It didn't look like it the last time University of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick sat down in front of a camera.
But now it is showing: Belichick is a master strategist.
Belichick, a key player in New York Giants history as helped coach the defense to two Super Bowls and the mastermind behind the New England Patriots dynasty, is now failing a bit in the court of public opinion.
And why? It's largely due to his partner, Jordon Hudson. The two have a 48-year age gap, and Hudson, 24, has reportedly gained increasing control over Belichick as his de facto manager.
This issue came to a head during a recent interview with CBS which was meant to promote his new book.
Belichick was asked how he met Hudson. Hudson, sitting at a desk out of frame, was suddenly seen and heard running the show and insisting that they wouldn’t be talking about that.
It did not play well.
Belichick’s next interview of that ilk will come on ABC and will be conducted by former New York defensive end Michael Strahan.
And we can already sense the tone will be different. How?
Appearing on ESPN, Belichick made an effort to insist that his relationship with Hudson is purely personal and that she has nothing to do with the North Carolina football program.
"It's off to the side, a personal relationship. She doesn't have anything to do with UNC football,'' he said.
That, of course, does not synch at all with the word from UNC, where we know she has been spotted on the field, seemingly helping to organize, and where she has access to the buildings, and where she was recently noted in correspondence from the coach telling all to copy her in any emails sent to him.
We have suggested in this space before that it would take a great deal to truly derail Belichick's career and soil his resume. At the same time, he is clearly aware that Hudson's presence has become polarizing.
And because he's now claiming their relationship is purely personal, it will be worth watching the Strahan interview to see who all is present ... and trying to run it.