North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick doesn’t have forever in Chapel Hill. At 73 years old, and presumably with plans to nurture his relationship with Jordon Hudson, Belichick will likely hand over the reins to his son, Stephen.
The thing is, Hudson’s presence on the sidelines amidst an unsuccessful season so far may wear on Tar Heel fans to the point where they want out of the Belichick orbit sooner rather than later.
The Athletic’s Steve Buckley warned that while Belichick may want the father-to-son handoff of the program the Auburn Tigers basketball program just had when Steven Pearl replaced Bruce Pearl following the latter’s retirement this past week, it won’t be received as well in “Chapel Bill” as it was on the Plains.
“A similar scenario might be playing out with the University of North Carolina football program, where Belichick recruited two of his sons, Steve and Brian, to join his staff. With Steve a heartbeat away from the head coach’s office in his role as defensive coordinator, it’s reasonable to see him as a head coach in waiting,” Buckley wrote.
“The only problem here is that Papa Belichick’s behavior this season — such as making it difficult for NFL teams to scout his players and his habit of chatting up girlfriend Jordon Hudson on the sideline before games — makes me wonder if we’ll reach the point where disillusioned Tar Heels fans are going to be keen on having another Belichick kneeling on the on-deck circle.”
Belichick’s Tar Heels have been outscored by 59 points in their two matchups against Power 4 opponents, the UCF Knights and TCU Horned Frogs. Based on that alone, few UNC fans trust Belichick to know what his proper replacement would look like.
Add in the Hudson saga, and you have a fanbase that’s likely sick of the nepotism taking place in the Triangle.
Bruce Pearl won with Steven on his coaching staff. Auburn went to two Final Fours in the last five years, with three regular season SEC titles and two SEC Tournament wins. Bruce and Steven earned the right to make that transition.
Belichick has only earned skepticism so far, since Stephen’s defense has been lit up for 83 points against Big 12 opponents.
These situations are not the same.