Did Bill Belichick learn anything from his year as a member of the media? His trainwreck interview with CBS News Sunday Morning is making me wonder about that.
What should have been a feel-good chat about his first book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football, went off the rails when girlfriend Jordon Hudson shut down questions about how the couple met, even though she wasn’t part of the interview.
“Not talking about this,” she sternly told CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil. When the newsman turned to Hudson to clarify, she shut him down again. Meanwhile, the formerly fearsome coach remained meekly silent.
Belichick is 73 years old, while the former cheerleader is 24. Hudson was a “constant presence” during the conversation, according to Dokoupil, hovering just out of the camera frame.
The six-time Super Bowl–winning coach became an unexpected media star after his firing by Patriots owner Bob Kraft in January 2024. The famously tight-lipped Belichick suddenly became gregarious, providing an entertaining mix of football insight and score-settling zingers against the Jets on ESPN’s Manningcast and Pat McAfee Show and the CW Network’s Inside the NFL as well as occasional podcasts.
But Belichick’s newly acquired media skills seemed to disappear during his awkward CBS interview. Unfortunately, the piece only raises questions about the North Carolina coach’s ability to handle the media duties of a modern college program. Much less returning to the NFL, where his 333 all-time wins rank second to the late Don Shula’s 347.
The old saying “any publicity is good publicity” is a myth. A disheveled Belichick did himself few favors on Sunday. At times, he reverted to the blank, dissembling Hoodie of his Patriots days. Especially when asked why he refused to mention Kraft in his book. Or his insistence that their messy split amounted to a “mutual decision,” rather than Kraft firing him.
But Belichick’s most embarrassing moment came when Dokoupil asked about his romance with a woman 49 years his junior. Hudson immediately jumped in, while Belichick passively looked on. That wasn’t the only time Hudson butted in, according to Pro Football Talk. “While we don’t know the total number of interruptions, it’s our understanding that CBS decided to include that one specific instance because it wasn’t a one-time thing,” wrote Mike Florio. All in all, it was not a good look for the coaching legend.
“I would object that the most awkward thing [from this weekend] was not Shedeur[ Sanders]’s slide. It was that Belichick interview…That was strange,” cracked ESPN’s Peter Schrager. Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports wrote on X/Twitter that the interview left him “squirming in my seat.” PFT’s Florio joked that Belichick’s new book tour “seems to be going roughly as well as the tour for Kramer’s coffee-table book about coffee tables.”
On one hand, it made no sense. After all, Belichick calls Hudson his “creative muse” in the book. The story that they met on a flight from Boston to Florida in 2021 has been widely reported. Hudson hasn’t been shy about celebrating their relationship on social media, including posting cheeky Halloween photos of herself as a mermaid and Belichick as a fisherman reeling her in. They’re both consenting adults. What’s the big deal?
On the other hand, it makes total sense if Hudson has effectively become Belichick’s agent, manager, and PR handler. Hence, her acting like a helicopter parent. They’re free to act as they wish, but why the secrecy? And the strong-arming of CBS? Are the couple ready to answer questions about Hudson’s business input into Belichick’s career and the Tar Heels football program? If not, Sunday’s interview will only raise more questions.
Plus, this was the soft, positive Sunday Morning, not 60 Minutes. If Belichick and Hudson can’t answer the standard how-we-met question from a friendly interviewer, that’s a problem. How will they react when somebody really grills them?
I thought Dokoupil drew some interesting insights out of Belichick about how he knew Tom Brady would be special, as well as how the gruff coach could have treated the media better. But that cringeworthy moment with his girlfriend is all anybody is talking about on social media.
Will Belichick’s new leadership book sell after this? We’ll see. He’s the greatest football mind of his generation. But Sunday’s interview could draw attention for the “wrong reasons,” warns longtime publicist Jason Jones of Jones Literary agency. “Being told by a 24-year-old what he will and will not talk about doesn’t exactly shout ‘leadership’ to me,” he says. “It muddles his message and overall hurts his brand.”
As Dokoupil warned Belichick during the interview: “Everybody in the world seems to be following this relationship, they’ve got an opinion about your private life, it’s got nothing to do with them—but they’re invested in it.”
My advice to Belichick? Speak for yourself next time.
