The Bill Belichick era at North Carolina is in complete disarray.
After a 2-3 start to his first season, rules violations that have seen an assistant coach get suspended, petty off-the-field sagas, and now rumors of his potential split from the University, the Tar Heels' athletic department has released a half-hearted statement—signed by both Belichick and Director of Athletic's Bubba Cunningham—citing cohesion between the two sides amid the turmoil.
To put it lightly, it's been quite the roller coaster couple of years for the 73-year-old once considered to be the greatest football mind the sport has ever seen. And while that may still be true, his legacy has undoubtedly taken a hit since his Super Bowl-winning days in New England.
But how did we get here? Let's have a look.
Bill Belichick Timeline: From what caused Patriots firing to recent North Carolina turmoil
December, 2021: Patriots rebound post-Tom Brady, make playoffs behind rookie Mac Jones
Looking back on it now, it's clear that Tom Brady won the breakup between himself and Belichick—but back in 2021? It wasn't as obvious.
After going 8-9 during the NFL's COVID year with Cam Newton under center, the Patriots drafted quarterback Mac Jones with the No. 15 pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels' tutelage, Jones made the Pro Bowl in his first NFL season.
He earned that Pro Bowl bid by throwing 22 touchdowns while guiding New England to a 10-7 record and a playoff berth. It looked like Belichick had found a new signal caller in just 12 months time.
January, 2022: OC Josh McDaniels is replaced with Matt Patricia
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and that's exactly what happened to the Patriots when McDaniels got his second chance at a head coaching job. This was the true turning point of Belichick's tenure with New England.
Instead of opening up a wide search to fill the team's offensive coordinator position, Belichick instead leaned on confidant Matt Patricia—a defensive coach—to call the team's offensive plays.
As a result? The team went 8-9 and missed the postseason while Jones significantly regressed, and the offense scored just 21.4 points per game.
January, 2023: Patricia is replaced by Bill O'Brien, offense only gets worse
Following the '22 campaign, Patriots owner Robert Kraft did what fans normally hate: he started to meddle.
After a meeting with Belichick, Kraft decided that the Patriots would not only extended linebackers coach Jerod Mayo—who we'll get to in a second—but also announced that they would begin a search for a new offensive coordinator. Just 12 days later, the team hired Bill O'Brien, once a Belichick confidant, for his second stint as the team's OC.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, New England's offense continued its rapid decline despite bringing in a seasoned play-caller. With O'Brien at the helm, the Patriots ranked 30th in the NFL in yards gained while scoring just 13.9 points per game.
Additionally, Jones continued to get worse—throwing 10 touchdowns to 12 interceptions and going 2-9 as a starter before being replaced by backup Bailey Zappe.
January, 2024: Belichick is fired by—err, parts ways with—Patriots
Enough was officially enough this time and, after a second consecutive losing season—a 4-13 one at that—Belichick and the Patriots parted ways after 24 seasons.
While it was portrayed as a "mutual" agreement for the two sides to move on, Kraft let the cat out of the bag last October when he told The Breakfast Club that he did, in fact, fire Belichick, but "tried to do it in a classy way."
New England ultimately replaced Belichick with Mayo, who would go on to have a 4-13 season of his own before he, too, was fired.
The Patriots are now well on their way with Mike Vrabel at the helm. As for Belichick? Not so much.
Spring 2024: Belichick fails to land NFL coaching job, media tour begins
Five days after being fired by the Patriots, Belichick interviewed with Falcons owner Arthur Blank for the team's vacant head coaching job. The two sides were said to have been on a "fact-finding mission,” but after two meetings, Atlanta decided to instead hire Raheem Morris for the job.
It was later reported that while Blank wanted to go with Belichick, the rest of the team's executives were vehemently against it—and the owner obliged.
Stuck without a job, Belichick pivoted to media for the 2024 season. The then-72-year-old took a gig with The Pat McAfee Show to help with their NFL draft coverage, signed a deal with ESPN to do analysis with Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions (which included weekly segments on Monday Night Football's ManningCast), joined The CW's Inside the NFL, and hosted the COACH podcast for Underdog Sports alongside Patricia and Michael Lombardi.
December, 2024: Belichick is hired by North Carolina
After a season in the spotlight, it was back to coaching for Belichick. Following a litany of interviews, contract negotiations, and meetings with the school's Board of Trustees, the greatest NFL coach of all time decided to test the college ranks and was hired as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels on December 11.
After an introductory press conference that saw UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham rock his new coach's signature cut-off hoodie, Belichick brought Lombardi with him as the program's general manager, retained Freddie Kitchens as OC, and hired a staff that had plenty of NFL experience—and of course, one he was very familiar with.
From there, it was pretty much quiet on the Belichick front for a few months. That wouldn't last for long, however.
April, 2025: Jordon Hudson starts to make waves with Belichick's CBS Sunday Morning interview
Oh yeah—Belichick also wrote a book titled, The Art of Winning: Lessons From My Life in Football, during his downtime in 2024, and last spring, went on a mini media tour to promote it.
While sitting down with Tony Dokoupil for a CBS Sunday Morning interview, Belichick was accompanied by his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. The 24-year-old could be seen off-camera during the discussion and at one point, jumped in to shut down any questions about their relationship.
Afterward, she didn't seem too thrilled about how Belichick was portrayed once the interview went live.
May, 2025: North Carolina reportedly bans Hudson from football facilities
Among the many stories Pablo Torre has broken this year on his podcast, Pablo Torre Finds Out, his work on the relationship between Belichick and Hudson has been some of his best.
Torre reported on May 9 that according to multiple sources, North Carolina had banned Hudson from their football facilities and that—according to a Belichick family source—there was a "deep worry" about how detrimental Hudson could be for Belichick's legacy and reputation.
UNC issued a statement later in the day, denying that Hudson had been banned.
May-June, 2025: Belichick clears up Hudson's duties, role in his life
With Jordon now front and center, Belichick used his next several media appearances to clear up her role in his life.
While speaking with ABC's Good Morning America in May, Belichick told Michael Strahan that Hudson, "does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life so I can concentrate on football," essentially distancing her from the University.
He then told WRAL's Heidi Kirk in June that Hudson, "doesn't have any role in the UNC football program."
Sept. 1, 2025: Tar Heels get walloped by TCU on ESPN to open season
Following Belichick’s hire, ESPN rescheduled the team’s opener against the TCU Horned Frogs to a standalone, primetime matchup on Monday night.
Some incredible fanfare ensued, and the Tar Heels' offense started the game with an opening drive touchdown. Unfortunately, they failed to keep it up, and UNC lost the first game of the Belichick era 48-14.
Sept. 6, 2025: Patriots scouts banned from North Carolina, Belichick confirms
North Carolina went on to beat the Charlotte 49ers 2-3 in Week 2 and after the game, Belichick confirmed some baffling recent reporting that he had banned Patriots scouts from attending Tar Heels practices.
"It's clear that I'm not welcome there, around their facility," Belichick said with a wry smile. "And so they're not welcome at ours. It's pretty simple."
This was an interesting response for a number of reasons. First, Belichick was not banned from the Patriots' Foxborough facilities. He was fired, and not only attended Brady's Patriots Hall of Fame ceremony last June, but it was also revealed by Kraft that he intends to build a statue of him next to Brady's in the Gillette Stadium plaza once he's done coaching.
Additionally, both he and Lombardi had continuously dubbed UNC "the 33rd NFL team,” explaining that they planned to be a pipeline to the next level for their players.
Banning scouts is hardly a way to do that.
Oct. 4, 2025: UNC falls to 2-3 after blowout loss to Clemson
This past Saturday, Belichick and North Carolina fell to 2-3 on the season following a 38-10 loss to the Clemson Tigers—a loss that has since started quite the snowball for the Tar Heels.
Oct. 6, 2025: Belichick reportedly bans UNC from promoting Patriots, Drake Maye following upset win over Bills
Former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye put together a career night for the Patriots this past Sunday, going 22-for-30 passing for 273 yards while leading the Patriots to an upset win over the Buffalo Bills. You wouldn't have known it, however, if you took a look at the Tar Heels' social media presence.
That's because, according to a report from 247Sports' Ross Martin, there had been a directive from UNC head coach Bill Belichick to not tweet or retweet anything Patriots-related from the team's account.
Hours later, the team posted a highlight of Maye, but the petty damage had already been done.
Oct. 7, 2025: North Carolina coach suspended for rules violations
Tar Heels cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins was suspended by North Carolina over the team's bye week for allegedly supplying extra benefits to a player. According to the report from The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Hawkins provided a player's family with sideline passes for a game earlier this season.
Oct. 7, 2025: Parents of Tar Heels players reportedly unhappy with Belichick
A bombshell report from WRAL in North Carolina called the Tar Heels' program a "complete disaster.”
The story revealed that both players and their parents are growing frustrated about the direction of the program, citing defensive coordinator Steve Belichick as having "not talked or had a conversation with most of the guys on defense," and Lombardi being "rude" and "nasty."
Oct. 7, 2025: Tar Heels' Hulu docuseries canceled
Adding insult to injury, the docuseries that Hulu was planning to release on Belichick's first year in North Carolina—one that Hudson got very cocky about on social media this summer—has been canceled.
Oct. 8, 2025: Rumors swirl of Belichick, North Carolina potentially parting ways via buyout
The dam broke open on Wednesday afternoon when rumors began to swirl about North Carolina and Belichick discussing a potential exit strategy for the coach.
While Sports Illustrated has been unable to confirm the reporting, the smoke around the program is at least noteworthy.
Oct. 8, 2025: UNC, Belichick release half-hearted statement showing united front
In response to the aforementioned rumors, both Belichick and AD Cunningham released statements on Wednesday night:
"I'm fully committed to UNC Football and the program we're building here," read Belichick's statement.
"Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and University," Cunningham added.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bill Belichick Timeline: From Patriots Firing to Most Recent North Carolina Turmoil.
