I wonder how his girlfriend's trademark application for "Gold Digger" is going? Perhaps she can amend the filing to include "Pewter Platter"?
The Bill Belichick Nightmare Just Keeps Getting Worse
Story by Andrew Beaton, Laine Higgins
When the University of North Carolina hired Bill Belichick to coach their downtrodden football team, it looked like a sensational coup.
Tickets sold out. Donations poured in. Excitement coursed through Chapel Hill at the prospect of the greatest coach of all time transforming a program that had become a national afterthought into one styled after his NFL success, from schemes and scouting to nutrition and development.
But 10 months on, the enthusiasm has all but vanished. North Carolina’s blowout loss to a mediocre Clemson team on Saturday dropped their record to 2-3 and marked their third defeat by 25 points or more. Hopes that Belichick would turn the Tar Heels into a contender have quickly evaporated. Along the way, there have been a series of flare-ups involving his 24-year old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, and signs of a frayed relationship with the New England Patriots, the franchise he led to six Super Bowl victories.
Even more troubling, the first month of this NFL season has raised questions about Belichick’s final years in the pros. His former players, such as current San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones, are thriving without him—and so is his former team. The Patriots are now 3-2 after Sunday night’s upset win over the Buffalo Bills, showing signs that they’re finally improving the talent-barren roster that Belichick assembled.
All told, it paints a bleak picture of both the 73-year-old’s chances to fix a college program—and to revitalize his own career in the process.
“We just got to do a better job of coaching, a better job playing, and just eliminate the mistakes that are fixable,” Belichick said after last weekend’s latest defeat. “We’ll get ready to go and keep improving and keep fixing the things that we need to fix.”
After Belichick’s exit from the Patriots following the 2023 season, it was something of a surprise when he didn’t immediately get another NFL head coaching opportunity. Despite the Patriots’ struggles in the years after Tom Brady’s departure, Belichick’s genius remains the stuff of legend—and no coach has more Super Bowl rings to prove it.
One year later, though, Belichick had a surprise of his own: After decades in the NFL, he was going to the college game. He threw on a baby blue tie and brought the Belichick apparatus with him to North Carolina. He hired a staff that included his sons as assistant coaches and tabbed longtime NFL executive Michael Lombardi to be the Tar Heels’ general manager.
In an era when college players now get paid, UNC promised to be at the vanguard of adapting, led by decision makers who spent their careers operating under the constraints of a salary cap.
As part of the deal, the basketball-obsessed school started spending on its football program like never before. Belichick is earning $10 million this season, making him one of the nation’s highest-paid coaches. The Tar Heels reportedly quadrupled their spending on athlete endorsements, too, and added 70 new players.
“The roster is very competitive,” Belichick said in July. “We’re not trying to over-hype or oversell something we can’t deliver.”
Then came the actual games. North Carolina’s season began on Labor Day with a 48-14 shellacking by TCU in prime time. It was the most points Belichick had ever allowed in a single game.
It turned out that was just the start. Belichick’s team went on to lose heavily to Central Florida and Clemson, meaning the Tar Heels have now been outscored 120-33 against teams from major conferences.
“The main thing we need to do is to keep doing what we’re doing—but do them better,” Belichick said.
Belichick promised boosters that 2025 would be a rebuilding season, but it’s been rough even by those standards. In fact, things have gotten so bad that Lombardi sent an email to donors ahead of the Clemson game pleading for patience—and more money to pay incoming recruits.
.At the same time, the legacy of Belichick’s final years in the NFL hasn’t been looking especially pretty, either.
The Patriots drafted Jones as Brady’s heir in 2021, and he quickly showed promise with New England, reaching the postseason as a rookie. But in his second season, Belichick made the unusual decision to put Matt Patricia, a former defensive coordinator, in charge of the offense. Jones regressed and got benched—raising concerns that Belichick had mismanaged the young passer’s development. Things didn’t improve in 2023 when Jones had his third play-caller in as many seasons and he was traded after the season.
This year, Jones has once again looked like the quarterback who led Alabama to a national championship. In three starts with the Niners, he has gone 3-0 while averaging over 300 passing yards per game.
“Mac was one of those guys that was in bad situations in New England relative to coaching,” former Alabama coach Nick Saban said on ESPN last week. “He hasn’t been in great circumstances.”
Jones isn’t alone among talented players who have flourished after Belichick moved on. Tyquan Thornton, a Pats second rounder in 2022, caught only 39 passes and two touchdowns in his three years with the team. He already has three scores in his first season with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Meanwhile, the Patriots are finally showing hope of escaping the tatters of Belichick’s final years in charge. After one bumbling year coached by Jerod Mayo, New England tapped Mike Vrabel to lead the team—and Sunday night’s win over the Bills marked the franchise’s biggest triumph in years.
For fans, this New England team might look familiar. Vrabel, who previously coached the Titans, was a Patriots stalwart who won three Super Bowls with the team as a linebacker. To lead the team’s offense, he brought back longtime Belichick assistant Josh McDaniels.
Which means there’s at least one team thriving now with a distinctly Belichickan flavor—but it’s the Patriots, not North Carolina.
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