UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi resigning amid investigation
North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned, the school announced Thursday. The resignation comes more than a month after the school first placed Bill Belichick’s right-hand man on paid administrative leave and with the season underway.
The university’s general counsel and an outside law firm have been investigating what UNC said were allegations regarding Lombardi, which first surfaced in July. The exact nature of the allegations remains unclear, but UNC said in a statement 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 college football — was in the second year of a three-year contract paying him $1.5 million annually.
In early August, Lombardi retained high-profile sports lawyer Tom Mars, saying at the time that he welcomed the “opportunity to clear his name” while cooperating fully with the investigation. By late August, the day before North Carolina’s season-opening win against TCU in Dublin, Mars told The Athletic that UNC’s investigation into his client was a “witch hunt,” noting that the school could’ve fired Lombardi for cause long ago if it actually had grounds to do so.
“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 said. “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 university has kept the details of the investigation private, ESPN published a story 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 in the Belichick tenure that the new regime was doing things any way but “the Carolina Way,” and wrote of a need to be very concerned about the future, including issues with football staffing turnover. The staffer requested anonymity to protect against retaliation.
The university did not mention the College Sports Commission (CSC) in its statement. But as The Athletic previously reported, that enforcement body has also approached UNC’s football program about a potential investigation, with Lombardi’s actions believed to be of interest, according to two people briefed on the situation who are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The CSC oversees revenue sharing and third-party name, image and likeness agreements.
Mars told The Athletic that during UNC’s investigation into Lombardi, the general manager was not asked any questions involving issues under the CSC’s jurisdiction.
Belichick has not elaborated on Lombardi’s situation, due to the ongoing investigation.
Belichick tapped Lombardi, his longtime confidant, as his first hire upon receiving the UNC job in Dec. 2024, despite Lombardi, 67, not having worked in college football since the 1980s, when he was a recruiting coordinator at UNLV.
During his short tenure, Lombardi was the subject of several off-field headlines in Chapel Hill, including ridicule he received after calling UNC the 33rd NFL team and making an “exploratory fundraising trip” to Saudi Arabia.
Last season, amid UNC’s dismal start to an eventual 4-8 record, multiple industry sources told The Athletic that Lombardi’s arrogance and roster management were key reasons for the Tar Heels’ struggles, despite the presence of a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.
One former UNC staffer even said that moving on from Lombardi, “actually would give (Belichick) a f—ing fighting chance.”
Now that theory will be tested, as Belichick’s turnaround efforts continue — only without the man who put together the Tar Heels’ current roster.