The North Carolina Tar Heels football team made headlines by bringing legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick out of retirement. However, since his hiring, Belichick has made waves in the media for all the wrong reasons—most notably due to the way his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, has been portrayed following a poorly received interview with CBS.
“I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep that conversation centered on the book,” Belichick said. “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.”
The incident quickly spiraled into a media frenzy, distracting from the football team itself. Many questioned Belichick’s decision to allow Hudson to step into a public-facing role during the interview.
“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,” USA Today’s Nancy Armour wrote.
Monday night marked Belichick’s official debut as the Tar Heels’ head coach. The offense came out strong, marching down the field and scoring within four minutes. This prompted analyst Skip Bayless to make an early—and ultimately regrettable—prediction.
“Wow, Belichick has a national championship OFFENSE. Heels just shredded Frogs’ defense,” Bayless posted.
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That take didn’t age well. The Tar Heels went on to lose 48–14, and transfer quarterback Gio Lopez completed just 40% of his passes while also throwing a pick-six. It was a debut both Belichick and the team would like to forget.
The silver lining for Belichick is that it was only the first game of the season. However, for Bayless, this might go down as one of his most premature takes ever. One successful drive doesn’t make a national championship offense—or anything close to it. For now, Bayless will have to take the heat, as North Carolina clearly isn’t on that level yet.