{"id":793534,"date":"2026-07-30T15:06:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793534\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T15:06:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T15:06:09","slug":"bill-belichick-sidesteps-questions-about-mike-lombardis-leave-at-unc-csc-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/793534\/","title":{"rendered":"Bill Belichick sidesteps questions about Mike Lombardi\u2019s leave at UNC, CSC interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Days after North Carolina placed the highest-paid general manager in college football, Michael Lombardi, on paid administrative leave<\/a>, UNC head coach Bill Belichick largely avoided the topic in a news conference before the Tar Heels\u2019 first practice of preseason camp.<\/p>\n

Asked how UNC is dealing with Lombardi\u2019s absence, Belichick said: \u201cWe are working through some things. We\u2019re at a particular time of year now where there are certain things that are in play and certain things that aren\u2019t in play.\u00a0 \u2026 We\u2019re taking it day by day. And, you know, working through the things that are on the table now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier Thursday, the university said in a statement: \u201cAs a result of concerns behind allegations that led to the personnel action regarding Michael Lombardi announced on July 27, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, through its Office of University Counsel, is in the process of investigating this matter. Because this involves confidential personnel issues, the University will not comment on the nature of the allegations or discuss personnel information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athletic director Steve Newmark confirmed that the counsel is leading an investigation into Lombardi after Belichick\u2019s news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s paramount for us to do what\u2019s right to make sure it\u2019s a full and fair review, and that we don\u2019t do anything to compromise the integrity of the process,\u201d said Newmark. \u201d \u2026 We\u2019re hopeful that it will be an expedited process, because essentially what is important to us is trying to make sure we\u2019re doing what\u2019s right for the university and the athletic department and our student-athletes, is to ensure that once we get the results of the process, we take them into consideration and then we act quickly on whatever action may be appropriate based on those findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, there\u2019s only been two official actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lombardi\u2019s leave is connected to a human resources complaint<\/a>, three people briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to comment publicly, told The Athletic earlier this week. According to North Carolina\u2019s handbook, administrative leave \u201cshould not exceed 30 days,\u201d meaning a decision on Lombardi\u2019s future should come before the Tar Heels\u2019 Aug. 29 season opener against TCU in Dublin.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the College Sports Commission \u2014 the year-old enforcement body tasked with looking into potential violations of name, image and likeness and revenue-sharing rules, and approving third-party deals with athletes \u2014 has approached UNC\u2019s football program about a possible investigation, with Lombardi\u2019s actions believed to be of interest, according to two sources briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.<\/p>\n

Asked directly about the CSC inquiry, Belichick said, \u201cYeah, next question. We can\u2019t talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

All told, the situation is another black eye for Belichick\u2019s program \u2014 and especially for the Hall of Famer\u2019s right-hand man, Lombardi, who earns $1.5 million annually and was Belichick\u2019s first hire after accepting the North Carolina job.<\/p>\n

While most of Lombardi\u2019s roster construction duties for the coming season are already complete, for a program that went 4-8 in Belichick\u2019s first season and desperately needs to rebound in 2026, losing such a prominent staffer so close to the start of the season can still have an impact.<\/p>\n

Thursday, Belichick touted the progress the program has made over the last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, I mean, we\u2019re ahead of where we were last year,\u201d he said. \u201cAgain, just the fact that nearly everybody was here, through the spring, through the summer, we\u2019re not starting from scratch. We have better evaluation of players, and they are further ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lombardi, a longtime confidant of Belichick and onetime NFL general manager with the Cleveland Browns, generated headlines in Chapel Hill long before Monday\u2019s news. In his first public appearance as the team\u2019s general manager, he proclaimed UNC the NFL\u2019s 33rd team, a comment many in college football saw as overconfident. By mid-October, amid UNC\u2019s dismal start \u2014 including three double-digit losses to power-conference opponents \u2014 multiple sources told The Athletic that Lombardi\u2019s arrogance and roster management were key reasons for the team\u2019s struggles<\/a>, despite having a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Days after North Carolina placed the highest-paid general manager in college football, Michael Lombardi, on paid administrative leave,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":793535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63],"tags":[1607,349,7027,99],"class_list":["post-793534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-college-football","tag-nfl","tag-north-carolina-tar-heels","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=793534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/793534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/793535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=793534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=793534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=793534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}