When after 24 seasons and 6 Super Bowl Championships, Bill Belichick had a messy split with Robert Kraft’s New England in 2024, no one thought anything more dramatic could turn up. But for the now North Carolina HC, who is well-known over decades for “Keeping the main thing the main thing,” his latest post-Patriots chapter is nothing quite like any. And for better or worse, it’s proving the old saying “Any publicity is good publicity” completely wrong so far.

When Bill moved out of New England after a “Mutual decision,” as he puts it, UNC found a crack in the door with all other NFL teams refusing to bring the coach who could make the best of players sweat. And as Poynter’s Tom Jones wrote, “UNC thought it was getting a legendary coach to jump-start its football program.” But it feels like Jones’ words, “Instead, it’s getting a circus,” are also not far from the bullseye. Instead of bringing more eyes to Tar Heels, his personal life brought to surface after the CBS News Sunday Morning sit down blunder has now spiraled into a public relations disaster starring none other than his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. Here is what has happened so far:

• The origin of the disaster: On Sunday, Bill sat down with CBS’ Tony Dokoupil to talk about his first book ‘The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football’ (to be published May 6). While the first “35 minutes,” as the HC noted, did talk about the book and the choices he made as the Pats HC, the conversation flipped to focus on Belichicks’ personal life with his girlfriend Jordon right in the room.
• What went down: When Tony asked Belichick how the two met, Jordon quickly shut down the line of conversation saying, “Not talking about this.” When Dokoupil confirmed again, she simply said, “No.” But this wasn’t a one-time thing.
• The plot thickens: Apparently, Jordon left the interview room for about 30 minutes, halting the questioning altogether. However, reportedly, her interruptions only came after questions on the couples’ personal lives were repeatedly being thrown at them while the discussion was supposed to be a feel-good chat about his book. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wrote later, “While we don’t know the total number of interruptions, it’s our understanding that CBS decided to include that one specific instance because it wasn’t a one-time thing.” And that’s when the sparks found more fuel.
• Tony’s case: Reporting about the interview, the CBS reporter mentioned, “Jordon was a constant presence during our interview.” However, she was not even part of the interview and was mainly hovering outside of the camera frame. But Bill has another perspective.
• Belichick’s stand: On Wednesday, after the interview that “went sideways,” Bill released a statement through UNC. The same stated, “Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book. Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview. After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion.”
• CBS’ response: Later on Wednesday, a spokesperson from CBS tweeted, “When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview. There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”

Now after the dust has settled a bit, many believe that Jordon, who acts as Bill’s PR person as well, was only doing her job. However, many also believe that the HC fell into this hole because he’s missing a key person from his squad.

As most see it, this would’ve never happened under Bill Belichick’s former PR guru. On May 1, Front Office Sports dropped what everyone’s probably thinking: “NFL pundits have asked how Bill Belichick could put his legacy in the hands of his 24-year-old girlfriend. Sources tell FOS that the coach’s biggest problem is the absence of his secret weapon: his former PR guru Berj Najarian.” For 24 years, Berj Najarian had one job — make sure Bill Belichick looked like the genius he is and not like the lost man. But Najarian’s gone.

After Bill Belichick got the axe in January 2024, Berj moved on to Boston College with former Patriots OC Bill O’Brien. That left the legendary coach rudderless. Sources close to the new Tar Heels HC said, “Belichick has had a personal PR guy for 20 years. But he doesn’t have Berj anymore… So Bill’s all by himself.” According to his former player Julian Edelman, Hudson’s now trying to fill Berj’s shoes, except that she’s not just out of her depth, she’s flipping the boat over. And everyone’s been having some similar reactions.

ESPN’s Peter Schrager wrote, “I would object that the most awkward thing [from this weekend] was not Shedeur [Sanders]’s slide. It was that Belichick interview…That was strange.” Even Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy tweeted the whole thing left him “squirming in my seat.” Bill Belichick’s barely able to control his own press interview. And while he calls Hudson his “creative muse,” things behind the curtains are raising eyebrows. 

Jordon Hudson building an $8 million empire out of Bill Belichick?

Now, here’s where the story takes a hard left. Barstool’s Kevin Clancy lit things on fire — Jordon Hudson’s apparently building a mini real estate empire. Taking to his Instagram handle, Clancy added a video revealing Hudson’s latest acquisitions as he wrote, “JordON Hudson bought $8M of real estate just 18 months after meeting Bill Belichik, including 2 houses in one day (I will admit they all seem like multi-family homes that generate rent which are actually sound investments but still pretty bonkers).”

Apparently, she bought four homes in 2023, totaling over $8 million, per Realtor.com. On the day she bought her first house worth $2.2 million property in Dorchester, she got a $1.2 million mortgage in December 2023 for another townhouse placed at $2.3M in the same area in June 2023. Other acquisitions include a $610,000 home in Harwich, Massachusetts, and a $3 million property in Boston’s Roxbury Crossing. She was also seen driving a $75,000 Porsche to cheerleading practice when she publicized her relationship with Bill Belichick. 

These things aren’t just girlfriend perks. It’s an empire move. Fans and critics alike are starting to wonder — is it about love or leverage? Because from the outside, it looks like Hudson’s making big power plays while Belichick’s stuck running a media with no headset. Longtime PR pros say this is hurting his legacy. “Being told by a 24-year-old what he will and will not talk about doesn’t exactly shout ‘leadership’ to me,” Jason Jones of Jones Literary agency said. “It muddles his message and overall hurts his brand.”

This whole Belichick-Hudson PR fiasco isn’t just messy. It’s legacy-altering and we can all see who’s going to take that ultimate fall in the end.