North Carolina coach Bill Belichick has paused his book tour to promote his primary professional endeavor.
On Tuesday, Belichick conducted a rare press conference in the job he does as North Carolina’s football coach.
The 20-minute session dealt mainly with specific questions about the Tar Heels program. Inevitably, he addressed the issues that have emerged unrelated to football.
“Is there noise out there?” Belichick said. “We’ve always dealt with that. Really, our job is to build a football team and . . . help build the team and also build their individual careers. So that’s really where we’re at. . . .
“Again, on some of the noise that’s out there and the book and stuff like that, it is what it is. That’s a personal venture I entered into when I wasn’t in coaching last year.”
Right, but it came out during his professional venture with North Carolina. And Belichick’s handling of what would have been a softball CBS interview ended up creating much of the noise.
Belichick was also asked whether his 24-year-old girlfriend/publicist/handler/idea mill/creative muse Jordon Hudson will be on the sidelines during games.
“No, she doesn’t have any role in the UNC football program,” Belichick said. “But, again, there’s been noise out there about a lot of different things. Again, our focus is day to day, getting better, stacking good days together. Having good rest, recovery, and training. Moving forward the next day.”
By continuing to insist that Hudson has no current role in the program, Belichick continues to gloss over the reality that, at one point, she did. What was her role? How, when, and why did it end? He wasn’t asked any of those questions on Tuesday.
Regardless, the most fundamental reality of the “noise” surrounding North Carolina is this: It’s all coming from Belichick’s personal life and his book tour. The man who was notorious for avoiding distractions is his program’s biggest one.
It’s the most stunning aspect of this late-career turn from Belichick. He has become the thing he would have relentlessly mocked during his time in the NFL.
