Bill Belichick says CBS interview created a "false narrative"

On Sunday, CBS Mornings debuted an interview with North Carolina coach Bill Belichick. It did not go well.

Three days later, North Carolina has issued a quote from Belichick.

"I agreed to speak with CBS Sunday Morning to promote my new book, 'The Art of Winning — Lessons from My Life in Football,'" Belichick said. "Prior to this interview, I clearly communicated with my publicist at Simon & Schuster that any promotional interviews I participated in would agree to focus solely on the contents of the book.

"Unfortunately, that expectation was not honored during the interview. I was surprised when unrelated topics were introduced, and I repeatedly expressed to the reporter, Tony Dokoupil, and the producers that I preferred to keep the conversation centered on the book. After this occurred several times, Jordon [Hudson], with whom I share both a personal and professional relationship, stepped in to reiterate that point to help refocus the discussion. She was not deflecting any specific question or topic but simply doing her job to ensure the interview stayed on track. Some of the clips make it appear as though we were avoiding the question of how we met, but we have been open about the fact that Jordon and I met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021.

"The final eight-minute segment does not reflect the productive 35-minute conversation we had, which covered a wide range of topics related to my career. Instead, it presents selectively edited clips and stills from just a few minutes of the interview to suggest a false narrative — that Jordon was attempting to control the conversation — which is simply not true."

The interview, as played by CBS, shows Hudson specifically refusing to let Belichick answer a question about how they met. All Belichick had to say was, "We met on a flight to Palm Beach in 2021" or, as he has done on many prior occasions during press conferences, "That's already been addressed."

But if there's any doubt about how the 35-minute conversation went, there's a very simple solution. CBS should post the entire discussion, either on Paramount+ or YouTube.

We've heard that Hudson repeatedly interrupted the interview. TMZ.com reported that, at one point, she stormed out of the room, delaying the interview by 30 minutes.

Also, why does Belichick think he gets to dictate the terms of a book-tour interview? This is how it works when you publish a book. You submit to a bunch of interviews that are aimed at promoting the book. If you don't like it, don't write the book.

It's the same attitude he had when he coached the Patriots. His umpteen millions came in part from the fact that million of people were interested in his team. At times, Belichick acted like media obligations were an annoyance. As I said at the time (more than once), if he doesn't like the attention that goes with the job, he should go coach high-school lacrosse — and be compensated accordingly.

CBS had no obligation to stick to a script or submit questions for pre-approval. This was a softball interview; it was CBS Mornings, not 60 Minutes.

Finally, he can't pretend to have a firewall between Hudson and his book. Belichick put this in the acknowledgements: "Thank you to my ideal mill and creative muse, Jordon Hudson." It was and is fair game to ask him about her.

The ball is now squarely in CBS's court. And there's only one thing to do.

Release the full interview.