North Carolina coach Bill Belichick met with the media Thursday for the first time since team general manager — and Belichick’s longtime employee — Michael Lombardi was placed on administrative leave. In true Belichick fashion, he declined to discuss specifics about the Lombardi situation.
Belichick and North Carolina athletics director Steve Newmark also declined to discuss reports of a possible investigation by the College Sports Commission, per WRAL News.
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Prior to Belichick’s press conference, UNC announced that “all staff, coaches and student-athletes are prohibited from addressing the situation regarding Michael Lombardi in any capacity,” per WRAL.
Belichick stuck to that plan, though he did make broad comments later on, in which he mentioned the team was “working through some things” with Lombardi out.
“We’re working through some things,” Belichick said. “We’re at a particular time of year now where there are certain things that are in play and there are certain things that aren’t in play that won’t happen until later in the calendar year. We’re taking it day-to-day and working through the things that are on the table.”
That comment came after Belichick was asked how the team was delegating Lombardi’s duties while he’s on leave.
Lombardi was placed on paid administrative leave, the school announced Monday. UNC has yet to provide specifics on what led to Lombardi’s leave.
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Team chancellor Lee Roberts did address the situation Thursday, and confirmed an investigation has been launched by the university, per WRAL.
“With respect to football, we learned of some concerns last week. We put Mike Lombardi on administrative leave, as you know. We began an investigation. If something has gone wrong, we want to know about it. If something needs to be fixed, we will be sure to fix it. There’s a standard of excellence here that all of us are entrusted with adhering to.”
Roberts also lamented the fact that they were talking about the Lombardi situation and not focusing on the UNC football team.
Lombardi is a longtime Belichick collaborator. The two have worked together with the Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and now at North Carolina. Lombardi was paid $1.5 million in his first year at UNC, making him the highest-paid general manager in college football.
