Bill Belichick established some pretty powerful connections while winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The former Florida senator said he helped the legendary coach land his new gig at North Carolina.
Rubio said he helped pull some strings to connect Belichick, 73, with the Tar Heels’ opening after the coach spent last season as a media member.
“We spoke a number of times post-Patriots career,” Rubio told OutKick this week. “And when this opportunity presented itself, he had expressed an interest to me at one time in being in college coaching. And so I knew some people over in North Carolina. I connected them, and they took off running with it.”
The secretary of state confessed that Belichick’s record spoke for itself — Rubio’s role was fittingly diplomatic.
“It was my first foray in diplomacy even before I got this job here at the State Department,” he said.
After being famously media-averse during his time in New England, Belichick has become social media fodder since leaving the NFL.
The coach dominated headlines this week after his girlfriend, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, appeared to interrupt Belichick’s interview with CBS.
Belichick was promoting his new book, “The Art of Winning: Lessons From My Life in Football,” which describes Hudson as his “idea mill and creative muse” in a dedication.
Hudson shut down a question about how the couple met. “We’re not talking about this,” she said from off-camera.
“Jordon was a constant presence during our interview,” CBS’ Tony Dokoupil said in a voice-over accompanying the interview. A clip of the exchange quickly went viral on social media.
• Liam Griffin can be reached at lgriffin@washingtontimes.com.
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