Everyone knows that the post-Brady Patriots' era did not live up to the lofty expectations fans and the team were used to. Fans often debated "Brady or Belichick?" as the main driver of the Patriots' success, often landing on, they wouldn't have succeeded without one another. Then came the Tom Brady Buccaneers Super Bowl victory, and public opinion started to favor Brady.
The Belichick regime started with several focuses: strong defense, no turnovers, finding undervalued players, limited stars, team focus, and no outside distractions. It led to three Super Bowls in his first five years. The Patriots nailed the draft: Tom Brady, Richard Seymour, Matt Light, Daniel Graham, J.R. Redmond, Deion Branch, Ty Warren, Dan Koppen, Asante Samuel. Two Hall of Famers, multiple starters, and role players at every level of the draft.
That, combined with a "Moneyball" approach to free agency and team building, meant the Patriots were in good hands. Signings like Antowain Smith, Roman Phifer, Mike Vrabel, and Rodney Harrison highlighted the commitment to hard-nosed football and financial value. This led fans to the motto "In Belichick We Trust". Even the worst decisions were overlooked (Adalius Thomas, anyone?).
But something changed after Brady left. The gamesmanship of drafting that Belichick seemed to once master was gone. Belichick's draft record became unsteady. First round bust N'Keal Harry. Heir apparent Mac Jones ended up in a quarterback competition with Bailey Zappe. Cole Strange was drafted two rounds too early. This isn't to say that there were no successes. Christian Barmore, Rhamondre Stevenson, Kyle Dugger, and Michael Onwenu were all drafted outside of the first round, but the frequency of those hits had become sporadic.
A lot of Patriots fans chalked it up to a few things: Mac Jones was no Tom Brady, Belichick was doing two jobs, coaching and player personnel, he was aging, and, despite Belichick's disagreement with the assessment, the Patriots weren't spending any money. This led to a roster that eventually found its way to back-to-back bottom 5 performances. Patriots' fans were asking themselves, "Did the rest of the league just catch up to Belichick?", "Was it Brady?", "Did Bill just lose his fastball?" or was there something more?
Pablo Torre's deep dive indicates Belichick's demise may have started when he met Jordon Hudson.
Let's start with the present day. Torre spent multiple podcast episodes diving into the history of the Jordon Hudson-Bill Belichick romance. That led to a "dust up" with The Ringer's Bill Simmons over the reporting of the story, bringing more attention to the story. One particular factoid that has come about is the following from Torre:
" Coach met this woman when she was 19 years old on an airplane, and now she’s kind of running his public image as his girlfriend."
Hudson is 24 today, so that puts this chance meeting sometime in 2020. The romance did not begin until 2023, but according to Torre, Hudson showed up on the "fan cam" in Foxborough in November of 2021. Was she just your average New England football fan? Maybe. Was she there because of her chance meeting? Maybe not. Torre connects those dots in his podcast. This isn't the space for that.
In his reporting, Torre mentions the following about the Patriots' knowledge of the lead up to this December-May romance:
"They were aware of this, had questions about the Ring cam video, I don’t think they knew, necessarily, that she was at a game in November of 2021. But I do know that lots of people on the Patriots knew that, that she was around."Pablo Torre
At the time, Belichick was coming off his first losing season in 19 years, and Tom Brady had just won a Super Bowl without him. For a football lifer like Belichick, that would have been a lot. Belichick was always one to avoid the spotlight and media, but the outside noise about Brady and who was responsible for the Patriots' success may have shifted his focus to preserving his own legacy.
The Patriots sure started to think his attention wasn't fully on the success of the team in Foxborough.
"By the end, Bill Belichick wasn’t exactly dialed in in the way that even people on the Patriots wanted him to be, from above and below. "Pablo Torre
Hudson has been acting as Chief Operating Officer of Belichick Productions since August 2024, and operating Trouble Club Enterprises since 2021. The two have become far more visible, both on the field and off, with Hudson being spotted at the University of North Carolina, the infamous CBS Interview, the Miss Maine pageant, and reports of her banishment from UNC's football facilities (despite UNC's statement otherwise).
The formation of Trouble Club Enterprises, the November 2021 game, and the downward spiral of the last years of Belichick's days in New England all align. It might lead fans to think the decision to "mutually" part ways with Belichick, like Torre says, was not just a football decision. While fans may have thought it was just about performance on the field, those in the Patriots organization may not have been surprised by the performance and departure, as Belichick's focus was elsewhere.