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Bill Belichick's UNC tenure took another difficult turn this week, with the legendary coach forced to address his team's troubling off-field behavior.
A bombshell report from the Raleigh news publication WRAL revealed around a fifth of UNC's 101-player roster had cited for speeding or reckless driving, with the publication adding that a large number of athletes at fault were ones Belichick recruited.
Speaking Wednesday, the 73-year-old Belichick insisted he had addressed the issue with his players and underlined his belief in the importance of player conduct away from the game.
But some UNC fans felt that while Belichick is being pictured with his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson at cheerleading events, looking deeply unhappy at having to be there, his words would only have counted for so much.
'No culture or controls over there,' one fan wrote about the UNC team's conduct. 'He’s (Belichick) too busy watching Jordan's dance competition.'
Another fan wrote: 'Lack of institutional control! I wonder if there is a clause in Billy’s UNC contract that nullifies and voids the buyout for these types of infractions.'
Bill Belichick has been forced to address the troubling behaviour of UNC players off the field
It comes on a week where the coach went viral for being pictured at his young girlfriend's cheerleader display
Earlier this week, Belichick went viral when he appeared at Hudson's cheerleading event
A different comment read: 'Some strong discipline going on there when one guy has 4 reckless drivings.'
Belichick told reporters about the issue on Wednesday afternoon: 'Our conduct outside of the building, outside of the program, is important to us, and we stress that.
'We’ve addressed multiple things, not just that. There are other things that go on, besides driving, that we’ve talked about absolutely.
'Multiple other people have talked about it as well to the team that aren’t members of the team. We’ve addressed it.'
The timing of the report, though, is unquestionably frustrating for Belichick.
His struggling team, 4-6 for the season, have a hugely anticipated showdonw with rivals Duke on Saturday afternoon.
As for Hudson, she seems to be going on the offensive again in the last few weeks.
She called out podcaster Pablo Torre in the week. When he celebrated being named as one of the best podcasts of 2025 by Apple podcasts, Hudson tweeted 'you're welcome' in reference to some of the stories he has broken about her 49-year age gap relationship.
Belichick said that the UNC organization care deeply about off-field player behavior
But one fan felt Belichick might be a reason why there is little control over the team
Another suggested the incidents could hinder Belichick if he wants to return to the NFL one day
When UNC beat Stanford 20-15 on November 8, Hudson was pictured on the sideline wearning a necklace with the word 'banned' clearly on show for all to see - an apparent dig at reports earlier this year that she had been banned from UNC football facilities.
UNC denied that Hudson was barred from its facilities long ago, saying back in May: 'While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities.'
But Hudson still seems to think that it was a score to settle.
She also appeared to avoid Belichick's daughter-in-law at that game. Jennifer Schmitt, the wife of Stephen Belichick, who coaches alongside his father at UNC, appeared to keep their distance by watching from separate suites.
