster after inheriting a squad that finished 6-7. UNC’s haul of more than 40 transfers includes capable players from schools like Penn State, Florida, Nebraska and Washington. The Tar Heels also acquired Gio Lopez, a top quarterback from the Group of Five ranks. High school recruiting seems to be going well enough.
Many players transferred out, too. That happens whenever a coaching change occurs.
Those who stayed, and the newcomers who arrived, feel like they have “something to prove,” transfer defensive back Thaddeus Dixon said.
I’d imagine that feeling also applies to a coach who won six Super Bowls guiding the Patriots, before his NFL career fizzled after Tom Brady left his side. He returned to coaching with a muse at his side. So what?
SMU showed it’s possible to quickly climb the ACC’s ladder. The Mustangs made the College Football Playoff in their first season as an ACC member.
With the right coach, UNC could become a playoff contender, too.
Is Belichick the right coach? It’s too soon to wager more than a guess, but I wouldn’t bet against it just because his girlfriend inspires him. I didn’t see a hypnotized codger at media days, only a veteran coach who sounded intent on building a winning program.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.