Bill Belichick might already be eyeing the exit at UNC

The college football season is still three months away but there's already rumblings of a coaching change in the ACC. North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick has made headlines of late not for his tough love style with his players but rather his soft love approach to his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. On Friday, journalist Pablo Torre reported that Hudson was banned from UNC's football facilities after apparently becoming too much of a distraction. Later, the university denied that report but the widespread belief is it was a supposed internal reversal of the original decision before it was officially made public.

On Monday, Torre defended his reporting on The Dominique Foxworth Show and took things a step further by speculating Belichick may not make it to Week 1 as a Tar Heel.

"I think there's a chance, an absolutely real chance that he doesn't [last to coach Week 1]," Torre said. "And the reason I say that is because even before the Jordon Hudson thing became as public ... the date that matters most is June 1 ... The buyout of Bill Belichick goes from $10 million to $1 million if Bill wanted the escape hatch."

Could UNC cut Bill Belichick loose before he coaches a single game?

Torre went on to note that because things have gotten "so crazy" and UNC has pushed back as hard as it has on Belichick's behavior, he could choose to dip out or the school may move on before it gets out of control.

"[UNC is] basically telling him, for the first time really, right, that 'You're an employee and not the boss of this building' the way he may have been assuming me would be," Torre explained. "Then there is the ability for him to get out of it."

Since 1997, the shortest tenure for a power college football head coach is just three days. Notre Dame's George O'Leary resigned after fabricating his achievement of lettering thrice at the University of New Hampshire and also earning a master's degree from NYU-Stony Brook.

Belichick was formally introduced as UNC's head coach on Dec. 12, 2024 so if he were to be fired or resign Tuesday (May 13), his would be the fourth-shortest tenure in that same span (152 days). Alabama's Mike Price would have him beat by just over two weeks (137 days).

Hudson is a former cheerleader and beauty pageant contestant. She lost the Miss Maine USA title on Sunday with Belichick in attendance but she might cost him something even more important if the university finds their relationship to be too much of a PR nightmare.

The 24-year-old was the subject of controversy when she constantly interrupted a taped interview the 73-year-old Belichick was doing with CBS Sunday Morning, of which one question she rejected was the subject of how the pair met.

After Torre reported on Hudson being banned, North Carolina refuted it, saying that she was welcome in the facility.

"While Jordon is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome at Carolina Football facilities," the school wrote in a statement that same day. "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 Hudson-Belichick-UNC situation will be closely watched in the coming weeks as that June 1 date approaches. If a vacancy does open up, the Tar Heels will be scrambling to fill it over the summer.