Bill Belichick earned his first victory as a college coach on Saturday when his North Carolina Tar Heels defeated Charlotte, 20-3, but it didn’t come without another layer of off-the-field controversy.

The victory in Charlotte was a must-win for UNC after an embarrassing 48-14 loss to TCU in the Tar Heels home opener last week in Chapel Hill. The thrashing before a celebrity-filled crowd ignited a social media firestorm about his girlfriend Jordan Hudson’s involvement in the program. A win over Charlotte seemed to be the remedy to quiet the drama.

But celebrations over the Tar Heels’ first win quickly turning into another controversy when Mr. Belichick confirmed reports he banned scouts working for his former employer, the New England Patriots, from attending practices at North Carolina this summer. “It’s clear I’m not welcomed in their facility, so they aren’t welcomed in ours. Simple as that,” Mr. Belichick told reporters in Charlotte.

Mr. Belichick won six Super Bowls during a two decade career as the head coach at New England. He was fired in 2024 and reports of a deteriorating relationship with New England owner Robert Kraft have persisted since. 

The barring of New England scouts by Mr. Belichick is petty given their purpose is to evaluate skills of UNC players that might be considered for the NFL draft or free agent acquisition. Scouts who attend practices or visit an NFL facility observe from a distance. Interaction with the head coach isn’t necessary. This is all about the bad blood between Mr. Belichick and Mr. Kraft despite the unprecedented success they enjoyed at New England.

After firing Mr. Belichick, Mr. Kraft was critical of the power he gave his former head coach. “I had given him so much power,” Mr. Kraft said on The Breakfast Club.  “He had full control over everything, and shame on me. I should have had some checks and balances better.”

Perhaps this latest dustup with the Patriots will take some of the spotlight off Ms. Hudson, who was the subject of social media scorn following the Tar Heels dreadful showing in their season opener.

A post on X by Sports commentator Zach Gelb’s was typical of the backlash.  “BREAKING: Bill Belichick’s girlfriend Jordan Hudson has entered the transfer portal.”

The quip is in reference to the very public romance between the 73-year-old coaching legend and the 24-year-old Ms. Hudson, who has been a constant presence since he accepted the head coaching job at UNC last December.

The poor showing in the opener raised concerns about how much influence Ms. Hudson is having on the program. Minutes before the opening kickoff she was seen wearing tight-fitting Carolina Blue pants on the sidelines chatting with Mr. Belichick as the Tar Heels conducted their pregame warmups.

Later, she was front and center in a suite amongst the many celebrities in attendance like Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, Julius Peppers and Randy Moss.

She also raised eyebrows recently when a company owned by Mr. Belichick and reportedly managed by Ms. Hudson filed to trademark the phrase “Gold Digger.”  The filing, according to reports, states the company intends to use the phrase for a jewelry brand.

UNC hired Mr. Belichick for $10 million per year to boost the profile of its football game. He’s accomplished that with a mixture of good, bad, and the ugly. The good is the $18 million generated by the Rams Club, a UNC booster group. The bad is the negative publicity surrounding his relationship with Ms. Hudson that began when she reportedly interrupted an interview with CBS. The ugly came in the season opener.

The Tar Heels (1-1) will be heavily favored next week when they return to Chapel Hill to host Richmond. The Spiders, competing in the Patriot League for the first year, also improved to 1-1 on the season with a 14-10 win over Wofford.