Bill Belichick addresses transition to college football, biggest adjustment at UNC

Bill Belichick‘s transition from the NFL to college football hasn’t been without its pitfalls, though most of those have been the result of off-the-field drama surrounding his personal life. As far as the football side of things is concerned, it’s been smooth sailing for the first-year North Carolina head coach.

“Football’s still pretty much football. I mean, the players are younger, but they don’t have as many bad habits and some good habits, so it’s just more of a developmental aspect to it,” Belichick said on Tuesday afternoon’s SportCenter from the ACC Spring Meetings in Amelia Island, Fla. “It’s really just getting to learn a new team, you know I haven’t worked with any of these players before, so getting to know the ones (previously) on the team and some of the ones coming in the portal. And we have some freshmen coming in in June.

“So there’s a lot of newness there. But it’s starting to come together, and it’ll continue to come together and build. I’m just excited about the upswing for the entire year. It’ll be a long process, but just want to get better day after day after day and keep stacking those good days together.”

As is the case with most head coaching changes, North Carolina has experienced quite the transformative offseason, including 23 defections and 27 additions out of the transfer portal. Key among those new arrivals is former South Alabama QB Gio Lopez, a dual-threat talent who completed 66-percent of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns through the air in addition to 465 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground in 2024.

Bill Belichick: Jordon Hudson doesn’t have anything to do with UNC football

Later in his SportsCenter hit, Belichick was asked if girlfriend Jordon Hudson would impact his ability to coach at North Carolina this year, amid recent PR drama. But the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach seemed to cast any drama aside and went back to focusing on football.

“Yeah, I mean, that’s, you know, really off to the side, it’s a personal relationship, and she doesn’t have anything to do with UNC football,” Belichick said on SportsCenter. “I’m excited to be back in the coaching meetings and getting ready for June, and then August, when we get to training camp. So June will be a big recruiting month for us, and then August will start getting ready for the season.”

This comes just days after former ESPN reporter Pablo Torre filled the airwaves with a week-worth of drama, including speculation Belichick might not even coach this year. Last week, Torre reported Hudson had been barred from the North Carolina football complex following a meeting with UNC “higher-ups,” but the Tar Heels athletic department quickly shut down any notion of an offical ban.

Over the last few months, Hudson has adopted a greater role in and around Belichick, effectively serving as the six-time Super Bowl champion coach’s personal PR representative. A recent report in The Athletic revealed Hudson’s email signature identified her as the chief operating officer (COO) of Belichick Productions, though no applicable business is registered under that name.

Hudson’s involvement in Belichick’s public life became a national talking point in the wake of  a disasterous interview with CBS Sunday Morning in which Hudson exerted undue influence. The interview, which was intended to promote Belichick’s upcoming memoir, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football,” reportedly went off the rails when Hudson allegedly stormed off the set, delaying shooting for 30 minutes, according to a report from TMZ. Over the subsequent weeks, multiple additional stories have emerged that shed light on Hudson’s growing influence on Belichick.

That has included Hudson allegedly forcing her way onto the set of Dunkin’ Donuts’ Super Bowl commercial that also starred Belichick and famous actors Ben and Casey Affleck. Torre previously revealed in February that Hudson was acting like Belichick’s “de facto agent” prior to Super Bowl LIX.

— On3’s Nick Kosko contributed to this report.