Everybody seems to have an opinion about Bill Belichick’s relationship with Jordon Hudson.
That includes former New England Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, who played five seasons under the 6-time Super Bowl champion head coach.
Currently a co-host on WEEI Afternoons, Johnson stated on Tuesday’s episode that Hudson has been “embarrassing Bill” with her recent behavior. And he even went as far as to say that North Carolina should consider parting ways with Belichick as a result of the recent headlines his relationship has produced.
“I hold college coaches to a higher standard than I do NFL coaches. When it comes to morally, they are supposed to leaders of men, set a good example that kind of thing,” Johnson, a member of the Patriots’ All-1990s Team, said. “So that leads me to what’s going on at UNC with Bill Belichick. And I’m surprised UNC never called Atlanta on why they passed on Bill Belichick and hiring him. My feeling is that the Atlanta Falcons are kinda looking at UNC and going, ‘You should have called us.’
“I say all that to say this: that I think the UNC Tar Heels should consider firing Bill Belichick. That they should consider letting him go at this point. It’s a lot of money and they’re deep into, obviously, their preparation for next year. But I look at Bill Belichick and I wonder if he’s fit to coach an NFL team, let alone fit to coach a college team. Which, again, I put more onus on the character and personality and just overall character, if you will, of a college coach than I do a pro coach. And so I’m worried that Bill Belichick just isn’t fit to coach college kids and UNC should consider cutting ties with Bill Belichick.”
Johnson also added that he has “no preconceived bias” toward Belichick stemming from his playing days with the Patriots.
The ex-linebacker’s comments come amid a week in which Belichick and Hudson have received no shortage of attention after the 24-year-old ex-Bridgewater State cheerleader interrupted her 73-year-old boyfriend’s interview with CBS Sunday Morning to shut down a question about how the couple met. TMZ later reported that Hudson interfered with the interview on multiple occasions and became so heated at one point that she stormed off the set, delaying production for roughly 30 minutes.
On Wednesday, The Athletic reported that Hudson was “instrumental” in nixing an HBO Hard Knocks series focused on the Tar Heels while identifying herself as the chief operating officer of “Belichick Productions,” a company with no apparent business records. Previous reports have revealed that Belichick has asked at least one UNC staffer to copy Hudson on emails, despite her not being officially employed by the university.
As for Johnson’s stance that North Carolina should consider parting ways with Belichick, that might seem like a stretch at this point, but it’s impossible to ignore the constant stream of negative headlines that have been emanating from Chapel Hill. And to his point about whether or not the Tar Heels did their due diligence with the Falcons, who passed on hiring the 3-time NFL Coach of the Year last offseason, it’s hard to imagine that this is what North Carolina thought it was signing up for when it hired Belichick this past December.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.