University of North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi, the highest-paid general manager in college football, resigned Thursday after a tumultuous tenure in Chapel Hill working alongside Bill Belichick, the university said. <\/p>\n
But the investigation is still ongoing, and lawyers hired by the university are now focused on behaviors by defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, people familiar with the investigation tell WRAL.<\/p>\n
Lombardi, 67, a longtime Bill Belichick confidant, was placed on paid administrative leave on July 27<\/a>. Three days later, the university announced its investigation<\/a>, citing concerns over allegations that led to Lombardi being placed on leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to thank Chancellor [Lee] Roberts and Bill Belichick for the opportunity to serve as the GM of UNC Football,\u201d Lombardi said in a statement released through his lawyer. \u201cI have decided it\u2019s best for me to resign my position as GM to allow the team to focus on the \u201826 season.\u201d<\/p>\n UNC said: \u201cThe University will continue its ongoing investigation and will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns.\u201d<\/p>\n The announcement came hours after WRAL questioned university officials Thursday morning about new revelations about the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawyers hired to conduct the investigation are also questioning people about whether defensive coordinator Steve Belichick used drugs on the job or provided drugs to at least one player \u2014 and, separately, about whether a member of UNC\u2019s recruiting staff had a sexual relationship with a player, people familiar with the investigation told WRAL. The lawyers also asked about possible sexual relationships between assistant coaches and recruiting staff, the people said.<\/p>\n The nature of the questions, posed in recent weeks to people associated with the team, provide a glimpse into the widening scope of the ongoing probe.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The resignation and new details about the investigation add to a multilayered saga that has unfolded since UNC hired NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick in late 2024 to elevate its football program. The head coach\u2019s tenure has generated far more off-field headlines than on-field success, including allegations of a divided locker room<\/a>, questions about the influence<\/a> his girlfriend has over his media projects, a spate of traffic citations and parking complaints<\/a>, and the suspension of an assistant coach that coincided with a memo reminding members of the program that selling complimentary tickets<\/a> could violate NCAA rules.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n People who were questioned as part of the inquiry told WRAL that they were asked about the culture of the football program under Bill Belichick and Lombardi. They said a lawyer who conducted the interviews was questioning current and former Tar Heels players, their parents and staff members as part of the investigation. The firm was seeking documents and screenshots of text conversations, they said. And the people said they were asked whether they had reported any potentially questionable behavior to Bill Belichick.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n These people, whose identities are known to WRAL, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. WRAL traced identifying information associated with those interviews back to Barnes & Thornburg LLP, the firm that employs the two lawyers \u2014 Nate Huff<\/a> and McNair Nichols<\/a> \u2014 who are leading the investigation\u2019s inquiry work. The interviewees who spoke with WRAL said at least one of those men conducted the interviews. UNC\u2019s Office of University Counsel is overseeing the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n WRAL outlined its findings to the university Thursday, before Lombardi\u2019s resignation, and asked a series of questions related to Steve Belichick and Lombardi. The university didn\u2019t immediately provide a response to those questions. Huff and Nichols didn\u2019t respond to messages seeking comment on the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n UNC has declined to publicly disclose the specific purpose of the Lombardi investigation. \u201cAs is standard procedure with personnel matters, leadership, staff, and student-athletes are prohibited from addressing this topic further,\u201d the university said in a statement after the probe was announced.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Lombardi\u2019s attorney, Tom Mars, told WRAL this week that Lombardi had been interviewed by investigators and that his client had complied with the investigation. Mars has publicly called the investigation a \u201cwitch hunt.\u201d The investigation had extended his leave beyond the 30 days prescribed by UNC policy for paid administrative leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n A week after the Lombardi investigation was launched, on Aug. 6, Bill Belichick disclosed that Steve Belichick, his son, was on medical leave. Details about the specifics of his leave also haven\u2019t been publicly disclosed by the university.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Steve Belichick didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment Thursday. WRAL also didn\u2019t immediately receive a response to a request for comment from the athletic department at UNC. He remains on medical leave.<\/p>\n \u201cWe look forward to getting him back as soon as possible,\u201d Bill Belichick said when announcing the news last month. \u201cIt’s a medical situation so I really can’t make any further comment.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Neither Lombardi nor Steve Belichick was with the team for North Carolina\u2019s 15-10 season-opening victory over TCU in Dublin, Ireland, on Saturday, the biggest win of Bill Belichick\u2019s brief tenure in Chapel Hill. UNC\u2019s next game is against East Tennessee State on Sept. 12 in Chapel Hill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Questions about allegations of sex and drugs\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Steve Belichick, 39, served as the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington in 2024 before joining his father\u2019s staff at UNC. He previously worked for his father with the New England Patriots, playing a role in three of Bill Belichick\u2019s six Super Bowl championships there.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawyers conducting the UNC probe focused a series of questions on Steve Belichick, according to people who were interviewed. The people said they were also asked about whether Steve Belichick had used drugs at the university\u2019s facilities or if they knew of anyone who had seen him do so. Assistant coaches can be fired for cause if it is found that they used or distributed illicit drugs, according to UNC employment contracts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Unrelated to Steve Belichick, sources also told WRAL that the lawyer asked about reports of a purported sexual relationship between a female recruiting staff member and at least one UNC player. The people also said they were asked about similar possible relationships\u00a0 between assistant coaches and recruiting staff. University policy prohibits employees from evaluating or supervising any student or employee they\u2019ve had a romantic relationship with. It was unclear whether the alleged relationships would violate any of those policies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n As general manager, Lombardi oversaw recruiting and negotiations with existing and incoming players. College football teams have long had staff to manage the recruitment of players from high school, including communication with the players and their families and coordinating official visits on campus. Recent NCAA rule changes that have allowed unlimited transfers from colleges as well as direct revenue sharing with players have led teams to adopt larger and more professionalized front-office structures, focused not only on high school player recruitment but college free agency and contract negotiations.\u00a0<\/p>\n People who were interviewed as part of the investigation said they were also asked about interactions between Lombardi and players.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n WRAL has submitted numerous public records requests related to Steve Belichick, Lombardi and other program staff members, including employment records for the two men and members of the recruiting staff. Those requests haven\u2019t been fulfilled by the university.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lombardi, who signed a three-year contract worth $1.5 million per year, faced criticism for his role in putting together the Tar Heels\u2019 roster for the 2025 season, when UNC went 4-8 and failed to have a single player selected in the NFL Draft. He previously worked with Belichick with the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and on media projects during Belichick\u2019s one season out of coaching. It was Lombardi who first reached out to UNC officials to tell them of Belichick\u2019s interest in the Tar Heels\u2019 job, his first-ever college coaching position.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n During last season, Belichick defended Lombardi and his staff\u2019s work. The duo opted to sign 40 true freshmen to help rebuild the roster this offseason at a time when college football teams are looking to get older.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Michael and his staff did a great job of upgrading the roster, and then it was upgraded again in the spring after spring ball,\u201d Belichick said in October 2025<\/a>. \u201cI mean our football team is a lot better than what it was at the end of spring ball, I can tell you that.”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Other reasons behind this\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n Huff and Nichols, the lawyers leading the inquiry, are no strangers to complex investigations. Huff is a former federal prosecutor who has focused on commercial litigation for more than two decades. He also focuses on higher education issues, including collegiate athletics. Nichols has experience with internal investigations and federal enforcement matters involving financial regulators, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019re the same lawyers who investigated complaints about UNC\u2019s School of Civic Life and Leadership last year. Their previous firm produced a $1.2-million, 400-plus page report that UNC has never publicly released, citing exemptions from the state\u2019s public-records law. An Orange County judge recently ruled that the university doesn\u2019t have to release any part of the report<\/a>. WRAL was part of a group of media outlets that brought the lawsuit seeking the public release of the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n WRAL has requested public records related to the university\u2019s agreements and payments to Huff, Nichols and Wes Camden, a lawyer at the Williams Mullen law firm who is advising UNC on the investigation. Mullen also didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n \u201cIf something is wrong, we want to know about it,\u201d Roberts said in July, when the probe was announced. \u201cIf something needs to be fixed, we will be sure to fix it. There\u2019s a standard of excellence here that all of us are entrusted with adhering to.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n