North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick and his girlfrind, Jordon Hudson Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson
By Ben Axelrod on

Pablo Torre’s hot mic footage of Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson elicited no shortage of reactions on Friday.

For Pat McAfee, that included reaching out to NFL Films to determine whether it was responsible for leaking the footage obtained by Pablo Torre Finds Out, which showed the former Bridgewater State cheerleader offering suggestions and input on her boyfriend’s show, Coach, which he hosted throughout the 2024 football season.

While Coach was an Underdog Fantasy production, the show was shot at NFL Films’ studios. When reached by McAfee, who expressed concern about NFL Films being responsible for the leak considering the plethora of mic’d up audio it possesses, the production company vehemently denied distributing the footage.

“When this footage was captured, NFL Films did not produce Coach with Bill Belichick. NFL Films did not edit the show. NFL Films did not shoot the show. NFL Films did not — and does not — own the show,” the statement given to McAfee reads. “As a matter of convenience to him, NFL Films allowed Coach Belichick and the production team from Underdog to use our studio for his Coach show because he was already here in his capacity as talent on Inside the NFL. NFL Films has a longstanding relationship with Bill Belichick based on trust and mutual respect built over many years of working together. We have absolutely no reason to believe that this footage leak came from NFL Films or from any employee of NFL Films.”

As the statement mentions, Coach wasn’t an NFL Films project, but belonged to Underdog, the fantasy football and media company that Hudson could be heard criticizing at one point in the footage released on Friday. We won’t speculate on where Torre’s source might have worked, but NFL Films’ explanation/alibi seems to hold up.

Regardless of how it was obtained, the footage provides the first real look at the behind-the-scenes dynamic between Belichick and Hudson, who in addition to being the 73-year-old head coach’s girlfriend is also the chief operating officer of his production company. And with North Carolina set to return from a tumultuous bye week for a game against Cal on Friday night, this doesn’t figure to be a story that will be disappearing anytime soon.

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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