North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick defended his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, and criticized CBS in a Wednesday statement about his recent CBS Sunday Morning interview, which went viral after showing a clip of Hudson intervening.

In the statement, sent from the University of North Carolina media relations office, Belichick said he agreed to the interview to promote his book, “The Art of Winning — Lessons from My Life in Football” and told his publicist with Simon & Schuster that any interviews would “focus solely on the contents of the book.”

Belichick, 73, said that expectation was not honored during the CBS interview when he was asked how he and 24-year-old Hudson, who was sitting off camera, met. That caused Hudson, who is in a romantic relationship with Belichick, to interject by saying, “We’re not talking about this.”

The book includes a line about Hudson, stating, “Thank you to my idea mill and creative muse, Jordon Hudson.”

But Belichick disagreed with the lines of questioning about her.

“I was surprised,” Belichick said in the statement, “when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book. After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion.”

Belichick said Hudson was not deflecting a specific question but “simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track.” Hudson reportedly interrupted the interview multiple times, according to Pro Football Talk, a subsidiary of NBC Sports.

What is Jordon Hudson’s role at UNC? Bill Belichick CBS interview adds confusion

Belichick said the clips make it appear that they were avoiding the question of how the couple met but that they have been open about meeting on a flight to Palm Beach, Florida, in 2021. According to Hudson’s Instagram, the duo met on Feb. 11, 2021. Hudson, who turned 24 in April, was 19 at the time. Belichick, who recently turned 73, was 68.

The first-year UNC head coach said the eight-minute segment that aired “does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career. Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative – that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation – which is simply not true.”

His literary management company, InkWell, said the interview occurred earlier this month with the goal of discussing the book, his life and evaluating how he’s done his job.

“The nature and orientation of the discussion was known in advance to Bill and to CBS. And indeed, Bill did talk football,” the second statement says. “But the segment that was shown to the public veered into a discussion of Bill’s personal life and away from the subject of his book, resulting in a raft of hostile social media posts about his personal life.

“Bill has written an authoritative and entertaining book about success that should be judged by its contents, not by the clicks generated by the segment.”

On Tuesday, Hudson shared a screenshot of an email allegedly sent from Belichick about the book and promising a full statement. She did not release anything separately.

Hudson is not a University of North Carolina employee nor is she a contracted vendor.

The News & Observer contacted athletics communications on Tuesday, with questions including: If Carolina was aware of his commitment to the interview; how the university defines Hudson’s role; if the university has plans to hire Hudson due to the nature of her role; if it has at any time discussed procedures to ensure harmony between UNC and non-UNC activities; and if the university has discussed when its interests and authority take precedence since Belichick is an employee of a state institution.

The questions went unanswered.

“Jordon is not employed by the university,” a spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday morning. “We are not going to comment on Coach Belichick’s personal business.”

The N&O has also requested documents regarding Hudson’s building access, payments or reimbursements, and communications.

Despite not being employed by the school, Hudson’s public actions have seemingly portrayed her as an unofficial communications and administrative assistant for Belichick. He has requested her to be copied on all electronic communications to him and she gave instructions on how the university should handle staff announcements, which included Belichick’s two sons, and negative social media comments.

Hudson was present at the Tar Heels’ first spring practice, which was open to the media, and the subsequent press conference.

Earlier this year, North Carolina football was set to become the subject of a “Hard Knocks” documentary series this spring due to the addition of NFL Hall of Fame coach Bill Belichick. Reports say the deal, which was set to be announced in early March, quickly fell apart and claim Hudson played a key role in ending the effort.

Hudson’s LinkedIn profile lists her as the Chief Operating Officer of Belichick Productions from August 2024-February 2025, though this is not a registered corporation in the state of Massachusetts.

Belichick signed a document with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office applying for the protection of 14 phrases, including “Chapel Bill.” The company listed on the trademark applications was TCE Rights Management, a new company created on March 28. Hudson is listed as its manager in the Massachusetts Corporation Database.

The database also lists Hudson as the manager of Chapel Bill LLC, BBS Version LLC, All BB Team LLC and Coach Show LLC. All were formed within the past five months, with BBS Version being approved as a business on March 20.

Belichick was hired in December to replace longtime coach Mack Brown. Hudson was in attendance at his introductory press conference. She has publicly retweeted and “liked” supportive comments on Twitter and Instagram, including those replying to criticism.

— Jadyn Watson-Fisher / The News & Observer (Raleigh)

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