For over two decades in New England, the walls around the Patriots were airtight; Bill Belichick didn’t just coach football, he engineered silence. Press conferences were terse, cameras were kept at a distance, and personal life? Off-limits. Whatever was happening behind closed doors, Belichick made sure it stayed there. But something cracked. By the time he parted ways with the Patriots, things didn’t look the same. The league’s most guarded figure was suddenly on reality TV, shoulder to shoulder with a 24-year-old girlfriend. Reports swirled. The noise he once kept out had not just found its way in but was getting louder by the year.

When Belichick resurfaced at UNC, it wasn’t just the setting that felt unfamiliar. It was the posture. The man who once built a dynasty through control now appeared increasingly swept up in something he no longer entirely dictated. And if you retrace the timeline, it becomes clear: this didn’t happen overnight. The shift started long before most people noticed. And the one person, Pablo Torre, who’s traced that shift closer than anybody in the media— charting every step of Belichick’s unraveling from Foxborough to Chapel Hill, has something to say about it.

In a recent podcast discussion with Boston sports insider Bill Simmons, Pablo Torre shared new, concrete evidence about Jordon Hudson’s involvement with Bill Belichick dating back much earlier than public awareness suggested. Torre pointed to fan cam footage from Gillette Stadium in November 2021, revealing Hudson in Belichick’s personal seats, an area rarely accessible to outsiders.

“I mean, there’s a thing on the website of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium, called a fan cam,” Torre explained. “And we found Bill Belichick’s seats. He has a row of seats right underneath the overhang, near the 50-yard line. And they’re his seats. And we found Jordon Hudson sitting there in November 2021.” This was notable because 2021 was a difficult season for the Patriots, following the rookie year of Mac Jones, who was then the team’s starting quarterback.

The presence of Hudson at such a private and symbolic location suggests their relationship may have begun well before it entered the public eye. While some reports claim the couple met casually on a plane, this footage places Hudson firmly within Belichick’s inner circle at a time when questions about his focus and leadership were already emerging within the organization.

“Parallel to this, I’ve also heard that by the end, Bill Belichick wasn’t exactly dialed in in the way even people within the Patriots wanted him to be. From above and below.” Torre emphasized that while Belichick is undeniably a football genius, his coaching tree and managerial support had significant cracks.

“This is the story: Bill Belichick got freed from the NFL because he’s been terrible at picking people around him to support him—people who could stand on their own two feet,” Torre said bluntly. “In fact, they’re like remora fish, just attached to him and his business.” He named names that had become emblematic of these failures: Matt Patricia, who was promoted despite mixed results; Josh McDaniels, an offensive coordinator widely viewed as overqualified for his coordinator role but underqualified as a head coach. 

The larger problem, Torre explained, was trust—or rather, the lack of it. “Teams already knew he was bad at developing and supporting talent from a managerial perspective. So when Belichick left the Patriots and tried to build a staff, teams didn’t trust who was around him. And one of those people, as early as November 2021—and certainly by the time the Ring camera footage was released in November 2023—was Jordon Hudson.”

This skepticism extended beyond just the NFL franchises. Even within UNC, the new environment Belichick entered, figures like GM Michael Lombardi reportedly expressed concerns about Hudson’s influence and presence. 

Bill Belichick’s own confidante is worried about Jordon Hudson’s involvement with UNC

Bill Simmons, being an ardent Pats fan who cannot see Bill Belichick being dragged through the wringer like this, continued to challenge Pablo Torre and his reporting. To which Torre replied with, “What if I told you that Bill Belichick’s own family has been deeply concerned about this.” This was in relation to his daughter-in-law and UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick’s wife. Something Torre has mentioned in the past as well. “What if I told you that his inner circle of actual coaches on his staff, including a certain Mike Lombardi, is deeply concerned about Jordan Hudson and her presence in the facility?” continued Torre.

UNC has publicly denied having any issues with Jordon Hudson or her presence on campus at Chapel Hill. But the school’s blanket views don’t necessarily represent those of each of its employees. If GM Lombardi is indeed at odds with Hudson, or with Bill Belichick’s openness to her getting involved in his professional life, then boy are the UNC Tar Heels in for a tumultuous season. Yes, it’s almost becoming understated how fall is approaching, and Belichick still has to lead a program amidst this drama. He and the UNC brass alike will hope things on this front quell quickly. So that more pressing matters can take precedence.