Report expands on if Jordon Hudson relationship could prevent Bill Belichick from returning to NFL

For an article published back on May 5, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated suggested that North Carolina Tar Heels football head coach Bill Belichick may not receive interest from NFL teams during the league's next hiring cycle due to potential distractions caused by the 73-year-old's relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson. 

For a piece posted on Tuesday, NFL reporter Armando Salguero of OutKick expanded on why the Hudson-related headlines could cause teams to pass on Belichick in January 2026. 

"He didn't get hired in the 2024 coaching cycle, and whether he was going to get hired in the coaching cycle this year is debatable," one NFL general manager told Salguero while speaking about Belichick. "I can't say for sure because we weren't in the head coach market. But if I'm leading a search and Bill shows up to the facility with a girlfriend that looks like his granddaughter, I ask myself if this is the same guy who won all those Super Bowls in New England." 

Belichick failed to land a head-coaching gig after he was shown the door by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft in January 2024. A subsequent report said that "Kraft delivered a stark assessment of Belichick's character" during a conversation with Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank before Blank hired Raheem Morris over the living legend that offseason. 

More recently, how Belichick and Hudson reportedly handled a CBS News interview raised eyebrows and sparked discussions on sports-talk programs. Matt Baker, Andrew Marchand and Brendan Marks of The Athletic later reported that Hudson "identified herself as the chief operating officer of Belichick Productions" in a December 2024 email sent to North Carolina officials. 

One club president told Salguero he would "want to understand the dynamic with [Hudson] as it would relate to our team" before that franchise would hire Belichick. Meanwhile, a personnel department head said that "he would have no concerns about Hudson's presence as long as Belichick gave assurances 'she's not working for the club in any capacity we don't approve.'"

During an appearance on the latest edition of "The Dominique Foxworth Show," former ESPN personality Pablo Torre said he thinks "there’s a chance" Belichick never coaches a game for North Carolina because the university may view his relationship with Hudson as "messy" and because the buyout attached to Belichick's contract drops from $10M to $1M after June 1. Belichick is 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula's NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined), but it sounds like some think Shula's mark will stay safe for the foreseeable future. 

"I certainly don't know what this new Belichick is going to do," the club president added about the coach who has left people within the NFL scratching their heads via his actions over the past 16 months or so.