College Football

As Bill Belichick prepares for his first season at North Carolina, there are reportedly concerns about his girlfriend's influence over him.

During an interview with Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings, there were a handful of awkward moments, including one in which Belichick's girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, shut down a question about how they met by saying, "We're not talking about this."

According to TMZ, moments like that which occurred during the interview on Sunday aren't "sitting well" with North Carolina, and there's a "growing sense this could become a problem."

TMZ added there are personnel at UNC who are concerned about Hudson's influence on the head coach, seemingly taking on a role as his manager.

It's still unclear what exactly Hudson's role is, but it's clear she's serving as some kind of public relations manager for Belichick. Earlier this year, Belichick asked North Carolina staffers to copy Hudson on certain emails, specifically those regarding social media and web content.

That request doesn't seem that out of the ordinary, as it makes sense that the 72-year-old Belichick would want his 24-year-old girlfriend to handle anything regarding his social media, but there has been some other interesting involvement from Hudson over the past few months.

The Athletic's Matt Baker reported earlier this month that Hudson emailed UNC's social media team asking them to promote Bill's son, Steve Belichick, "as his own established, credible entity." Steve Belichick was eventually named defensive coordinator.

Baker also noted that Hudson's "email signature identifies her as the chief operating officer of Belichick Productions."

Whatever Hudson's role is doesn't seem to be posing a serious issue at the moment, but it appears the higher ups at North Carolina fear things could get out of hand eventually.

With the 2025 NFL draft in the books, the focus now shifts to the 2026 draft, where Texas quarterback Arch Manning is expected to be one of the premier names.

But Manning may not be as set on the draft as many think. According to ESPN's Field Yates, he is expected to stay with the Longhorns for two more seasons.

"The word from people that have been down there visiting Texas for scouting visits has been that they expect Arch to be there for two more seasons," Yates said on The Adam Schefter Podcast (30:40 mark). "Will that prevail? We'll see, but that has been the sentiment that scouts have been gathering when they spend time around the Texas program this past season."

Manning, the top-rated recruit in the class of 2023 by 247Sports' composite, spent his first two seasons with Texas backing up Quinn Ewers, who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the seventh round.

After barely seeing any action as a freshman, Manning got the ball a bit more in 2024.

He came in for Ewers in a matchup against UTSA in September and completed nine passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns, adding 53 yards and a score on the ground. He started for an injured Ewers the following week against ULM and had 258 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was once again the starter against Mississippi State and completed 26 of 31 passes for 325 yards and three total touchdowns.

So while Manning still has very little starting experience, he's shown in his few outings why scouts are already so high on him ahead of the 2026 NFL draft. Bleacher Report's NFL Scouting Department's way-too-early predictions feature Manning getting drafted second overall to the Cleveland Browns.

As much as teams might be ready to draft Manning next spring, they might have to wait until 2027.

Staying in college as a projected top pick was unheard of years ago, but in the age of NIL, it can be more lucrative than taking a rookie deal. Especially for a player like Manning, who has a $6.6 NIL valuation by On3, an additional year of college could be the more lucrative route.

Ultimately, Manning will likely see how things shake out this year before he makes his decision for the 2026 season.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian told reporters on Monday that both he and starting quarterback Arch Manning opted out of the photo shoot for the cover of College Football 26 during the Rose Bowl.

According to The Athletic's Chris Vannini, a leaked cover of the game featured Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs; Florida quarterback DJ Lagway; LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier; Penn State running back Nick Singleton; Alabama wide receiver Ryan Williams; Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt; Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love; South Carolina edge-rusher Dylan Stewart; and Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood.

A number of coaches also appeared on the leaked cover, including Ohio State's Ryan Day, Georgia's Kirby Smart, Penn State's James Franklin, Ole Miss' Lane Kiffin, Oregon's Dan Lanning and Arizona State's Kenny Dillingham.

There were also former players, including Reggie Bush, Tim Tebow and Denard Robinson, as well as the mascots from Georgia, Clemson, Oregon and Tennessee and fans representing a number of other schools.

College Football 25 was a resounding success as the first entry in the longtime series since 2013, when EA Sports stopped making the game due to Ed O'Bannon's lawsuit against the NCAA regarding name, image and likeness rights. With players now permitted to profit on NIL rights, the game returned and became the best-selling sports game in U.S. history.

This year's edition will release on July 10.

As for Manning, he heads into the 2025 season as one of the biggest names in the sport after backing up Quinn Ewers for two seasons in Austin. Given his lineage as Peyton and Eli Manning's nephew—and considering his fantastic play in relief duty when Ewers was injured last season—he's expected to be the top quarterback at the college level this season and perhaps the top overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick pushed back against the idea he was unceremoniously dumped by the New England Patriots and team owner Robert Kraft.

In an interview with Tony Dokoupil of CBS Mornings, Belichick called his exit as a "mutual decision," doubling down when Dokoupil pointed out that Kraft described it as a firing.

"It was a mutual decision," the coach said.

Regarding the change, ESPN's Adam Schefter and Mike Reiss reported in January 2024 that "there was said to be no conflict, no disagreement, and in the end, productive talks resulted in a mutual decision that left both sides comfortable and at ease."

However you want to term Belichick's departure, it sounds like he and Kraft did have a shared dislike of one another in the end.

Dokoupil noted Kraft isn't mentioned in the text or the acknowledgements of Belichick's forthcoming book, The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football.

Kraft, for his part, did the coaching legend few favors when he tried to return to the NFL ranks. ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler reported in April 2024 that Kraft had candid conversations with Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank. In those chats, he warned Blank "not to trust Bill" as Atlanta was weighing whether to hire the six-time Super Bowl champion.

By taking the North Carolina job, Belichick has an avenue to silence the skeptics who said his best coaching days are behind him.

Life in Chapel Hill includes girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who has been active behind the scenes in helping to shape the image of the program. Belichick, who's 48 years older than Hudson, told Dokoupil he has "never been too worried about what everybody else thinks."

Dokoupil said in the segment Hudson "was a constant presence" in his interview with Belichick. At one point, she can be heard saying the coach wouldn't answer any questions about how they met.

If nothing else, the Belichick era won't be a boring period for UNC football.

One player from Colorado's championship-winning team in 1990 was less than thrilled to see the Buffaloes retire Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders' jerseys.

"We're celebrating mediocrity," the player said to David Ubben of The Athletic. "Where are the wins? Where are the top-10 finishes? Go Buffs for life, but you have to just hold your nose and deal with it."

The anonymous player also vented about how criticism of the school's decision is being filtered.

"If you b---h and complain, you look jealous and envious, and you're just a hater," he said to Ubben.

In the case of Hunter, it shouldn't matter all that much he's only a few months removed from leaving Boulder. He won a Heisman Trophy, and his ability to excel on both sides of the ball only added to his legend.

Colorado's 13-12 record shouldn't be held against Hunter, either, when he was unquestionably one of the greatest players in program history.

Ultimately, what's the difference between doing it now and waiting?

The university didn't retire Rashaan Salaam's No. 19 jersey until after the 1994 Heisman Trophy winner died.

Hunter was a shoo-in to have his number retired, whether it was sooner or later, after taking home Heisman honors last season.

It's a different story for Sanders, who didn't build a résumé that stands out within a historical context.

Sanders threw for 7,364 yards and 64 touchdowns, and he's the all-time FBS leader in completion percentage (71.8) going back to at least 1956. As a senior, he was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year and the recipient of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

Sanders didn't make an All-American team, though. He wasn't a Heisman finalist, finishing eighth in the 2024 voting. He didn't stay at Colorado long enough to break Sefo Liufau's career passing record (9,763 yards). And the Buffaloes didn't have the kind of team success that could make up for his lack of individual accolades.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders argued "we wouldn't have this discussion" about Shedeur's jersey retirement if he had a different last name. His critics will agree with that, but from the opposite perspective.

Fair or not, a lot of people are going to perceive Shedeur is being immortalized because he's the son of the coach.

"With Shedeur, it's way too easy to say, 'Would this happen if he had a different name on his back?'" said Fox Sports' Joel Klatt, who also played at Colorado, in an interview with Ubben. "And that becomes a disservice to Shedeur."

If Sanders goes on to have a great NFL career and the Coach Prime era is even more fruitful for the Buffs, then retiring Shedeur's jersey further down the line might've been received differently.

Lane Kiffin is ready for a change to the College Football Playoff format after Ole Miss was left out of the 12-team Playoff in 2024.

The Rebels head coach suggested increasing the field to 16 teams, citing several reasons for why the change would work better.

“Sixteen teams, you’d get more people excited about it, more people in play,” Kiffin said, per USA Today's Blake Toppmeyer. “And less (chance) for error by the committee.

“Forget giving (automatic bids). Figure out the best teams. Let an educated committee figure that out with analytics.”

Last season, Ole Miss' CFP resume took a blow when the Rebels lost a home game against a Kentucky team that finished 4-8, but they managed to get back into the Playoff conversation thanks to an upset win over Georgia in November.

Ole Miss appeared to be a lock for the CFP as long as it took care of business in its final two games, but a loss to Florida meant the Rebels were on the outside looking in when the 12-team field was selected.

Though Kiffin believes his team was snubbed, it's hard to argue what team Ole Miss would have replaced in this year's CFP. There were also plenty of other teams with similar resumes to the Rebels that were left out.

A 16-team field would be controversial, but at least it could have solved some of the issues that arose from this year's 12-team field.

While there could be some "tweaks" to the Playoff format for the 2025 season, according to ESPN's Heather Dinich, it's unclear if or when the CFP will expand past 12 teams.