For decades, Bill Belichick was best known as the celebrated NFL coach of the New England Patriots, the team he brought to Super Bowl victory six times during his 24-year tenure. Sports fans respected his gruff, no-nonsense style (some of his most memorable catchphrases include "Do your job" and "No days off"). But in 2024, the public perception of the 73-year-old coach changed as his romance with Jordon Hudson - a former college cheerleader who is 49 years his junior - began making headlines. The May-December couple, who met on a flight in 2021, was first spotted together in early 2023 and made their red carpet debut in December the following year. Once revered for his football prowess, Belichick's professional accomplishments have been eclipsed by his relationship with the 24-year-old pageant contestant. Hudson - who's now manager of Belichick's personal brand - appears to be an omnipresent fixture in his life: she attended the December 2024 press conference announcing his new position as the head coach of the University of North Carolina's Tar Heels and has been spotted on the sidelines of multiple games. She was his date to the Super Bowl in February and even made an appearance alongside him in the Dunkin' Super Bowl ad with famous Bostonians Ben and Casey Affleck. But Hudson has no problem stepping into the spotlight herself. In late April, footage went viral of her interrupting Belichick's CBS Sunday Morning interview to shut down a question about when they met ("We're not doing this," she declared; Belichick later defended her actions in a statement saying she was "simply doing her job"). His appearance at her Miss Maine beauty pageant and the PDA posts Hudson shares on her Instagram page - in a pic from last Halloween, he posed as a fisherman catching her in a mermaid costume - have drawn ridicule. Belichick's been the butt of jokes on late-night shows, Saturday Night Live and the ESPY Awards. Hudson's been branded a gold digger and an opportunist; a distraction who's steering Belichick away from greatness and into the cringe-osphere. Megyn Kelly and a slew of online commenters have even accused her of elder abuse. But many people from her inner circle tell Us that she's a sweet girl who's deeply misunderstood. So, who is Jordon Hudson? Us Weekly spoke to her college teammates, a former boss, sources close to Hudson and insiders from Belichick's camp to uncover the truth about the sports world's latest polarizing figure. A Timeline of Bill Belichick's Relationship With 24-Year-Old Jordon Hudson Hudson was born in Hancock, Maine (population 2,500), where her parents ran a fishery; the family moved to Cape Cod in the early 2010s. (Us previously reported that she remains close with her mom and dad, who are divorced, and her siblings.) She studied philosophy at Bridgewater State University, where she was an NCA collegiate cheerleading champ, performing as a flyer who handles stunts at the top of the pyramid. Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images Former fellow cheerleaders describe her as smart, hardworking and kind. "She was always a really good teammate and someone I could look up to," says Emily Rodriguez, who cheered with Hudson for two years between 2019 and 2021. Rodriguez says Hudson reached out to her after her mom passed away and also offered support when a work project didn't pan out. "I [was] very touched," she says. She recalls Hudson bringing extra water for her teammates, helping her sister with travel costs and letting Rodriguez stay in her apartment. "If somebody asks for something, she's like, 'What do you need, girl?'" Rodriguez says Hudson was driven to succeed. "She's focused and pretty headstrong. She exerts this kind of energy that if she wants to get something done, she's really going to put her best foot [forward] in that." (Rodriguez also says Hudson had a boyfriend freshman year, but dating wasn't "her focus.") Another former teammate, Crista Paulauskas, says some may have seen Hudson as formidable "because she was very dedicated and extremely good at the sport, so it could come off as people being intimidated by her." But, she adds, "I never found her intimidating. She was willing to help anyone who needed it." Adds fellow BSU alum Lizzy Pandiscio: "Any college-level athlete is competitive to some extent. Jordon was always very kind to me." Dougie Freeman, who owned the West End Salon in Provincetown, Cape Cod, met Hudson when she was in high school. He taught her how to do henna tattoo art and was her boss when she became a hairstylist. "She has a great work ethic and she's a very gifted artist and is patient and gentle," Freeman tells Us, noting that Hudson would occasionally wear her Miss Massachusetts sash - she was the third runner-up at the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA competition in 2020 - around the salon. "[That] was great for business, of course," he says. "She was very beautiful, and still is." Their sentiments bear little resemblance to the Hudson that's portrayed in the media