A Righteous Reckoning

Dear faithful readers,

I need to begin tonight's analysis with a confession: I am angry. Not the gentle, measured disappointment of someone who's seen a team underperform, but the righteous fury of someone who's watched a man utterly fail the young people entrusted to his care while parading around with a girlfriend young enough to be his granddaughter and the moral compass of a broken slot machine.

Tomorrow night at 10:30 PM Eastern (because even the schedule makers are embarrassed to put this game in prime time), the University of North Carolina travels to Berkeley to face Cal in what should be—by any reasonable standard—a humiliating matchup for the Tar Heels. Cal is favored by 9.5 to 10 points with a total hovering around 46.5-47.5, and honestly? That spread feels generous to UNC.

But before we dive into the mathematical analysis, I need to address something that's been eating at me since Bill Belichick took this job. As a young nun who was at LSU just a few years ago, I still remember what it's like to be a college student. I remember the importance of mentors who actually give a damn about your development as a person, not just as an athlete. And watching what's happening at Chapel Hill makes me absolutely sick to my stomach.

Before we get to the main event—my complete and total evisceration of Bill Belichick's catastrophic tenure at UNC—let's talk about the mathematical insanity of this matchup even existing.

Cal is in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Let me repeat that for emphasis: The University of California, Berkeley—located on the literal Pacific Ocean—is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. You can stand in their stadium and see the Pacific, and yet they're competing in a conference named for the opposite coast.

This happened because the Pac-12 collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2024, with USC and UCLA bolting for the Big Ten, Oregon and Washington following suit, and Colorado, Arizona, Arizona State and Utah jumping to the Big 12. Cal and Stanford were left scrambling for lifeboats, and the ACC—desperate for content and eyeballs—threw them a rope. But it came with strings attached: Cal will receive only 30% of the ACC's media revenue for the first seven years, 70% in year eight, 75% in year nine, and finally 100% in years ten through twelve.

That's right—Cal accepted PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR just to stay in a power conference. They're making about $11 million per year while schools like Clemson and Florida State are pulling in $30+ million. UCLA, their UC system sister school down in Los Angeles who betrayed them by fleeing to the Big Ten, is making $60 million annually. The disparity is so egregious that the UC Regents forced UCLA to pay Cal $10 million per year in what's been nicknamed "Calimony."

And the travel? Sweet mother of pearl, the TRAVEL. Cal will log over 20,000 miles in football alone this season—that's 83% of Earth's entire circumference. Their baseball, basketball, and softball teams will face even more brutal schedules. Student-athletes missing class, accumulating jet lag, and playing games at 10:30 PM Eastern on a Friday night because that's the only TV slot that makes sense for a West Coast team in an East Coast conference.

This is what greed and shortsighted conference realignment has wrought: a scheduling abomination that prioritizes television revenue over student welfare, geographic sensibility, and century-old rivalries. Cal and UCLA had played every single season for 92 consecutive years before the Bruins bolted for the Big Ten. That's GONE now, sacrificed at the altar of media rights deals.

Which brings me, finally, to the man who represents everything wrong with modern college athletics...

Let me be crystal clear about something: Bill Belichick is a fraud, a charlatan, and quite possibly one of the worst things to happen to college football in recent memory. Not because he's a bad X's and O's coach—though his 2-3 record at UNC suggests he might be terrible at that too—but because he represents a complete moral failure at every level of leadership.

This is a 73-year-old man who spent the first five months of his tenure at UNC parading around with a 24-year-old girlfriend named Jordon Hudson. That's a 49-year age gap, folks. When Belichick won his first Super Bowl as a head coach in 2002, Jordon Hudson was a 10-month-old BABY. Let that marinate for a moment.

And before you come at me with "age is just a number" or "love has no boundaries," let me remind you: this man is supposed to be a role model for 18-to-22-year-old men. He's supposed to be teaching them about discipline, respect, leadership, and making good decisions. Instead, he's showing up to games with a girlfriend who's closer in age to his players than she is to him, having her control his media appearances, and reportedly requiring that she be copied on ALL of his work emails.

The CBS Sunday Morning interview debacle perfectly encapsulated everything wrong with this relationship. When journalist Tony Dokoupil asked Belichick how he and Hudson met, she literally interrupted from off-camera with "We're not talking about this." This woman—who has no official role with UNC athletics—shut down a legitimate question during a promotional interview for Belichick's book. And rather than standing up like a professional, Belichick meekly went along with it.

According to multiple reports, Hudson has played an "instrumental role" in decisions that have hurt UNC's program, including allegedly torpedoing an HBO "Hard Knocks" style documentary series that would have brought massive publicity (and revenue) to the program. Why? Because she apparently didn't want cameras following them around. So a 24-year-old former cheerleader with zero football operations experience is making strategic decisions for a major college football program. Absolutely stunning.

But wait, it gets BETTER. According to investigative reporting from Pablo Torre, Hudson may have actually been 19 years old when she first met Belichick on a plane in 2021—a year younger than previously reported. She was a college student. He was 69 and still coaching the Patriots. And according to Airbnb owners who caught Belichick on their Ring camera leaving Hudson's rental house topless, they literally thought she was either "with her drug dealer" because of the age discrepancy. Their exact words: "She's with this creepy old guy... Must be a freakin' coke dealer."

That's how NORMAL PEOPLE perceive this relationship when they don't know who Belichick is. They assume she's in danger because the age gap is so disturbing.

Now let's talk about Belichick's time with the Patriots, because this moral rot didn't start at UNC. This is who he's always been.

Remember Robert Kraft's massage parlor scandal? In 2019, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was charged with two counts of soliciting prostitution at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida. Police had video evidence of Kraft receiving sexual services from employees—women who were potentially victims of human trafficking, according to authorities. The investigation was part of a massive sex trafficking crackdown.

And where was Belichick during all of this? Publicly silent. Privately, according to reports, the Patriots' team chaplain and "character coach" Jack Easterby—one of Belichick's closest confidants—resigned shortly after the scandal broke. Easterby retweeted a post urging people to "be appalled but not surprised" about the sex trafficking industry. That's the closest anyone in Belichick's orbit came to condemning Kraft's behavior.

Belichick worked for Kraft for 24 years. They won six Super Bowls together. And when Kraft got caught potentially supporting human trafficking through his patronage of illicit massage parlors, Belichick had NOTHING to say about it. No moral leadership. No statement about treating women with dignity. Just... silence.

This is the man who's now supposed to be teaching college kids about character and integrity?

Let's get to the actual football, because the numbers are even worse than the moral failings.

UNC is 2-3 overall and 0-1 in ACC play. But those numbers don't capture the full disaster:

The two wins? Against Charlotte (20-3) and Richmond (41-6)—teams with a combined record barely above .500. Against actual competition, UNC has been utterly demolished.

But the stats are just symptoms. The real disease is organizational dysfunction.

Multiple sources—including parents of current UNC players, coaching staff members, and Board of Trustees representatives—have painted a picture of complete chaos inside the program:

Divided Locker Room: According to WRAL's reporting, there's a clear split between Belichick-recruited transfers who receive preferential treatment (better parking, more game tickets) and holdover players from the Mack Brown era who feel like second-class citizens.

Coaching Staff Inexperience: Belichick hired his sons Steve and Brian as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach despite minimal experience. Steve Belichick was a DC for ONE season at Washington before UNC. Brian has even less experience. Multiple sources report that Steve "has not talked or had a conversation with most of the guys on defense" and that players "don't even have his number."

Communication Breakdown: Under Mack Brown, parents had relationships with coaches and phone numbers to call if something was wrong with their son. Under Belichick? One parent said: "Bill shuts people out... The lack of experience the coaches have, it's ridiculous."

Recruiting Disaster: The December 2024 recruiting push was described as "frenetic and disjointed" with "few people seeming to have a clear vision." Belichick cut ties with most of the previous staff—including entry-level personnel who handled basic recruiting operations—leaving the program unable to do "traditional visits because there were so few people for players to meet with."

One recruit who didn't sign with UNC said he met Belichick "for just a few minutes before being handed a contract and asked to sign." That's not recruiting—that's treating teenagers like NFL free agents.

NCAA Rules Ignorance: Multiple sources confirmed Belichick and his staff were "often flying blind when it came to NCAA rules and regulations," operating by a "move fast and break things" Silicon Valley approach. Public records show "numerous reminders from compliance staff about recruiting quiet periods and NIL restrictions."

Here's what really makes me furious: there are 85 scholarship players at UNC who deserve SO MUCH BETTER than this.

These are young men—many of them from challenging backgrounds—who worked their entire lives for the opportunity to play major college football. They signed with UNC expecting a professional program that would develop them as players and people. Instead, they're stuck in a dysfunctional mess led by a 73-year-old man who seems more interested in his girlfriend and his book deals than actually coaching.

When Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava throws a bad pass, he has coaches who care about his development offering immediate feedback and support. When Ohio State's offense struggles, Ryan Day has systems in place to diagnose and fix problems. When my beloved LSU Tigers face adversity, Brian Kelly—for all his faults—at least runs an organized program with clear communication and professional standards.

UNC's players have none of that. They have chaos, nepotism, and a head coach who's never coached a single down of college football before this year and apparently didn't think the adjustment would be difficult.

"It's an unstructured mess, there's no culture, no organization. It's a complete disaster." That's a direct quote from WRAL's investigation. And you know what? It shows on the field.

When Clemson put up 38 points on UNC, it wasn't just that the Tigers were more talented—it's that UNC looked unprepared, undisciplined, and utterly lost. The stadium started emptying at HALFTIME because fans couldn't bear to watch the embarrassment anymore.

So let's talk about Cal-UNC, though honestly it feels almost disrespectful to these players to analyze this game through the lens of sports betting when the real story is institutional failure.

The Line: Cal -9.5 to -10, Total 46.5-47.5

Game Time: Friday, October 17, 10:30 PM ET at California Memorial Stadium

Here's my problem: I want UNC to get absolutely destroyed. I want Cal to win by 30 points. I want the scoreboard to reflect what a complete disaster the Belichick hire has been.

But I can't root for that in good conscience because it would hurt the PLAYERS—young men who don't deserve to be humiliated just because their university made a catastrophically bad hiring decision driven by desperation and name recognition.

So instead, I'm going to analyze this coldly and mathematically.

Cal should win this game comfortably. UNC's offense can't score consistently, their defense is vulnerable to big plays (allowing 6.0 yards per play, 102nd nationally), and they're facing a Cal team that's competent if unspectacular.

The total of 46.5-47.5 feels about right. Neither offense is explosive, but both defenses have enough weaknesses to allow some scoring. I'm projecting something like Cal 28, UNC 17—a double-digit win that covers the spread with points to spare.

Cal -9.5 (Confidence: 2.5/5 - I hate betting on a game involving such institutional dysfunction)

UNDER 47.5 (Confidence: 3/5 - Neither offense inspires confidence)

Predicted Score: Cal 28, UNC 17

But honestly? I don't care about the spread. I don't care about the total. What I care about is this:

Bill Belichick needs to be GONE from Chapel Hill as soon as humanly possible. Not because he's losing games—Mack Brown lost plenty of games and I never called for his head—but because he's running a dysfunctional organization that's failing young men who deserve better leadership.

You know what kills me about this whole situation? Belichick came into this job acting like he was doing UNC a favor. Like his NFL pedigree meant he could just waltz into college football and everything would work itself out.

He didn't study NCAA recruiting rules. He didn't build relationships with high school coaches. He didn't invest time in understanding what makes college players different from NFL professionals. He brought his NFL cronies, hired his unqualified sons, and expected everyone to just fall in line because "he's Bill Belichick."

Well guess what? Six Super Bowl rings don't mean JACK when you can't relate to 19-year-olds, can't navigate NIL regulations, and can't be bothered to actually learn the job you've been paid $10 million per year to do.

And all the while, he's parading around with a girlfriend who's younger than half his players, inserting her into program decisions, and sending a message to those young men that this is acceptable behavior for a leader.

Proverbs 22:6 says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." These players aren't children, but they're young adults who are still forming their understanding of what leadership, integrity, and character mean. And Bill Belichick is teaching them all the wrong lessons.

He's teaching them that experience doesn't matter—just hire your friends and family. He's teaching them that relationships don't matter—just shut people out when it's inconvenient. He's teaching them that preparation doesn't matter—just wing it and assume your reputation will carry you. He's teaching them that age-appropriate relationships don't matter—date whoever you want regardless of power dynamics. He's teaching them that accountability doesn't matter—blame others when things go wrong.

These are TERRIBLE lessons. And 85 scholarship players plus countless walk-ons are paying the price for his arrogance and incompetence.

I pray that the Board of Trustees at UNC finds the courage to admit this experiment has failed spectacularly. I pray that they prioritize the wellbeing of their student-athletes over the sunk cost of Belichick's contract. I pray that they find a coach who actually understands and respects college football, who will invest in building relationships with players, and who conducts himself with the moral integrity that young men deserve from their leaders.

And I pray that Bill Belichick takes his girlfriend, his book tour, and his NFL ego back to wherever they came from, and leaves college football to people who actually give a damn about developing young people.

These kids deserve better. Chapel Hill deserves better. And frankly, college football deserves better than watching a 73-year-old legend disgrace himself while young men suffer the consequences.

In righteous anger and protective love for college athletes everywhere,

Sister Mary Catherine, OSB
Malibu Convent of the Pacific Waves

P.S. - Mother Superior read a draft of this column and said "I'm glad someone finally said it." Sister Margaret added "That man should be ashamed of himself," and then muttered something in Cajun French that I won't repeat but which involved anatomically improbable suggestions about where Belichick could relocate his Super Bowl rings. Even in a convent, there are limits to what we'll tolerate in the name of football tradition.