The sports world was stunned when it was reported that Bill Belichick and the University of North Carolina would supplant an NFL team to star on the offseason edition of Hard Knocks on HBO.
But, as it turns out, it was too good to be true.
While the idea of Belichick bringing his own version of Hard Knocks to Chapel Hill was undeniably intriguing — and perhaps something that could still work in a different format — a few key factors seemed to derail the chance for fans to get a behind-the-scenes look at the 72-year-old coaching legend in his first season as a college coach.
First and foremost, NFL owners weren’t exactly thrilled with the idea of NFL Films turning its camera lens on Belichick’s college venture.
Additionally, some have suggested that Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordan Hudson, played a role in the Tar Heels’ decision to backtrack. “Creative control” was cited as the official reason for the change of heart, but some believe there was more to the story.
However, Michael Lombardi, speaking without mention of Hudson, provided some insight into why things ultimately didn’t work out.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday, Lombardi explained why the idea fell apart.
“We control the story that we need to tell here and the story that we wanna tell doesn’t end after we play TCU..
The story that we wanna tell is about rebuilding this program” ~ @mlombardiuncgm #PMSLive https://t.co/pnsXC8WqFG pic.twitter.com/m75vQUH4NP
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 19, 2025
“It would’ve been great,” Lombardi admitted on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday. “The problem was that we control the story we need to tell here. And the story that we want to tell doesn’t end after we play TCU. The story that we want to tell is about how we’re rebuilding this program, how we’re going to honor the great players that have come before us. How we’re going to re-store Tar Heel football, and make this stadium come alive on Saturday afternoons, like a lot of the other schools in the ACC. That’s the story we want to tell.
“And when it stops after the first game like Hard Knocks does, it doesn’t really do as any good to tell that story. And that really was the concern that we all had here in the building. We’re storytellers. When you let them in the building, we’re going to tell a story. And the story we want to tell about how we’re working to build this program, and we’re going to work hard to recruit and do all that — and that extends into September, October, November; it can’t stop at Labor Day. I think that was more the issue.”
Lombardi wasn’t done there.
He called out the “misinformation” surrounding the situation and tossed a jab at Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio in the process. He took issue with Florio’s reporting on Belichick slowly filling out his staff at Chapel Hill, dismissing him as “somebody who runs a website,” as Lombardi put it.
Lombardi couldn’t resist a dig at Florio, but to his credit, the initial report about the Chapel Hill-Hard Knocks actually came from Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports, not Florio.
So, while the dream of Hard Knocks in Chapel Hill may have crumbled, Belichick and his team are still focused on a far greater narrative: one of rebuilding, revitalizing and restoring a historic program for the long haul.
And that may come with some jabs at Florio — for whatever reason — along the way.