UNC football GM Michael Lombardi placed on administrative leave

North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi has been placed on paid administrative leave.

The school announced the move with a statement Monday morning, coming days before the Tar Heels open preseason camp. The school didn’t provide details as to the reason, noting that employees and athletes aren’t permitted to address the topic “as is standard procedure with personnel matters.”

ESPN reported the move stems from a “human resources complaint filed by a former UNC front office employee.”

Lombardi joined Bill Belichick in making the NFL-to-college move when the school hired the former New England Patriots coach in December 2024. Lombardi’s career as an NFL executive had included being the GM of the Cleveland Browns in 2013, and he was an immediate hire by the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach in Chapel Hill.

The school had hired Belichick to jolt a football program that had largely been an Atlantic Coast Conference also-ran while making periodic but unsustained climbs into national relevance.

A few months into Belichick’s tenure, Lombardi said the goal was running a college program in a way similar to the NFL, saying the Tar Heels “consider ourselves the 33rd (NFL) team” due to the staff connections to the pros.

According to CBS Sports, Lombardi is one of the nation’s highest-paid general managers at $1.5 million annually and is credited with helping North Carolina sign a top-25 recruiting class during the 2026 cycle.

The Tar Heels went just 4-8 in Belichick’s first season. They open his second against TCU in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29.