Somewhere in the 700 pages of UNC-Chapel Hill emails I read this week, I learned that Bill Belichick requested that staff copy his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, on every email they sent him. That’s just one small example of how life is changing in the Belichick era.
In partnership with Axios, we have a rich new story out today that looks at the more substantive impact of the Belichick deal on the university’s finances. The takeaway is that UNC-CH has been pouring millions of dollars of other funding into athletics, even before hiring Belichick. Now, they would have to raise revenues by roughly $50 million for athletics to break even without extra university support.
It’s a detailed look at how the changing world of college sports is shaping higher ed. It’s also probably the least football-y Bill Belichick story you’ll find.
As a special treat for Quad subscribers, I also wanted to share some snippets that didn’t make the final edit:
- Belichick requested Hudson be copied on emails on December 16, just a few days after he was hired, so she “can also keep up with our postings,” emails obtained via records request show. She was CC’d on later emails to Belichick in the batch we reviewed.
- UNC-CH heard from alumni who were both thrilled and furious about Belichick’s hiring. One promised to “make an incremental 6 figure donation the day he is announced.” Others worried about Belichick’s NFL-era controversies and the age gap between the 72 year old and Hudson, who is 24 and reportedly met him when she was in college. One person emailed a link to an article by the satirical Babylon Bee that was headlined “Bill Belichick Agrees to UNC Job on Condition He Can Live in Girlfriend’s Dorm,” asking whether it was true. “They can’t think this is real, right?” a UNC-CH staffer wrote to a colleague.
- On the other hand, the media attention his hiring generated was truly overwhelming. CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Fox & Friends, Mike Krzyzewski’s radio show—the requests just kept coming. Former NFL star and current TV host Michael Strahan personally reached out for an interview after his producer’s requests went unanswered.
- The volume of requests was so chaotic that no fewer than five staff members were involved in getting Belichick and his general manager, Michael Lombardi, to respond to an invitation to a dinner with UNC-CH Chancellor Lee Roberts. One of those staff members was athletic director Bubba Cunningham. “Keep me in the loop on this dinner–I may have to invite myself,” he wrote to another staffer, jokingly (I think?).
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UNC’s Risky Belichick Math
UNC-Chapel Hill transferred $21 million to the athletic department last year–and that was before hiring Bill Belichick.