Much like Pablo Torre, The Athletic has found out new details regarding Bill Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson.
In recent weeks, the ex-ESPNer has retraced the steps that led the 6-time Super Bowl champion head coach and his 24-year-old girlfriend to Chapel Hill. Torre, whose work with Meadowlark Media has quietly become one of the most effective forms of investigative sports journalism, has been at the forefront of this story for more than a month now.
Similarly, The Athletic has also managed to peel back layers on a saga that’s as uncomfortable as it is fascinating. Hudson allegedly played a role in UNC no longer being featured in Hard Knocks, and Torre even obtained Ring camera footage showing Belichick sneaking out of her house shirtless. He’s also revealed details about how the footage first leaked.
And now? Torre’s openly threatening to sue the University of North Carolina if it doesn’t comply with FOIA requests tied to Belichick’s arrival in Chapel Hill. The Athletic hasn’t received those emails yet, but it has obtained correspondence showing that at least some UNC-connected stakeholders are not pleased with how this is unfolding.
According to Torre, people close to Belichick, including his children and longtime confidant Michael Lombardi, are concerned. He also reported during his sit-down with Bill Simmons that UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham wasn’t the one who wanted Belichick in the first place. It was the chancellor who pushed it through.
Probably because, on paper, hiring Bill Belichick looks like a coup. That’s how the average fan sees it. And at first, UNC’s donor base seemed to agree. But the version of Belichick they’re getting isn’t just the hoodie-wearing football genius. It’s the guy caught up in a whirlwind with a former Bridgewater State cheerleader and Miss Maine second runner-up, and suddenly, the honeymoon phase in Chapel Hill already feels over.
And, at the very least, that’s how the email(s) obtained by The Athletic make it out to be.
“I am a longtime UNC fan and cannot believe you are stuck with a coach who is clearly being run by a woman who is young enough to be his granddaughter dominating football practice and interviews,” one longtime supporter wrote to the school’s president, according to emails obtained by The Athletic’s Brendan Marks. “It’s ridiculous, won’t end well, and makes UNC look foolish.”
It’s just one voice, but it’s a pointed one.
And it underscores what Torre and The Athletic have both been circling since his initial reporting, that the Belichick hire, once seen as a splashy home run, is already drawing internal backlash. Whether that grows into something more remains to be seen. But as FOIA requests pile up and pressure builds, the story surrounding UNC’s most high-profile coaching hire in decades isn’t fading anytime soon.
