Mike Vrabel reacts to Bill Belichick coaching college football

While other players might have gotten more headlines, Mike Vrabel was arguably the linchpin to the first three of Bill Belichick‘s six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots. Whether it was as the heart of the early-2000s Patriots defense at linebacker or his occasional forays on offense as a tight end in goal line situations, Vrabel and Belichick will forever be linked in the NFL annals.

Now, though, as the two embrace divergent new head coaching opportunities. Vrabel is entering his first season leading the Patriots and Belichick is now a first-time collegiate coach at the University of North Carolina. New England’s newest leader opened up about his former coach’s career change.

“I don’t know. I didn’t talk to Bill about his decision. I mean, we talk, but we’ll see,” Vrabel said on this week’s episode of The Triple Option podcast in response to a question from co-host Mark Ingram. “I think three years in college was enough for me and I took off for the NFL. I’m sure Urban (Meyer) told you, he’ll tell you, Urban didn’t want to hire me. Or that was just his way of motivating me. And he did a good job because I learned a lot there. But I just felt like the pro game was where I wanted to be. And if Bill felt like he wanted to go down to North Carolina and try to recreate that, um, I wish him all the luck in the world … except when they’re playing Ohio State.”

Despite having yet to coach a game in Chapel Hill, Belichick has been a nonstop figure in media headlines this offseason, most of which are related to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. Their two-year relationship has been a ripe source for tabloid fodder ever since a disastrous interview with CBS Sunday Morning last month in which Hudson reportedly exerted undue influence.

The interview, which was intended to promote Belichick’s upcoming memoir, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football,” 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 and the Tar Heels program.

UNC Chancellor ‘delighted’ with attention Bill Belichick is bringing to school amid Jordon Hudson drama

When the North Carolina Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick, they knew it would bring attention to their program. At the same time, the expectation was that the attention would be coming to the program for its on-field performance, and not the off-the-field drama of their head coach’s personal life.

The attention on UNC has largely been off-field drama relating to Jordon Hudson, which even prompted reports that Belichick and the school have been seeking outside PR help. Despite that, UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts is delighted with the attention on the school.

“We wanted when we hired Coach Belichick,” Roberts said. “To bring Carolina football to another level … We increased the price of our season tickets and we sold them out. … We’re delighted about all the attention being paid to Carolina football.”

Certainly, there is the argument that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. From a business perspective, it also doesn’t hurt to be able to sell tickets even at a higher price. So, perhaps Roberts’ position makes some sense. Still, the Belichick-Hudson drama has been significant.

Throughout the offseason, there have been reports about Hudson’s involvement and potentially her overinvolvement within the football program. That includes working as Belichick’s de facto agent at times. Then, there was the now infamous CBS Sunday Morning interview where she awkwardly cut in to end a line of questioning about their relationship.

— On3’s Dan Morrison contributed to this report.