Heel Tough Blog: Michael Lombardi Resigns as UNC GM

ABC11

As first reported by Pete Thamel of ESPN, Tar Heel general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned from his job in the midst of an ongoing internal investigation into him by the school.

In a statement that was released by the school, they said “Michael Lombardi has resigned from his position as General Manager of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s football program. The University will continue its ongoing investigation and will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns.”

His resignation comes after he was placed on administrative leave back on July 27th. The investigation began shortly thereafter on July 30th, as the school’s Office of University Counsel looked into allegations that stemmed from a former UNC staff member.

Lombardi was in his second season with the program after being Bill Belichick’s first hire when he took the job back in December 2024. He was in the second year of a three-year contract that made him the highest paid general manager in all of college football at $1.5 million per season.

While it is never an ideal thing to lose your general manager during the season, it feels like this is the best decision that the Tar Heels could have made. We might not have knowledge of anything involving this situation and we won’t speculate, but the reports from last year around the program by WRAL and others pointed to a high level of arrogance and rudeness that he carried around the building. From my standpoint, that is not something that we should want around this program and makes this news rather satisfying to hear. Good riddance, Michael, and don’t let the gate hit you on the way out of Kenan Stadium.