Bill Belichick Downplays Jordon Hudson’s Role at UNC in First Interview

Bill Belichick says his girlfriend Jordon Hudson doesn’t have “anything to do with” his role as head coach of UNC’s football team amid questions of whether his 24-year-old girlfriend is a “distraction” in his new job.

Belichick, 73, made an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter program on Tuesday afternoon and addressed his relationship with Hudson. The appearance comes two weeks after his controversial CBS interview, in which Hudson was off-screen and repeatedly interrupted the interview to shut down questions about their relationship.

On Tuesday, ESPN host Christine Williamson noted that Belichick’s relationship with the 24-year-old beauty pageant competitor and her involvement in his life “has been a headline over the last few months.”

Williamson then asked: “All the specifics aside, because a lot has come out in the last couple of days, how do you think that that impacts your ability to coach this football team, if at all?”

“I mean, that’s really off to the side,” Belichick responded. “It’s a personal relationship and she doesn’t have anything to do with UNC football.”

He then talked instead about the Tar Heels’ upcoming schedule. “I’m excited to be back in the coaches meetings and getting ready for June, and then August we get to training camp, so June will be a big recruiting month for us and then August we’ll start to get ready for the season.”

Belichick’s personal and professional life have appeared to butt heads in recent weeks amid the backdrop of his relationship with Hudson and his new job as North Carolina’s head football coach.

Hudson, who has also taken on the role of Belichick’s public relations manager, has landed at the center of it all.

Last week, ESPN’s Pablo Torre reported on his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that “higher-ups” at UNC decided that Hudson would not be allowed inside the football building or on the football field at the university. Later that day, UNC denied the report, telling PEOPLE in a statement that “while Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities.”

The university also said Hudson “will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

Belichick — the highest-paid state employee in North Carolina at $10 million a year — is set to begin his college coaching career with UNC on Sept. 1 when the team plays TCU in their season opener.

Elsewhere in the episode, Torre reported that Belichick’s family members are among those who are worried about his relationship with Hudson, which was first made public last June.

“Bill Belichick’s family is extraordinarily concerned about what has transpired,” Torre reported during the episode. “One Belichick family source told me, ‘There is deep worry for how detrimental Jordon can be for not just North Carolina but Bill’s legacy, reputation — everything he has built and worked for over decades.’ ” 

Meanwhile, Belichick’s former players and friends have spoken out with concern about the relationship. 

TNT sports commentator Charles Barkley, who called Belichick “a great friend,” said he’s “concerned” about the coach. “I think he’s got to be very careful right now,” Barkley said. “This is starting to be on a very slippery slope.”

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And former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who won three Super Bowls with Belichick, said during an interview this week that he’s worried about Belichick and his relationship with Hudson causing “distractions” with the team.

“You know, and in the back of your head, too, you’re just thinking to yourself as well, ‘When you were on the Patriots, the whole goal was to eliminate all the distractions that can possibly happen while you’re on the team,’ ” Gronkowski said. “And don’t bring those distractions to the team and in the locker room, and we’re just looking down at the program in North Carolina and it feels like there are just distractions 24/7 down there. There’s no football talk as well.”