Questions Abound at UNC with Bill Belichick at Center of Attention
Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick leaving the NFL for the college game was a big enough story to spike interest in North Carolina, an oft-middling ACC program. But the ensuing media storm surrounding the 73-year-old's relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson has seen the attention on Chapel Hill ratchet up.
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In a recent 'SportsCenter' appearance, Belichick said his girlfriend 'doesn't have anything to do with' UNC football after an awkward 'CBS Sunday Morning' interview in which she shut down a question. For as much off-field intrigue as the program has garnered in recent weeks with Belichick and Hudson in the spotlight, questions remain about the Tar Heels' on-field product ahead of their first season without coach Mack Brown in charge since 2018.
'Honestly, no one really has any idea what to expect on the field when they start this season,' an anonymous ACC assistant said in Athlon Sports' 2025 College Football Preview magazine.
These comments were made in the Tar Heels' exclusive scouting report in Athlon's annual magazine, which is available for purchase online and at newsstands nationwide.
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick and girlfriend Jordon Hudson have made headlines in recent weeks after a viral "CBS Sunday Morning" interview.Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
North Carolina is coming off a 6-7 campaign and a fifth consecutive bowl loss. The program only has one season with double-digit wins (11-3 in 2015) since the end of Brown's first go-around in 1997. But Belichick, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer, could turn things around if he catches on fast at the college level, which functions a bit differently than the league where he made his hay for the past five decades.
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'How Bill [Belichick] adjusts to the structure of the college game is gonna be crucial,' the scout said. 'It's less time you get with the players, which means it's less football intelligence.'
The Tar Heels signed the 36th-ranked high school recruiting class, a step down from recent years. But their transfer haul more than makes up the difference. UNC's 40-player portal class is ranked ninth by 247 and is littered with Power 4 talent.
'The real interesting piece we're watching is how [GM Michael] Lombardi and the coaches approach the NIL portion,' the ACC assistant coach said.
There have been reports that North Carolina is not throwing around money in the same fashion that some other FBS programs are in the NIL era with revenue sharing on the horizon. But Belichick's portal haul speaks for itself. The chance to play for the greatest defensive mind in NFL history is surely an attractive prospect, too.
Six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick takes over a Tar Heels team that has never won an ACC championship.© Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
UNC has been branding itself as the NFL's '33rd team' with Belichick and Lombardi planning to bring their pro experience and approach to campus. Those comments caught the eye of the anonymous assistant coach in their league.
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'They've been vocal about criticizing other programs on how they spend and evaluate,' the coach said. 'There's talk about how they're going to become an advanced, pro-level scouting program that implements NIL better. We'll see. We do expect a better overall haul from these guys in high school recruiting than from Mack [Brown], at least until the novelty wears off or Bill gets a bad reputation.'
It's fair to question whether Belichick's reputation already has taken a hit. And attention on him, Hudson and the Tar Heels will only ramp up in the lead-up to their Sept. 1 season opener against TCU when the Belichick era truly begins.
Related: ACC Football: Predicting the Best Game Every Week in the 2025 Season
Related: ACC Coaches Talk Anonymously About Conference Foes for 2025
Related: Athlon Sports 2025 College Football Preview Magazine Available Now
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
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