When he isn't diving deep into the murky situation surrounding Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers and bankrupt financial company Aspiration, journalist Pablo Torre has had regular updates investigating the relationship between Bill Belichick, girlfriend Jordon Hudson and their impact on North Carolina football.

Torre teased his Friday episode of his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out the day before, reporting that UNC general manager Mike Lombardi made a fundraising trip to Saudi Arabia just weeks before the 2025 season. That note was just a small part of the episode, which focused on leaked video of Belichick, Hudson, Lombardi and former Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia on the set of Belichick's short-lived podcast Coach. Belichick put that project on pause when he took the UNC job, with plans to relaunch it as a Tar Heels-focused production during the season, plans that were put on pause after North Carolina lost its season opener to TCU 48–14.

The footage shows the significant influence that Hudson had over productions, notably questioning some of the graphics choices made by those working for the Underdog Network to produce the show. The podcast was filmed at the studios of NFL Films, for which Belichick also worked as an analyst on Inside the NFL during his season away from coaching.

Releasing a statement to The Pat McAfee Show, NFL Films stressed that it had no role in producing Coach aside of letting Belichick use their studio out of courtesy, and that the company does not believe the leak to Torre came from any of its employees.

As read by McAfee:

"When this footage was captured, NFL Films did not produce Coach with Bill Belichick. NFL Films did not edit this show, NFL Films did not shoot the show, NFL Films did not and does not own the show. As a matter of convenience to him... NFL films allowed Coach Belichick and the production team from Underdog to use the studio for his Coach show because he was already here in his capacity as talent on Inside the NFL.

"NFL Films has a longstanding relationship with Bill Belichick based on trust and mutual respect built over many years of working together. We have absolutely no reason to believe this footage leak came from NFL Films or from any employee of NFL Films."

We may never know who leaked the footage. The episode pulls back the curtain on some of the internecine squabbles that have taken place within Belichick's orbit, however. According to Torre, it was Lombardi that spread the (evidently false) rumor that Hudson was not allowed around the football program, something he isn't sure Hudson was aware of before the episode aired.

Caught in the crosshairs, of course—the Tar Heels football program and its players.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as NFL Films Issues Statement to Deny Role in Bill Belichick-Jordon Hudson Footage Leak.