North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi resigns amid internal investigation
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College football’s highest-paid general manager is out of a job.
North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned from his position, the university announced on Thursday, Sept. 3.
The decision comes more than a month after the school placed Lombardi on paid administrative leave on July 27. Though the school declined to elaborate on the move, multiple reports stated that a former North Carolina employee had filed a human resources complaint against Lombardi.
The university said in a statement on Thursday that it will continue its ongoing investigation into Lombardi and "will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns."
Lombardi was hired by longtime friend Bill Belichick ahead of the legendary former NFL coach’s first season with the Tar Heels. He was in the second year of a three-year contract with an annual salary of $1.5 million, the highest mark of anyone in that position in college football.
A transfer-heavy roster he helped assemble struggled mightily last season, going just 4-8 and having no players selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. North Carolina averaged just 19.3 points per game on offense, ranking it 120th of 136 Bowl Subdivision teams. Heading into that debut season, Lombardi had infamously boasted that the Tar Heels considered themselves “the 33rd NFL team.”
Lombardi's brief stay at North Carolina was marred by a series of unsavory headlines. He and the program received backlash in Oct. 2025, when it was reported that Lombardi had made a trip to Saudi Arabia on a fundraising trip before the 2025 season. According to an ESPN report on Aug. 28, Lombardi would verbally berate individuals within the Tar Heels' program who attempted to warn him about potential NCAA violations and was, as one Tar Heels staffer described him, "the most hated man in the building."
Shortly after being placed on leave, Lombardi retained attorney Tom Mars to represent him. In an interview with The Athletic on Aug. 28, Mars described North Carolina's investigation into Lombardi as a "witch hunt."
Before arriving in Chapel Hill, Lombardi spent decades working in NFL front offices, including an ill-fated 11-month tenure as the Cleveland Browns’ general manager from 2013-14. Lombardi had previously worked with Belichick at the Browns, where he was a player personnel staffer from 1989-95, and the New England Patriots, where he was an assistant to the coaching staff from 2014-16, a role created specifically for him.
North Carolina defeated TCU, 15-10, last Saturday in its 2026 season opener.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi resigns amid internal investigation
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