Bill Belichick’s highly anticipated North Carolina debut started with a Tar Heels’ touchdown, a quick ESPN cameo for his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, and then a whole lot of Texas Christian offense from there.
Hudson was pictured alongside NFL great Randy Moss in a VIP suite after UNC running back Caleb Hood capped the game’s opening drive with a touchdown, but the Tar Heels then surrendered 41 consecutive points before returning to the end zone late in the third. Meanwhile, ESPN cameras were careful to avoid any subsequent reaction shots during the 48-14 Horned Frogs win.
‘TCU has busted out the whoopin’ stick,’ ESPN’s Rece Davis told his on-air partner, Kirk Herbstreit.
Later, Herbstreit was caught on a hot mic saying either ‘you’re bad’ or ‘they’re bad,’ leading to some debate whether he was referring to Davis or the Tar Heels.
But if Herbstreit was talking about North Carolina, he certainly wasn’t wrong.
Take Gio Lopez, the quarterback Belichick tapped to be the Tar Heels starter, who completed only 4 of 10 passes and tossed an interception that was returned for a touchdown. At one point, Lopez went more than two hours of real time between completed passes.
Hudson made her first in-game appearance in Chapel Hill on Monday as ESPN cameras caught her alongside Randy Moss, one of Belichick’s favorite former players from his NFL days
Belichick, 73, became a bit disheveled during a difficult second quarter for the Tar Heels
A hobbling Lopez was ultimately pulled in a move that proved to be one of Belichick’s best decisions of the game.
Backup Max Johnson, the son of former NFL quarterback and Super Bowl winner Brad, came on to complete 7 of his first 8 passes for 81 yards and a touchdown to his brother, Tar Heels tight end Jake.
Despite the late success, though, many Tar Heels fans were seen making early exits at a sold-out Kenan Stadium.
‘Give TCU credit, they came in and did a good job, they were the better team tonight,’ Belichick told reporters, adding: ‘We got a lot of work to do.’
Belichick specifically cited two turnovers for touchdowns that ultimately doomed the Tar Heels on Monday.
And Belichick’s debut may have even been worse for his son, Stephen, the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach many believe is the coach-in-waiting for the Tar Heels.
TCU starting quarterback Josh Hoover easily passed for 284 yards and a pair of touchdowns while the Horned Frogs gained 258 yards own the ground to go with two more trips to the end zone.
‘Really excited to see how Steve Belichick turns this around next year,’ one fan joked online.
Belichick didn’t have any update on the injured Lopez afterwards and wouldn’t say he would be the team’s starter next Saturday in Charlotte.
Bill Belichick was all smiles before facing TCU in his first game as the Tar Heels’ head coach
A frowing Belichick is seen here after a post-game handshake with TCU’s Sonny Dykes
Even with Michael Jordan and other Tar Heels royalty on hand for Belichick’s North Carolina debut, it was the other Jordon — the coach’s 24-year-old girlfriend and de facto publicist — who captured the spotlight in Chapel Hill on Monday night.
Hudson made her first in-game appearance as ESPN cameras caught her alongside Randy Moss, one of Belichick’s favorite former NFL players, after the Tar Heels scored on the opening drive to go up 6-0 on Texas Christian.
The Jordon-fest didn’t stop there. One image posted online by CBS college football reporter John Talty quickly went viral in the hours before kickoff.
‘Top 1 sign of all time?’ Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy responded on X.
The post shows a white flag with Carolina-blue lettering and silhouette — but not the famed Air Jordan image of the Chicago Bills legend jutting his legs outward as he soared to the hoop, ball in hand.
Rather, this flag read ‘Air Jordon’ and featured the silhouette of Belichick’s infamous beach yoga pic with Hudson, in which the 73-year-old laid down in the sand while lifting his younger girlfriend above his head with his feet.
Bill Belichick walks out onto the field as he prepares for his college debut against TCU
‘The early winner for best sign [reporter Richard Johnson]and I have seen so far in Chapel Hill,’ read the post by Talty.
Other references to Hudson included a personalized ‘Jordon’ No. 23 football jersey worn by one woman, and a t-shirt reading: ‘Hair Jordan: “We’re not talking about this.”‘
The quote is a reference to Belichick’s doomed CBS interview in which Hudson shut down any discussion of how the couple met after his fallout with ex-girlfriend Linda Holliday in 2023.
Long-time college football reporter Brett McMurphy also had a viral joke: ‘In history of college football, Super Bowl champion coaches w/24-year old girlfriends have never won any games as a college head coach.’
McMurphy later pointed out that Max Johnson is also 24.
Air Jordon? UNC fans were quick to remind us of Belichick’s beach yoga pic with Jordon
Head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels looks on from the sideline during the first half of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Kenan Stadium
North Carolina fans are seen heading for the exits amid the Tar Heels’ struggles on Monday
Belichick’s NCAA debut came 34 years after his first game as an NFL head coach with the Cleveland Browns.
Unfortunately for Belichick, Monday’s game shared a lot of similarities to his Week 1 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in 1991, as North Carolina struggled after scoring a touchdown on the game’s opening drive.
Belichick’s face after Lopez tossed a pick-six in the second quarter more or less summed it up for fans.
‘Belichick looks excited,’ read a sarcastic post from comedian Frank Caliendo.
The ill-fated CBS interview sparked a national debate over Hudson’s intentions over the summer.
His friend, the NBA great Charles Barkley, publicly said he would stage an intervention while Belichick’s former Patriots player Ted Johnson, who played five seasons under Belichick in New England, questioned his sanity.
‘To me, those are bad decisions that makes him and the university look really bad and question whether or not he is of sound mind and should be running a football team at the University of North Carolina,’ Johnson said of his old coach.
‘I think it’s something you have to really, really consider.’
But last weekend, a source close to the couple told Daily Mail that they are relishing getting back to business once the college football season begins.
‘Bill and Jordon are enjoying the next couple weeks together before he has to go full force into the upcoming season and focus all of his attention on that,’ the source explained.
‘Their time to hang out and go out to eat or go to any events together is not going to happen for a few months, because Bill is going into war. It is very important to Bill to make this work at UNC, and if they do well or very bad, it is all based on his preparation for the season.
‘Sure, Jordon will be at the games, but they are making sure that they will not be seen gallivanting around while the season goes on because Bill doesn’t want it to look like Jordon is a distraction.’
The source continued: ‘Bill is not worried one bit about his relationship with Jordon as the season starts to come to fruition.
‘They have each other’s back and if this all goes well or off the rails, he’s confident that she will be there for him the entire way. He has zero worry about her as he considers her a rock and a constant in his life that isn’t going to go away.’
The North Carolina Tar Heels take the field prior to the game against the TCU Horned Frogs
Jordan Dwyer #7 of the TCU Horned Frogs celebrates with his teammates after catching a touchdown pass during the first half of the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels
Gio Lopez #7 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drops to pass during the first half of the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Kenan Stadium
After a half century coaching NFL football, the eight-time Super Bowl champion was finally making his college debut, although he was still up to his old tricks.
As noted by Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wolken, North Carolina’s media handout did not include a depth chart for the Tar Heels — something Patriots reporters will remember from Belichick’s secretive days in New England.
The issue resulted in some confusion and a few chuckles among the 20 scouts in attendance, according to ESPN’s broadcast.
Just like his illustrious tenure in New England, where he won six of his eight Super Bowl rings, Belichick’s arrival in Chapel Hill did prove to be a hot ticket.
Among the sellout crowd of 50,500, was Jordan, former basketball coach Roy Williams, soccer legend Mia Hamm, Tar Heels and New York Giants icon Lawrence Taylor, and Julius Peppers, not to country singers Eric Church and Chase Rice, as well as Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell.