Ex-Patriots Boss Calls for Help After Girlfriend Turns Book Tour Into a Disaster — Meet the Fixer

For decades, Bill Belichick kept tight control over every aspect of his New England Patriots football operation. Now, just months into his post-Pats chapter as head coach at North Carolina, that legendary command appears to have slipped—at least off the field.

The fallout from Belichick’s bizarre CBS Sunday Morning appearance, intended to promote his new book, The Art of Winning: Lessons From My Life in Football, has pushed the coaching icon into unfamiliar territory: public relations rehab. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Belichick “has had conversations with at least one experienced P.R. specialist in the hopes of boosting his book tour and/or the overall interests of the North Carolina football program.”

That specialist is Brandon Faber, former vice president of communications for the Chicago Bears. Florio reports the two have been in discussions “for months,” although no deal has been finalized. If hired, Faber could be tasked with cleaning up the mess surrounding Belichick’s image—both as a first-time college head coach and as a newly public figure with a much-younger girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.

That relationship drew the spotlight during last week’s interview with CBS’s Tony Dokoupil, who asked Belichick how the two met. Hudson immediately shut it down: “We’re not talking about that.” Dokoupil described her as a “constant presence” during the segment, one that didn’t go unnoticed.

Public Scrutiny Replaces the Old Patriots Media Playbook

In a statement issued Wednesday, Belichick slammed the interview’s direction. “Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book,” he said. “Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview.”

He added, “I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book. After this occurred several times, Jordon, with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion.”

Belichick also insisted the heavily circulated eight-minute segment didn’t “reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had” and called suggestions that Hudson was running the show a “false narrative.”

CBS News disagreed. “When we agreed to speak with Mr. Belichick, it was for a wide-ranging interview,” a spokesperson said. “There were no preconditions or limitations to this conversation. This was confirmed repeatedly with his publisher before the interview took place and after it was completed.”

The incident has since spiraled into a full-blown tabloid storm. Saturday Night Live took aim at the couple in a cold open, TMZ and Page Six piled on, and at least one former Patriot, Ted Johnson, questioned whether UNC should even move forward with Belichick at the helm.

With his book set to hit shelves Tuesday and North Carolina’s opener against TCU looming on Sept. 1, Belichick suddenly finds himself in unfamiliar territory: off script, under fire, and looking for someone else to call the defensive plays.

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