North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned, the college introduced Thursday. The resignation comes greater than a month after the college first positioned Bill Belichick’s right-hand man on paid administrative depart and with the season underway.
The college’s general counsel and an out of doors legislation agency have been investigating what UNC mentioned have been allegations concerning Lombardi, which first surfaced in July. The precise nature of the allegations stays unclear, however UNC mentioned in a press release that it “will continue its ongoing investigation and will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns.”
Lombardi — the highest-paid GM in faculty football — was within the second yr of a three-year contract paying him $1.5 million yearly.
In early August, Lombardi retained high-profile sports activities lawyer Tom Mars, saying on the time that he welcomed the “opportunity to clear his name” whereas cooperating totally with the investigation. By late August, the day earlier than North Carolina’s season-opening win in opposition to TCU in Dublin, Mars instructed The Athletic that UNC’s investigation into his consumer was a “witch hunt,” noting that the college may’ve fired Lombardi for trigger way back if it really had grounds to take action.
“I think the motive behind the investigation goes further than a $1.5 million buyout. After all, UNC could fire Michael (or the athletic director or any head coach) for no reason at all just by paying their buyout,” Mars mentioned. “In today’s world, $1.5 million is just a drop in the bucket, so there must be other reasons behind this multimillion-dollar investigation.”
While the college has stored the small print of the investigation non-public, ESPN published a narrative in late August detailing examples of staffing rifts and perceived NCAA violations. One staffer wrote, in notes shared with The Athletic, to the UNC administration early within the Belichick tenure that the brand new regime was doing issues any means however “the Carolina Way,” and wrote of a must be very involved in regards to the future, together with points with football staffing turnover. The staffer requested anonymity to guard in opposition to retaliation.
The college didn’t point out the College Sports Commission (CSC) in its assertion. But as The Athletic beforehand reported, that enforcement physique has additionally approached UNC’s football program a few potential investigation, with Lombardi’s actions believed to be of curiosity, based on two folks briefed on the state of affairs who usually are not licensed to talk publicly on the matter. The CSC oversees income sharing and third-party identify, picture and likeness agreements.
Mars instructed The Athletic that in UNC’s investigation into Lombardi, the general manager was not requested any questions involving points below the CSC’s jurisdiction.
Belichick has not elaborated on Lombardi’s state of affairs, as a result of ongoing investigation.
Belichick tapped Lombardi, his longtime confidant, as his first rent upon receiving the UNC job in Dec. 2024, regardless of Lombardi, 67, not having labored in faculty football because the Nineteen Eighties, when he was a recruiting coordinator at UNLV.
During his brief tenure, Lombardi was the topic of a number of off-field headlines in Chapel Hill, together with ridicule he acquired after calling UNC the thirty third NFL staff and making an “exploratory fundraising trip” to Saudi Arabia.
Last season, amid UNC’s dismal begin to an eventual 4-8 document, a number of trade sources instructed The Athletic that Lombardi’s conceitedness and roster administration have been key causes for the Tar Heels’ struggles, regardless of the presence of a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.
One former UNC staffer even mentioned that shifting on from Lombardi, “actually would give (Belichick) a f—ing fighting chance.”
Now that concept might be examined, as Belichick’s turnaround efforts proceed — solely with out the person who put collectively the Tar Heels’ present roster.