Bill Belichick opened his debut season at North Carolina under an unusual spotlight, with much of the attention centered on his fast-moving romance with his 20-something girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
As he heads into Year 2 in Chapel Hill, however, it is another 20-something companion drawing notice: Belichick’s aging station wagon.
Tar Heels center Christo Kelly told ESPN’s Pete Thamel that Belichick gets around in a red Volvo from sometime in the 2000s, a detail the North Carolina graduate student sees as another sign of the coach’s all-business approach to football.
‘He’s just a simple man,’ Kelly said.
That description may only go so far. Belichick is, after all, an eight-time Super Bowl champion whose relationship with Hudson has become a fixture of international tabloid coverage. The image of the 74-year-old driving his 25-year-old girlfriend around in an old Volvo station wagon only adds another curious layer to the story.
Still, the detail quickly caught fire online, where fans were amused to learn that one of football’s most decorated coaches apparently favors a practical Scandinavian car long associated with safety, dependability and strong resale value.
Bill Belichick began his first season at North Carolina amid questions about his whirlwind romance with his 20-something girlfriend, Jordon Hudson (pictured in September)
This 2004 Volvo station wagon is not Belichick’s, though he is said to drive a similar model
‘A RED VOLVO STATION WAGON,’ one fan wrote on X. ‘I love this man. No ego, no luxury, just pure football and a reliable car. Legend.’
One North Carolina State fan asked if the car was ‘Wolfpack red,’ while many more commenters referenced Belichick’s romance with Hudson.
‘No 70 year old man who is dating a girl just out of college is doodling around in an old Volvo station wagon,’ one suspicious critic responded. ‘Those two things are completely incompatible with each other.’
Belichick is coming off a rough first season in college football after winning two Super Bowl titles as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator and another six alongside Tom Brady as head coach of the New England Patriots.
His arrival at the college level was a spectacle, one that put a national spotlight on a school with a football program that had long been an ACC also-ran compared to its tradition-rich men’s basketball program being among the nation’s blueblood elite.
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Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson are seen at the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby
There’s less buzz this time around. There’s no curiosity to imagining what it will look like for Belichick to roam a college sideline sporting his trademark hoodie garb. And the Tar Heels’ poor on-field performance offers little reason to expect a big leap in Year 2.
Yet similar to what he was known for in his Patriots tenure, Belichick is focused on his internal evaluation. And he sees cause for optimism.
‘Last year when we started, we were literally starting from scratch,’ he said. ‘We’re above that now for sure.’
Belichick has pointed numerous times to the Tar Heels getting a late run into recruiting after his December hiring, starting with jumping into the transfer portal and then pulling from the high school ranks. That meant pulling together a roster to get started with spring drills, then going through more waves of roster changes leading into preseason camp.
‘The biggest thing last year was just how behind we were,’ Belichick said of his December 2024 arrival.
By the time the Tar Heels started last season, they had 70 new players.
‘This time a year ago, we didn’t have a quarterback who had taken a snap even in spring ball for us,’ Belichick said.
‘Last year we didn’t have any player-run practices. We couldn’t actually line up a team and run against another team without the coaches being out there because we didn’t have anybody that knew enough on either side of the ball to do that. Whereas this year these guys have done it all spring and all summer.’
Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick fields questions during the ACC Kickoff media days
To that point, the Tar Heels have plenty of newness on the roster with 60 new players, 40 true freshmen and 17 redshirt freshmen. But UNC also had 35 of the first-year freshmen arrive in time to go through spring practices while there’s enough returnees to offer continuity and better stability.
‘Culture’s a lot different, work ethic’s different,’ Belichick said. ‘I’m not taking anything away from the guys that were here. But compared to a year ago, we just know a lot more about what we’re doing and how to do it and our culture’s a lot different.’
Belichick’s appearance at this ACC Kickoff event last year was the center of attention. So too was his nationally televised Labor Day debut in front of a sellout home crowd against TCU.
Yet the Tar Heels lost that game in a blowout in what turned out to be a harbinger of frustration to come. And Belichick’s mere presence on the sideline only magnified the pressure that arose from on-field troubles and unwanted off-field headlines, from an assistant coach’s suspension to tabloid-like interest in Belichick’s relationship with 25-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson .
‘Seeing a guy like Coach Belichick, who’s constantly in the spotlight – I mean, the guy could cure cancer and people would still write negative pieces about him,’ offensive lineman Christo Kelly said.
‘But seeing how he handles himself through everything, seeing how he’s continued to block out the noise, it really sets the standard for what we should be doing.’
UNC head coach Bill Belichick poses with senior Thaddeus Dixon and family before the first half of the game against the rival Duke Blue Devils at Kenan Memorial Stadium on November 22
By the end of the year, Belichick had fielded a team that had more losses by double-digit margins (five) than total wins, with two home losses ending in an empty stadium with Tar Heels fans having fled early for the exits. UNC’s three wins against Bowl Subdivision opponents came against teams with a combined 8-28 record (Charlotte, Syracuse and Stanford), while the Tar Heels failed to make a bowl for the first time since 2018.
‘We really felt like it was all Carolina – Carolina for Carolina, nobody else was really rooting for us, everybody wanted to see Coach Belichick fail,’ receiver Jordan Shipp said.
‘It was just like we knew that we were in this by ourselves. And everybody that was here last year, we know that feeling. So now we know what to expect.’
The same goes for Belichick, who was asked in the afternoon what he had learned about himself at UNC.
‘That I like coaching in college,’ Belichick said. ‘I didn’t know whether I would or wouldn’t, but I do.’
