From the outside, it seems like Bill Belichick is living his best life. He’s back to coaching at the college level, where his journey began, and he’s happily dating 24-year-old Jordon Hudson. The couple is living it up. From gracing NFL honors’ red carpets to Florida beaches, they seem to be doing everything together. He even requested UNC to include her in all correspondence with him!
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However, many remain curious about why he’s dating someone so much younger despite being fully aware of the age gap and public scrutiny. Enter Skip Bayless, who has a theory.
According to him, the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach is strategically dating Jordan to appeal to the younger generation—particularly the recruits he hopes to bring to North Carolina. Skip suggests that Belichick is sending a message:
“I may be older, but I’m still the top dog who built two dynasties in New England.”
Skip argues that capturing the attention of 18-year-old athletes isn’t easy, and Belichick needed to do something that would instantly make him more relevant in their eyes. Dating a 24-year-old, he claims, is a way to generate buzz for both himself and UNC.
“He’s actually playing to an 18-year-old crowd with a 24-year-old girlfriend as if to say to the kids out there, especially the males, that old Bill still got it. He needs attention, he needs publicity. He spent all those years in New England avoiding attention at every step. Now he needs a splash of attention because he needs to put himself back on the map in college football.”
However, Bayless’s co-host—who also happens to be his wife, Ernestine—strongly disagreed with his take. She doesn’t buy the idea that Belichick is dating Jordan for publicity, and if he is, she doesn’t think it will work. In her opinion, rather than boosting his reputation, dating someone so young has made him the butt of a joke.
“But he can put himself on the map just by his credibility of what he has done all those years as a coach. My opinion, I don’t think that’s going to give credibility with these young guys- ‘wow, he’s dating this 24-year old, let’s sign with him’. I think they would look at him and laugh.”
Skip also pointed out another possible advantage of Jordon’s presence in Belichick’s life—social media. The former Patriots coach has always been notoriously private and old-school, but in today’s digital age, that won’t cut it.
According to Skip, Jordon, as a modern, social media-savvy woman, is helping the notoriously social-media-illiterate Belichick promote himself in ways he never could on his own.
Neither Skip nor Ernestine take issue with the age gap between two consenting adults. However, Mrs. Bayless believes the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach should hire a professional social media manager to separate his personal life from his coaching career. She also noted that Belichick doesn’t seem entirely comfortable in Jordon’s social media posts.
It’s unlikely that Bill Belichick entered this relationship with the intention of using Jordon for PR or attention—he’s simply with someone who makes him happy. Their relationship appears to be mutually beneficial. After all, wealthy men dating younger women is nothing new.
