‘Real chance’ Bill Belichick never coaches a game for UNC: Report

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Bill Belichick’s foray into college football could be over before it even truly starts.

Amid the fallout from his disastrous interview on CBS last month that went viral after it was interrupted by his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, there are now questions whether the NFL legend even coaches a single game at the University of North Carolina.

Investigative reporter Pablo Torre dropped the bombshell on Monday’s episode of The Domonique Foxworth Show, saying there’s “an absolutely real chance that he doesn’t” reach the Tar Heels’ season opener.

The host of Pablo Torre Finds Out explained that even before the media firestorm surrounding Belichick and Hudson truly ignited, the 73-year-old coach already had an “escape hatch” built into his contract with the school.

“The reason I say that is because even before the Jordon Hudson thing became as public, even before it went from messy backstage to now, obviously messy everywhere, the date that matters the most is June 1,” he said, explaining that on that day, the cost of Belichick’s buyout drops from US$10 million to $1 million.

“If he wanted out, suddenly it was very interesting that the amount got 10 times less after June 1,” he added.

Torre, a former ESPN employee, went on to say that there could be a potential power struggle behind the scenes at the school with the eight-time Super Bowl champion perhaps not having the amount of authority that he assumed he would.

“The question everybody is asking is, are things so dysfunctional behind the scenes when it comes to the power struggle, when it comes to what they are telling Bill to do: Don’t have Jordon around anymore. Stop behaving in the way that you have. Basically telling him, for the first time really, that you’re an employee and not the boss of this building in the way that he may have been assuming he would be, then there is the ability for him to get out of it,” Torre told Foxworth.

“And that’s before you even consider the fact that stuff is so crazy when it comes to how his family feels, how the people around the school feel, that there’s this larger, ‘Hey, so coach met this woman when she was 19 years old on an airplane and now she’s kind of running his public image as his girlfriend.’ Is this something that’s sustainable? Is that fireable? What does he have to do to get fired? These are all active questions.”

A year after parting ways with the NFL’s New England Patriots, Belichick signed a five-year, $50-million deal with UNC in January.

At the time, Belichick reportedly had interest from a few NFL teams, causing a delay in the coach signing his contract for a few weeks after his hiring had been announced by the school.

Hudson and Belichick made headlines after the airing of an interview on CBS Sunday Morning during which the coach was promoting his new book, The Art of Winning.

During the interview, Hudson interrupted interviewer Tony Dokoupil when he asked the coaching legend to talk about how he had met his much-younger flame.

“We’re not talking about this,” Hudson said from her seat off-camera.

“No?” Dokoupil replied as he looked over at Hudson, who responded, “No.”

Dokoupil also described Hudson as a “constant presence” during his interview with the eight-time Super Bowl champion and said neither of them were “comfortable” with the topic.

Last week, Torre claimed on his show – after reportedly speaking to 11 sources who have dealt with Hudson – that the former cheerleader had been banned from UNC’s football facilities.

However, UNC denied the allegation, releasing a statement on Friday.

“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” the statement read. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

The Tar Heels are set to host TCU in their home opener this year on Sept. 1.