Former New England Patriots star Asante Samuel called out his former head coach, Bill Belichick, over an alleged double standard in Belichick’s relationship with his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
“The coach is being a hypocrite. He’s being a hypocrite, man,” Samuel told TMZ Sports in an interview published on Saturday, November 15. “The way he’s carrying on. He told us to stay off the media and don’t have family distractions and things like that. Coach has all of this stuff going on. Coach, where did this come from? Why wasn’t we able to enjoy ourselves like this now that you want to enjoy yourself?”
Samuel, 44, played for Belichick, 73, in New England from 2003 to 2007, winning two Super Bowls. During that time, the “Belichick Way” became a popular mantra, insisting that Patriots players not allow off-the-field distractions get in the way of the task at hand.
Since Belichick and Hudson, 24, went public with their relationship last year, the legendary football coach has been featured on Hudson’s social media, while she’s taken a role in his professional life. Hudson has also been a regular fixture on the sidelines at University of North Carolina football games.
The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Stanford Cardinal, 20-15, on Saturday, November 8, but the real showdown might have come off the field between Jordon Hudson and her boyfriend Bill Belichick’s daughter-in-law. Hudson, 24, and Jennifer Schmitt, who is married to Belichick’s son Stephen, both attended the game but awkwardly seemed to keep their […]
Belichick was announced as the new head coach at North Carolina in December 2024. After 24 years in New England, he parted ways with the Patriots after the 2023 season.
While Samuel couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at Belichick’s not-so-private life, he acknowledged he’s rooting for his former coach in the love department.
“At the end of the day, you have to be happy,” Samuel said. “Whatever that looks like, just be happy. Find happiness. If it’s going to be a little embarrassing and you don’t mind, the other person doesn’t mind and y’all are happy together and it’s authentic, go with it. Just be happy.”
FOXBORO, MA – JANUARY 07: Asante Samuel of the New England Patriots stands on the sidelines after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter against the New York Jets during the AFC Wild Card Playoff Game at Gillette Stadium on January 7, 2007 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Elsa/Getty Images
As for Belichick’s job at North Carolina — which has seen the Tar Heels limp to a 4-6 record — Samuel expressed some optimism about the future.
“He’s going to go through growing pains,” Samuel explained. “He’s been in the NFL for so long. Adjusting to coaching kids and younger athletes with a new [Name, Image and Likeness] era and things like that, it might take a little while for him to adjust to the system.”
He continued, “Obviously he has to grow up out of his ways. The old ways he used to do things is definitely not going to work and the cat’s out of the bag. No one’s going for that anymore. That has been exposed.”
Jordon Hudson was caught making disparaging remarks on a hot mic as questions continue to swirl about her involvement in her boyfriend Bill Belichick’s professional life. In footage shown on the Friday, October 17, episode of the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast, Hudson, 24, can be seen getting involved in the taping of the first […]
Samuel isn’t the only former Patriot to criticize Belichick’s relationship with Hudson.
New England legend Julian Edelman — who played for Belichick from 2009 to 2020 — echoed Samuel’s recollection about Belichick always trying to limit outside noise.
“The No. 1 thing we used to talk about in New England was distractions,” Edelman, 38, said during an appearance in May on The Herd with Colin Cowherd. ‘“Let’s not make distractions. The game’s already as hard as it is.’”
Edelman added, “Now that it’s gained and snowballed to what it’s become right now, where we’re talking about it three weeks later, it’s become a distraction. That’s what we all think now. This is becoming a distraction. We gotta practice as we preach here.”