David Hale
Amid a 2-3 start to Bill Belichick’s tenure at North Carolina, the team has scrapped plans for a documentary series chronicling the season with Hulu, according to a report from Inside Carolina.
The series, which was set to follow UNC throughout the season, was actually UNC’s second crack at a documentary from Belichick’s inaugural campaign, but an earlier project with HBO’s “Hard Knocks” was also scrapped over the summer.
Reports following the “Hard Knocks” decision cited discomfort with the role Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, would play in the project. However, UNC strongly denied this and said the decision was ultimately Belichick’s.
Sources at the time told ESPN that Belichick soured on the HBO project because he planned to follow North Carolina through fall camp, and he wanted the opportunity to showcase the full extent of the Tar Helles’ season, which the Hulu show would do.
Documents obtained by ESPN in a public records request showed that Hudson likely would have had a significant role in any documentary, with a “talking points” note from the school’s public relations department saying, “Jordon is taking an active role in the filming and production of a documentary about Coach Belichick’s first Carolina football season.”
Nixing the Hulu Project probably has a lot more to do with the on-field issues Belichick is facing at Carolina.
The Heels lost their first three games against Power Four opponents by a combined score of 120-33, including a blowout loss to the Clemson Tigers last Saturday in which the Heels trailed 28-3 after the first quarter.
Belichick offered little public criticism of his team, noting after the Clemson game that he had not seen significant changes in personnel or coaching staff.
“The main thing we have to do is continue to do what we’re doing but do them better,” Belichick said. “Basically we’re not doing the wrong things, we’re not doing them well enough.”
UNC general manager Michael Lombardi raised eyebrows, however, with a letter to donors last week asking for patience with the program during a “rebuilding” period, noting the number of players from past recruiting classes who had left the program. UNC picked up 70 transfers after Belichick arrived, including 30 in the spring portal window.
The characterization that this was a rebuilding project, however, was not part of Belichick’s vernacular in the offseason, and he was a receiver Jordan Shipp spurned against Clemson’s loss.
“I’m not here to rebuild, I’m here to win football games,” Shipp said. “That’s why I’m here. Whatever they do with the donors, it has nothing to do with me. I’m here to win football games and that’s 100 percent of my goal.”
