The relationship between North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson has become one of the most discussed sports media stories these past few months, with everyone tangentially related to the legendary sideline presence being asked to weigh in. And in Julian Edelman's case, weigh in again.
At first, the former New England Patriots wide receiver came to Hudson's defense amid the fallout from Belichick's unusual interview.
"She was jumping into that conversation during the interview just like any PR person would jump in when there's an unnecessary question that probably didn't go over in the pre-production meeting," Edelman said on the podcast in late April. "From what I've heard, Jordon is playing the Berj [Najarian] role. Handling all the football ops, handling a lot of his social, a lot of his PR."
"When you look at this situation and you say, 'Oh, this is his girlfriend jumping in,'" Edelman continued. "I think that's unfair. I think she's actually working Coach Belichick in the professional world, and she probably went and said, 'Hey, no. We're not doing that.' Doesn't that always happen? Whenever you do an interview, do you not have a representative there?"
But asked to revisit the situation while appearing on on Wednesday, Edelman had a different take.
“The No. 1 thing we used to talk about all the time in New England was distractions,” Edelman said. “Let’s not make distractions. The game’s already as hard as it is. To prepare for it, to play, to coach.”
“Anytime we do behind-the-scenes this, that, you’ve got someone that represents you, they’re gonna jump in, but now that it’s gained and it’s snowballed to what it’s become right now, where we’re talking about it three weeks later, it’s becoming a distraction. That’s what we all think right now. This is becoming a distraction. We gotta practice what we preach here.”
Those are understandable sentiments, especially from someone who learned lessons in distraction-reduction from the master. But there's no getting around the fact that Belichick's very position and profile make North Carolina a place where distractions will be unavoidable.
Seeing how the greatest coach in NFL history adjusts to the college game after finding no takers at the professional level creates a unique atmosphere. Whatever Belichick does in his personal time and who he spends that time with surely adds layers to the frenzy, but most of the die had already been cast once he showed up in Chapel Hill.
