North Carolina football has gotten off to a decent start on the gridiron, jumping out to a 2-0 start, including exorcising some Week 0 demons against TCU in a grudge match of Bill Belichick's first game with the Tar Heels.
Off the field,things have been much more tempestuous. Former GM Michael Lombardi resigned in August, while defensive coordinator and Belichick's son Steve Belichick resigned Sept. 17 amid an investigation being conducted by the program. However, while drama has been par for the course during the Belichick tenure in Chapel Hill, one name has been notably absent from headlines in the early going: Belichick's girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
Hudson, who was oft-discussed in Belichick's first season as someone who seemed to have a great deal of influence within the program, has mostly been out of the public eye so far in Year 2. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Belichick hit back at the insinuation Hudson was ever particularly engrained in the program.
"I had a lot of other things going on when I took the job," Belichick told the WSJ. "So, I sent an email when I got here and I said, ‘Can you please forward any requests to Jordon about my personal appearances so that I can work and coordinate them outside the university?’ Didn't have anything to do with the university. Well, that was leaked and released as 'Jordon's involved in every single thing that I do and she's copied on every email.' That's just a flat-out lie."
Belichick ended up using one word to describe the way Hudson's influence was painted.
"The way the story was picked up was a long way from that," he said. "Like, 'She's trying to be the general manager of the team.' And it's so ridiculous."
Belichick continued on to say that while Hudson helps in some capacities, it has nothing to do with UNC football. "There are some things that she helps me schedule or look at," he said. "It's not North Carolina stuff."
North Carolina begins ACC play against Clemson Sept. 19.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bill Belichick downplays Jordon Hudson influence at UNC: 'A flat-out lie'
