The North Carolina football program was initially thrilled when Bill Belichick was named the new head coach. However, they didn’t anticipate the drama-filled offseason that would follow. Much of the spotlight has been on Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson—attention that, according to USA Today’s Nancy Armour, Belichick allowed.
“Hudson has the power and influence she does because Belichick gave it to her. Wrongly or rightly, and for reasons only he knows, this is what he wants. If there’s blame to be had for the soap opera that’s created, Belichick deserves more than an equal share of it,” Armour wrote.
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Belichick and Hudson came under fire after their controversial CBS interview, which Belichick later claimed was a setup. While the off-field drama has dominated headlines, questions are also emerging about Belichick’s commitment to the football side of things.
“One of which is: Is he really all that dedicated to his job? We know he spent a weekend in mid-May at the Miss Maine pageant. And my colleague Brendan Marks inadvertently and hilariously stumbled into him during a New England golfing weekend shortly after that. Nothing wrong with a little R&R, I suppose, except that May weekends are often when recruits take official visits. Most coaches in America were likely hosting at least a few,” The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel wrote.
Just recently, ESPN’s Kevin Clark expressed serious doubts about the upcoming season, predicting it could be one of Belichick’s worst teams.
“I think that UNC’s roster is not very good going into this season… I think it might be one of the least successful teams Bill Belichick has had in a long time. Maybe since Cleveland, frankly,” Clark said.
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Taking over a college program is never easy, but failing to take the necessary steps to field a competitive team raises concerns. Belichick now faces a mountain of distractions and plenty of skeptics to silence. With the season just over a month away, the outlook for UNC is far from promising.
