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See the full story · 4 sourcesNorth Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has been placed on paid administrative leave "effective immediately," the university announced Monday, July 27.
“As is standard procedure with personnel matters, leadership, staff, and student-athletes are prohibited from addressing this topic further, and has no reflection on the merits,” UNC vice chancellor Dean Stoyer wrote in a school-issued statement.
Lombardi followed Bill Belichick to Chapel Hill ahead of the 2025 season as the highest-paid general manager in college football with an annual salary of $1.5 million. A long-time front office fixture for NFL franchises, Lombardi worked with Belichick in Cleveland and New England before joining the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach at UNC.
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In February 2025, Lombardi was a part of a 28-minute news conference in his introduction as UNC’s GM. During that news conference, Lombardi said “everything we do here is predicated on building a pro team,” adding that the Tar Heels “consider ourselves the 33rd (NFL) team, ‘cause everybody who’s involved in our program has had some form of aspect in pro football.”
UNC finished the 2025 season with a 4-8 record and had zero players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft . Lombardi and Belichick brought in 70 new players for the 2025 season and brought in 61 more new players this past offseason as they try to get the Tar Heels out of the ACC basement.
Lombardi made headlines earlier this year after a trip to Saudi Arabia to gauge interest in whether the nation’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would be interested in investing in UNC football, per Pablo Torre .
The Tar Heels open training camp on Thursday, July 30. UNC begin the 2026 season against TCU on Saturday, Aug. 29 (Noon, ESPN), in Dublin, Ireland.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to [email protected] .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UNC football places GM Michael Lombardi on administrative leave
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