UNC official on Bill Belichick, Jordon Hudson impact on football program: 'We just don't know what's coming'

Headlines involving Jordon Hudson has been unrelenting in recent weeks. And, despite recent statements to the contrary, it appears to be taking a serious toll on the North Carolina football program.

On Wednesday, first-year Tar Heels head football coach Bill Belichick flatly denied that his personal and professional relationship with Hudson, his 24-year-old girlfriend who has also been handling Belichick’s public relations of late, has had any impact on the UNC program.

“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,” the 73-year-old Belichick told SportsCenter achor Christine Williamson from ACC Spring Meetings in Amelia Island, Fla. on Wednesday.

That same day, the Washington Post published a lengthy feature on Hudson that included a troubling quote from an anonymous UNC official that “was not authorized to discuss the coach’s personal relationship” countering Belichick’s narrative.

“It’s just so odd. And we just don’t know what’s coming,” the anonymous North Carolina official told the Washington Post. “Those two decide what they’re going to do, and they do it.”

Belichick and Hudson’s relationship has been a ripe source for tabloid fodder ever since a disasterous interview with CBS Sunday Morning 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.

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. Former ESPN reporter Pablo Torre previously revealed in February that Hudson was acting like Belichick’s “de facto agent” prior to Super Bowl LIX.

Pablo Torre clarifies where Jordon Hudson’s involvement with North Carolina football stands

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.

“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” the UNC statement read. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

Torre didn’t back down from his initial report, claiming his information came from “the highest levels of the football program.” During an appearance on Pardon My Take on Thursday, Torre provided an update on the Belichick-Hudson drama unfolding in Chapel Hill.

“This is my whole thing about the ban,” Torre said on Wednesday’s episode of Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports. “The CBS thing opened the floodgates, as you guys detected, and what happened since is this power struggle behind the scenes from the very top of the university, telling the football program in a meeting, ‘She can’t be around anymore. We don’t want her around anymore. She won’t be around anymore.’

“That message got out around the program. And simultaneous to that has been the hiring of a PR guy who is, very notably, very different from Jordon Hudson. A guy who used to work for the Bears, actually.”

— On3’s Grant Grubbs contributed to this report.