Latest news with #UNCFootball
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Bill Belichick's hand-picked QB recruit has the background to thrive under legendary coach
Playing for Bill Belichick might seem like a daunting proposition for a kid still in high school. On one hand, Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history, having won an unprecedented six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots. On the other hand, the 73-year-old Belichick's gruff persona, with his monosyllabic utterances at news conferences, has become the stuff of legend. Advertisement Travis Burgess, the 17-year-old son of a retired U.S. Army captain, though, is not your typical high school recruit. 'I know a lot of guys have mixed emotions about Bill Belichick just because they see some of his interviews on the internet, but actually meeting him in person, I got a relationship with him,' said Burgess, a Class of 2026 prospect who committed to North Carolina in May. 'Being able to talk with him and understand him, he is very relatable.' The quarterback from Georgia said it was Belichick who sold him on the Tar Heels and convinced him North Carolina was the program that could best develop his skills. When Coach Belichick calls you answer!OV this weekend see yall at Chapel Hill🐏🐏 #TarHeelNation #GoHeels @UNCFootball @grayson_fb #4theG — Travis Burgess (@TravisBurgess_) May 29, 2025 Burgess and his parents visited Chapel Hill in May and were blown away by Belichick and his staff. Belichick said to Burgess, 'I'm gonna show you why I wanted to recruit you,' and then proceeded to pull up his game film from the 2024 season, when the quarterback led Grayson High School in Loganville to a 7A state title. For an hour, Belichick went through Burgess' plays, asking him why he made this read and why he made that read, but also talked about his progress throughout the 2024 season, his first year as the starting quarterback. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Burgess threw 24 touchdown passes with just four interceptions and also ran for four more TDs and almost 600 yards. When he committed to UNC in late May — picking the Tar Heels over Auburn, NC State and others — he was ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 30 quarterback in the country by 247Sports. Now, after an impressive week at the Elite 11 Finals in June, he is a four-star and ranked No. 16 among QBs. Advertisement 'He really stood out,' said Elite 11 coach Justin Hoover, who has trained several NFL quarterbacks. 'He was a big riser for me.' The recruiting process, especially the part connected to the online rankings, can be frustrating for many high school prospects. With quarterbacks, it can be even more soul-crushing since there's a domino effect in play, with most colleges only looking to take one QB per class. Being patient can be difficult for many prospects. 'Honestly, for me, it wasn't because I knew that my time was coming,' he said. 'And just like with me not starting till my junior season, once I got the opportunity you could see, I won a state championship. The rankings never really affected me because I knew my time was coming, whether I was a three- or a four-star. And once you get to college, that stuff doesn't matter. It might help as far as popularity or maybe NIL.' He actually received his first offer late in his sophomore year from Arizona State. 'They were able to see a little bit of JV film, but they took a chance on me,' he said. In addition to leading Grayson to a state championship in football, Burgess also helped the Rams win their first title in basketball. His mom, Jennifer, played basketball at Brewton-Parker University, an NAIA school in Mount Vernon, Ga. 'He gets all his athleticism from his mom,' said Burgess' dad, Harold. Harold, who retired after serving 24 years in the Army, sees Belichick and North Carolina as an ideal fit for his son. 'He's very disciplined,' Harold said. 'He sticks to his routine. Every morning, he does the same routine over and over. Friday nights and Saturday nights, when a lot of his friends are having fun, we're at the house watching film. The next morning, we're getting up, working out. And he's waiting on me in the morning, like, 'Hey dad, let's go!' I think the discipline that he's been around for his entire upbringing will definitely benefit him.' Advertisement The elder Burgess said Travis picked up good habits from being around the military while growing up. But he also credited the culture at Grayson, where he learned the attention to detail required to play the position from JD Davis, the Rams' previous starting quarterback, who recently transferred to Alabama A&M after one season at Western Michigan. As part of his daily routine, Travis will put his phone away for three hours every night to read a book, do homework or watch film, his dad says. 'He sets a goal and he doesn't get distracted,' Harold said. 'Him being around a lot of military people, he's seen how once they have an objective, they try to conquer it. The distractions are minimalized. His ultimate goal is to be in the NFL one day and he knows the little things matter. He's realized that at an early age, it's how you do anything is how you do everything.' The Burgesses have raised their three children (Travis is the oldest) in a very competitive environment. After each of the kids has a sporting event — whether it's a flag football game for Trinity, an eighth grader and the youngest child, or one of Travis' varsity football games — the family will convene in Harold's Dodge Ram 1500 truck and each rate the performance on a scale of 1-10. It's a tradition Travis' mom implemented. 'In the truck, we keep it real,' Harold said, adding that they've given out some 1s in there. The Burgesses grew up as Falcons fans, which meant Belichick spoiled what would've been the greatest day in their team's history when his Patriots rallied from a 28-3 deficit to beat Atlanta in Super Bowl LI in February 2017. The family sees Belichick much differently now that he wears Carolina blue. Travis describes being recruited by Belichick as 'awesome.' Even though Belichick is best known for his defensive acumen — he also won two Super Bowls as the Giants defensive coordinator — his grasp on all aspects of the game will prove to be a great resource for Burgess. After all, Belichick drafted and helped develop Tom Brady from a sixth-rounder into the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Burgess said he's already reaping the benefits of being part of Belichick's program, meeting often with the coach and the rest of the quarterbacks either by Zoom or in person when he visits the campus. Advertisement 'The quarterbacks meet every Wednesday and talk about the game of football,' Burgess said, 'and then they talk about the life of football because there is the physical and the mental, so just being able to sit in there in those meetings with Bill Belichick and the other quarterbacks has been awesome. He could coach any position.' (Photo courtesy of the Burgess family)
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bill Belichick addresses Jordon Hudson relationship backlash
The post Bill Belichick addresses Jordon Hudson relationship backlash appeared first on ClutchPoints. Bill Belichick's return to the college sidelines was already headline-worthy, but his relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson has taken the spotlight in ways no playbook could have predicted. Now the 73-year-old UNC head coach is speaking out, brushing aside the noise and making it clear that his priority lies between the hash marks, per TheSpun. Advertisement When asked about the recent swirl of controversies during a Tuesday press conference, Belichick kept it short: 'It is what it is.' That phrase alone captured his no-nonsense approach to the growing scrutiny surrounding his personal life. The drama hasn't exactly been subtle. From reports about Hudson demanding editorial control over a now-canceled Hard Knocks season, to her cutting into a CBS News interview, the off-field distractions have been persistent. Some even claimed Hudson was banned from UNC's football facilities, though that rumor has been refuted. Add in the couple's reported engagement and Pablo Torre's probing coverage of the situation, and you've got a media firestorm building in Chapel Hill. Still, Belichick isn't budging. 'I'm really focused on doing my job here at North Carolina… that's my big focus,' he told reporters, emphasizing the need to build a strong team and develop players' careers rather than engage with gossip. Advertisement No Sideline Access for Hudson As the questions kept coming, Belichick kept his cool. When asked whether Hudson would join him on the sidelines during games, he cracked a rare smile. 'No, she doesn't have any role in the UNC football program,' he said, dismissing that speculation before returning to his trademark mantra: 'There's been noise out there about a lot of different things. Our focus is day to day. Getting better. Stacking good days.' He also touched briefly on his book, The Art of Winning, saying it was a personal endeavor during his year off from coaching. Nothing more. Bill Belichick's responses may not satisfy every headline chaser, but they signal one thing loud and clear—he's not letting the off-field chatter interfere with what he's building at UNC. Whether the noise fades or grows louder, the Tar Heels kick off their season against TCU on September 1. Related: Reggie Miller flamed for unruly Game 3 Pacers outfit Related: Nikki Bella's sister eyes bombshell WWE reunion after 3 years
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UNC Football Reacts to Major Bill Belichick Announcement on Friday
UNC Football Reacts to Major Bill Belichick Announcement on Friday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Bill Belichick is heading into his first season as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels football program. Advertisement While Belichick is making a late-career move into the college football game, he'll always be remembered for his incredible decades-long career in the NFL. Belichick spent 29 seasons as a head coach in the NFL, winning six Super Bowl rings during his dynastic run with the New England Patriots. With his unprecedented championship success, he's widely regarded as the greatest NFL coach of all time. With that in mind, it's no surprise that Belichick was selected as the head coach of ESPN's NFL All Quarter Century Team. Six of his New England players — Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski, Vince Wilfork, Darrelle Revis and Matthew Slater — were also named to the team. "We wrestled back and forth here, considering both Belichick and Andy Reid," ESPN's Aaron Schatz wrote." Reid has the advantage of sustained success with multiple quarterbacks and multiple franchises, but we went with Belichick because of his superior success in the postseason: nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl championships." "Belichick also won in different ways. His early Patriots teams were more about the defense, highlighted by a game plan that slowed down the 2001 Rams' dynamic offense. The midcareer Patriots were offensive juggernauts. At the end of his New England tenure, the team went back to being defense-first, highlighted by a 13-3 victory in its final Super Bowl." Kyle Shanahan was recognized as offensive coordinator, and Wade Phillips as defensive coordinator behind Belichick. Advertisement UNC football took to social media to react to this announcement on Friday. "Congratulations to @Belichick_B on being selected as Head Coach of the @espn NFL All Quarter Century Team!" the team wrote on X. North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Donnan-Imagn Images Belichick's college football coaching career will begin when North Carolina kicks off its regular-season schedule with a matchup against the TCU Horned Frogs on Sep. 1. This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 20, 2025, where it first appeared.
Fox News
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
North Carolina GM says 'noise' surrounding Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson has 'no relevancy'
Print Close By Ryan Canfield Published June 14, 2025 University of North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi is adamant about making sure reports about Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson's relationship don't become a distraction. Hudson shut down a question about how the couple met from Tony Dokoupil during Belichick's interview with "CBS News Sunday Morning" in April, and the interview generated widespread criticism. "I mean, a lot of it is just noise," Lombardi said during an appearance on ESPN Radio's "Marty & McGee." CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON "And for us to be distracted by something that has no bearing, that has no relevance whatsoever, that is a complete falsehood, in terms of what people are saying or what they're writing. It's comical. And, for me, to really even attack anybody who's saying it, gives them credibility. Which I don't, because it's a completely false narrative." Lombardi pointed to the success the program has had this offseason avoiding the "noise." "And the noise out there comes from a direction of people trying to be disruptive within our program. We're not going to allow it. We're not going to acknowledge it. We're gonna move on," Lombardi said. BILL BELICHICK INSISTS GIRLFRIEND HAS NO UNC FOOTBALL ROLE, WON'T BE ON SIDELINES "And, look, let's face it, the proof's in the pudding. We're having a tremendous recruiting class. We had a tremendous portal, and we're going to continue to get better every day." Lombardi said when the interview first aired, there was no reason for concern. He said his concern stems from North Carolina's football schedule, not the Belichick-Hudson drama. "Everybody looked at each other and was like in complete amazement. I mean, so, we didn't have any reason to circle the wagons. The reason we had was to focus on what we're going to do, as Bill said in a lot of the interviews — and I don't want to speak for Coach Belichick — but he said, 'Look, Jordon does stuff in his business outside of North Carolina football, not here.' I mean, it's just completely a story that was generated from — basically, made up," Lombardi said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP "I mean, it's a tremendous, you know, you could be a great novelist, some of the people that report this stuff. So, we had no, there's no reason to circle any wagons. Look, when we play Clemson, we're gonna have to circle the wagons. But we play TCU on the opening game, we're going to have to circle the wagons. Those are competition. This is just noise." Belichick's coaching debut with North Carolina will come against TCU Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. ET. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter. Print Close URL
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Bill Belichick Was Always in Control. Then He Met His Gen Z Girlfriend.
When Bill Belichick appeared on ABC's 'Good Morning America' last week to promote his new book, 'The Art of Winning,' the most revealing moment of the interview had nothing to do with his storied N.F.L. coaching career or his new job leading the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's football program. In fact, it was not about Mr. Belichick or his book at all. It was about the 73-year-old football coach's 24-year-old girlfriend. 'A lot has been made about your relationship with Jordon Hudson,' said the host, Michael Strahan, himself a former N.F.L. star. 'It's been getting a lot of attention.' Then he paused to note: 'She isn't here this morning.' In the five months since the University of North Carolina announced it had hired Mr. Belichick as its new head football coach, giving him a five-year-contract that could be worth more than $50 million, Ms. Hudson has been there, standing not behind her man, but more often next to him — if not in front. She was at the U.N.C. news conference announcing Mr. Belichick's hire, at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, at the sidelines of U.N.C. football offseason events and courtside at a U.N.C. basketball game. Most notably, she was on set at a 'CBS Sunday Morning' interview of Mr. Belichick, informing the reporter in a moment captured on camera that he would not be answering a question about how the two had met. Mr. Belichick shows up for her too. When Ms. Hudson competed this month in the Miss Maine USA pageant in a dimly lit Holiday Inn ballroom, Mr. Belichick was there, keeping his eye fixed on her every evening-gown-and-bikinied strut. When she was announced as the second runner-up, a disappointing showing after having been first runner-up last year, she blew kisses at the audience and placed her hands over her heart, not unlike Taylor Swift might at the end of an Eras Tour concert. Her boyfriend did not clap — that is not The Belichick Way — but he took her hand after the competition and whisked her away in a Mercedes. Mr. Belichick should be the most famous person in their relationship. But right now he is a side-player in a spectacle that is built on the public's fascination with young women who date much older, wealthier men and a provocative Instagram account in which Ms. Hudson has asserted herself as a partner in full to one of the most successful leaders in the world of professional sports. Ms. Hudson has taken control of the management of his personal brand and used her new status to her own audacious advantage. She has torpedoed an HBO series and attempted to trademark Mr. Belichick's famous catchphrases. On social media, she has posted a steady stream of photos highlighting their romance. She has hobnobbed with celebrities, promoted political causes and somehow amassed a real estate portfolio worth more than $8 million — all to the bewilderment of the coach's fans and those close to him, many of whom consider her a distraction or worse. And Ms. Hudson has told at least one person that she and Mr. Belichick are engaged to be married. At a moment when the world is contending with issues of worrisome consequence, the romantic saga of a famously grumpy N.F.L. coach and a recent college cheerleader is catnip for much of the public and, let's be honest, reporters too. Certainly, many people have questions. Is she only after his money? Is everyone just jealous that a man who happens to be a grandfather has an attractive, young girlfriend? Has Mr. Belichick strategically put her on the front line of his own ambition? Or is it, as the podcaster Megyn Kelly suggested, 'elder abuse'? It is unclear what Ms. Hudson's family thinks. But her father, who is 49, sat next to her boyfriend at the pageant. Mr. Belichick has built a career based on principles of discipline and ignoring media hype, so the current drama has particularly roiled the worlds of professional and collegiate athletics. Just as Mr. Belichick is trying to restart his career after a bitter breakup with the N.F.L.'s New England Patriots, social media scrollers, football fans and the press are focused on how exactly he became so smitten that he has staked his reputation on a woman 49 years his junior. 'I think it's ironic that a man who really controlled everything — and I mean everything — now is being controlled by some other person,' said Upton Bell, a former general manager of the Patriots. 'You can't just point at the woman here and say, 'She is being controlling,'' he added. 'That only happens if you let yourself be controlled.' 'Permissibility of Non-Conformity' The day before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in February, dozens of celebrities lined up to walk the red carpet at the annual party hosted by Fanatics, the sports merchandise and trading card company. There was Gayle King, Pete Davidson, Kevin Costner, Martha Stewart and Eli Manning. Mr. Belichick arrived with his date, Ms. Hudson. Dressed in a Carolina T-shirt, he was asked to pose for the phalanx of photographers but declined. Ms. Hudson, however, was game. 'I will!' she said, according to a person who attended the party. She stood before the flashbulbs, wearing a long Patriots hoodie as a minidress, paired with knee-high white boots. Neither Ms. Hudson nor Mr. Belichick agreed to be interviewed for this story, and spokesmen for the Patriots, the N.F.L. and the U.N.C.'s athletic department declined to comment. But on social media, Ms. Hudson has been less restrained. Since she hard-launched their romance on Instagram last year, she has continued to show off their relationship, regardless of the tsunami of public mockery and criticism it has generated. 'I will not be cyber-bullied into submission,' she wrote online, after posting a photograph of herself dressed like a mermaid with Mr. Belichick as a fisherman reeling her in. 'I will continue to stand for love, authenticity and permissibility of nonconformity. They can burn me at the stake, but they cannot burn out my light!!' She has been equally persistent in availing herself of professional opportunities created by Mr. Belichick's career — and in making herself a character on the Chapel Hill stage. In January, she posted a photo meant to invoke U.N.C.'s greatest athlete, the basketball luminary Michael Jordan, and seemingly inviting Nike to reach out to her for a brand partnership. She appears in a Carolina sweatshirt, with a caption that reads: 'Air JordOn 1 coming Fall of 2025. Consider this a formal pitch.' On LinkedIn, she lists her job titles as chief operating officer of Belichick Productions and chief executive officer of Trouble Cub Enterprises. As a producer, she is not off to a strong start. This winter, producers at N.F.L. Films decided that a new season of its sports docuseries, 'Hard Knocks,' would focus on Mr. Belichick's efforts to build the U.N.C. football program ahead of the 2025 season. HBO agreed to air it. But days before they were set to announce the series, Ms. Hudson demanded she be granted content approval and partial ownership of the show, according to a person familiar with the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized by producers to speak to a reporter. N.F.L. Films pulled the plug. The producers later learned that Ms. Hudson was also in negotiations with another production company, EverWonder, to make a similar series, according to the person familiar with the situation. Ian Orefice, the chief executive of EverWonder, declined to comment. By the spring, Ms. Hudson was focused on applying for a slew of trademarks for phrases associated with Mr. Belichick's leadership of the Patriots, including 'No Days Off,' and 'Do Your Job' — presumably to parlay them into content and merchandising opportunities. Trouble is, the Patriots have held the trademarks on these phrases for years. So Ms. Hudson took a page from Ms. Swift, who rerecorded some of her albums as '(Taylor's Version)' after her original recordings were sold without her involvement or financial participation. Ms. Hudson applied for trademarks on 'No Days Off (Bill's Version),' and 'Do Your Job (Bill's Version),' among several others. Ms. Hudson's role in Mr. Belichick's affairs truly exploded into public view last month, when CBS News aired its interview with Mr. Belichick. 'We're not talking about this,' she interjected sternly when the reporter Tony Dokoupil asked him how the romance began. It was a public relations debacle that continues to reverberate. As the press circled, a podcaster, Pablo Torre, reported that U.N.C. would 'ban' Ms. Hudson from its football facilities. The university denied this. 'While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,' the school said in a statement. 'Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick's personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.' Mr. Belichick defends Ms. Hudson's involvement. 'She's been terrific through the whole process, and she's been very helpful to me,' he said in his ABC interview. 'She does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life so I can concentrate on football.' But her assertive tactics are ruffling feathers in Chapel Hill. Soon after the university announced to great hoopla that it had hired Mr. Belichick, some local T-shirt companies and large athletic wear labels began to sell merchandise with the catchphrase 'Chapel Bill.' Within days, at least one local business leader received an email from Ms. Hudson warning that 'Chapel Bill' was intellectual property, according to a person familiar with the correspondence. Months later, Ms. Hudson applied for trademarks on 'Chapel Bill' and 'Chapel Bill (Bill's Version).' Jordon's Version Hancock, Maine, is a fishing community along a highway that has a small market, a post office and a few roadside seafood shacks. It is where Ms. Hudson spent her early days, as her parents tried to keep their mussel and seaweed harvesting company going. By the time Ms. Hudson was in high school, the family business had faltered and they moved to Provincetown, Mass. Her freshman year — a year after Mr. Belichick won his fourth Super Bowl as head coach — she made the varsity cheerleading team, according to the Nauset Regional High School yearbook. In her senior year, according to an Instagram post, she was simultaneously enrolled in a cosmetology degree program at New England Hair Academy. By the end of her first semester of college at Bridgewater State University, where she studied philosophy and criminal justice, she had earned her cosmetology degree. 'I have BIG plans for this upcoming year,' she wrote on Instagram. Ms. Hudson was in college during the Covid-19 pandemic, but by February 2021 she was traveling, and making friends as she did. That month, she and Mr. Belichick have said, they met on a JetBlue flight to West Palm Beach, Fla. — she calls Feb. 11 their 'meetiversary' — and he signed one of her college philosophy books, 'Deductive Logic.' Mr. Belichick wrote an inscription: 'Jordon, Thanks for giving me a course on logic! Safe travels!' His signature included an accounting of his Super Bowl victories with the Patriots: 'Bill Belichick SB 36, 38, 39, 49, 51, 53.' Ms. Hudson has not shared publicly when or how her romantic relationship with Mr. Belichick began in earnest. But by the summer of 2023, she was spending time in Foxborough, Mass., where the Patriots are headquartered. When she attended training camp practices, she often wore red pants at the request of Mr. Belichick, so that he might more easily spot her in the crowd, according to a person who knows Mr. Belichick and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because Mr. Belichick had not given him permission to speak to reporters. That fall, when the Patriots played at Gillette Stadium and stayed at a nearby hotel the night before home games — as mandated by team policy — Ms. Hudson frequently joined Mr. Belichick there, according to the person who knows Mr. Belichick. The team's record that season was a dismal four wins and 13 losses. Mr. Belichick left the team at the season's end. By last fall, Ms. Hudson and Mr. Belichick began to emerge as a public couple on social media. On CBS, Mr. Belichick said that though there is an official Instagram account in his name, he does not pay much attention to social media. But whoever does oversee his Instagram page added a comment to Ms. Hudson's mermaid-fisherman photo: 'My biggest catch!!!' A Fisherman's Daughter Since Mr. Belichick landed his job with U.N.C., Ms. Hudson has emerged as something of a first lady. She has attended a U.N.C. basketball game, posing courtside wearing a large sweatshirt and white go-go boots. As the football offseason's activities have geared up, she has walked the stadium sidelines in a long snakeskin-like coat and high heels, huddling at moments with Mr. Belichick. Ms. Hudson shared pictures and a video of Mr. Belichick lying on his back on a beach in Jupiter, Fla., propelling her into the air, her belly on his feet. The video went viral among sports fans. Ryan McFee, an artist in New Bedford, Mass., was so amused by it that he painted the scene, adding a sign on the beach that reads, 'The Patriot Way.' He shared an image of the painting on Instagram and tagged Ms. Hudson. She then contacted him and purchased the piece, Mr. McFee said. (He said she asked him to change the sign to 'The Belichick Way,' which he did.) He named the painting, made with acrylic and spray paint, 'Mona Lisa Vito,' a reference to the character from 'My Cousin Vinny,' which Ms. Hudson told him was the first movie she and Mr. Belichick watched together. On Instagram, she implies that their successes are entwined. On their four-year 'meetiversary,' Ms. Hudson posted an image of Mr. Belichick's hand on her bare skin, with some of his Super Bowl rings visible. Her hand is placed over his, and she is wearing two rings of her own. One commemorates the National Cheerleaders Association championship she won as part of the Bridgewater State University team in 2021. The other is a shiny bauble — what appears to be a pink diamond set next to a white diamond — on her ring finger. Ms. Hudson has been using her new position to lobby for the policies and politicians she favors — primarily issues related to the fishing industry. 'As the daughter of displaced fishermen, I care to use my voice to protect the fleeting tradition and heritage of Maine fishing families,' she wrote on Instagram. 'I speak for the fishermen for the fishermen have no voice,' she wrote in a post. As part of her efforts, Ms. Hudson met with Senator Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, at her office in Washington, D.C., the senator's spokesman said. Ms. Hudson is also dabbling in global politics. When Zoran Milanović was re-elected president of Croatia, Ms. Hudson posted photos of her and Mr. Belichick meeting with him and his aides in Zagreb, Croatia. (Mr. Belichick is of Croatian descent and was given an award for representing Croatia in America.) 'The People of Croatia have given you their sacred vote,' Ms. Hudson wrote on Instagram. 'We are looking forward to connecting with you again in the quinquennium, Mr. President.' Mr. Milanović did not respond to a request for comment. Ms. Hudson celebrates those who celebrate her beau, and she disses those who dis him. When she attended Super Bowl festivities with Mr. Belichick, she was photographed ambling around New Orleans wearing an Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl LI shirt. That was the Super Bowl in which the Falcons — who last year declined to hire Mr. Belichick — lost to the Patriots in a come-from-behind thriller. As she no doubt anticipated, photographs of her in the shirt made their way around the internet. Ms. Hudson also has fans. 'We have a new it-girl on campus,' intoned the narrator of a breathless video created by Hellyeah UNC, an Instagram account that covers the school's sports culture. 'You may know her boyfriend as our new football coach. But Jordon Hudson is the real star moving to Chapel Hill.' While she is a source of buzz and fascination on the internet, most of those who know her do not want to talk about her — at least not publicly. Bridgewater State students partying at 'Senior Night' at Emma's Pub and Pizza near campus scurried away when approached by a reporter. 'We are not allowed to talk about her,' said one member of the cheer squad before walking swiftly to the other side of the bar. One person who had no problem invoking her was the Bridgewater State commencement speaker, the telecom billionaire Robert Hale Jr. At the university's graduation ceremony on Friday, held at Gillette Stadium where the Patriots play, he noted with self-deprecation that the students might have hoped for a more esteemed speaker — perhaps a member of the Kraft family, which owns the team, or the current head coach, Mike Vrabel. Or, Mr. Hale said, 'the old, old, old one, Belichick' who has 'very, very, very strong ties with very, very recent alumni.' This got a big laugh. Ms. Hudson attended college through May 2023, but did not earn a degree, according to the university's spokeswoman. Still, she remains a student of philosophy, the very topic that engrossed Mr. Belichick on that fateful JetBlue flight four years ago. ''What constitutes love?' or 'what makes someone worthy of loving?'' she pondered in a social media post on Valentine's Day. 'With such a limited character count, I cannot dissect nor comprehensively answer these questions, but I will exclaim a few basic concepts.' They included these: 'We do not need to justify 'why' we love a particular person,' 'Love does not discriminate against sex, skin-color, religion, age or ability,' and 'Love is not as deep as one's pockets.'
