Bill Belichick said he is keeping his relationship “off to the side” after a viral interview sparked concerns that the former Patriots coach had allowed his 24-year-old paramour to micromanage his business interests.
In a Tuesday appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter—the University of North Carolina football coach’s first TV appearance since his controversial CBS Sunday Morning interview earlier this month—Belichick briefly answered a question about his girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
When asked about Hudson’s role in his coaching, Belichick told reporters their relationship was “really off to the side,” adding, “It‘s a personal relationship. She doesn’t have anything to do with anything at UNC football.”
Belichick’s statement comes just four days after ESPN reporter Pablo Torre claimed that Hudson had been banned from UNC’s athletic facilities, which the university quickly denied.
Torre also alleged that Hudson—whose age has been reported as 24 since she and Belichick went public with their relationship in October of last year—may be even younger than she says, citing a video from a March 2024 pageant in which she’s described as being 22. Hudson has not confirmed or denied her age.
More recently, Belichick cheered on Hudson from the audience when she competed in the 2025 Miss Maine competition, where she placed third.
Though Belichick and Hudson have been dating for over a year, their relationship gained renewed national attention last month after the legendary football coach’s bizarre appearance on CBS Sunday Morning, in which an off-camera Hudson shut down interviewer Tony Dokoupil’s question to Belichick about how the couple met. She reportedly “stormed out” afterward.
In a statement issued by UNC shortly after the interview aired, Belichick described his relationship with Hudson as “both personal and professional,” and claimed Hudson was acting in a professional capacity, seemingly as his PR manager, when she shut down Dukoupil‘s question.
Since then, the pair has been the subject of several controversies, with everyone from sports analysts to former Patriots weighing in on their age-gap romance. Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who previously defended Belichick and Hudson’s relationship, has since said he worries Hudson is a “distraction” to Belichick’s coaching. Belichick’s own daughter-in-law, Jennifer Schmitt—the wife of Belichick’s son Steve, his defensive coordinator at UNC—publicly criticized Hudson for “storm[ing] out” of the CBS interview.
Belichick’s recent comments about Hudson do seem to contradict his immediate response to the CBS controversy. The statement also seems to contradict reality, considering Hudson has regularly communicated with UNC on behalf of her boyfriend‘s PR interests.
In April, a report from The Athletic revealed that Hudson had been directly communicating with UNC staff members about structuring Belichick’s PR narrative for months. In December, Hudson wrote to UNC’s media team about how to publicize the hiring of Belichick’s son, Steve, as defensive coordinator for the Tar Heels. In February, she wrote to ask if anyone at UNC was “monitoring” the university’s social media pages for “slanderous commentary” or “users that are harassing [Belichick] in the comments.”
Belichick may be tight-lipped when it comes to Hudson, but the saga isn’t over yet. The football coach will appear in another televised interview Friday, this time with Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, to promote his book The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football.
It‘s unclear whether Hudson will be in attendance.
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