UNC GM Calls Out Rumor That Bill Belichick's Lack of Staff Is Causing 'Frayed Nerves'

A month into the Bill Belichick era at North Carolina, the football program's general manager is already having to ease worries about the pace at which the coaching staff is coming together.

On Monday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wrote about the Tar Heels' staff, which hasn't expanded much in the weeks after Belichick's arrival and was "making for frayed nerves." UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi pushed back against that idea Tuesday:

On cue, The Athletic's Bruce Feldman and 247Sports' Matt Zenitz reported UNC is close to hiring Armond Hawkins away from Washington as its defensive backs coach.

However, poaching Hawkins may not totally dispel the narrative the Tar Heels are overwhelmingly targeting personnel they already know. As a member of the Huskies' staff, Hawkins worked alongside Steve Belichick, Bill's son. Florio hit on how that's a general theme right now.

"Freddie Kitchens, a holdover from the prior staff, serves as offensive coordinator. Bill's son, Steve, is the defensive coordinator," he wrote. "Matt Lombardi, G.M. Mike Lombardi's son, is an offensive assistant. Chris Jones, a former CFL coach who worked for Kitchens in 2019, is a defensive assistant. Billy Miller is a general position assistant. And Moses Cabrera, who worked for Belichick in New England, is the strength and conditioning coach."

And looming in the background are the fears that Belichick could bolt for the NFL at the earliest opportunity.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported on Jan. 8 that "multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether (Belichick) would reconsider his move to college football." Tom Brady, a minority owner in the Las Vegas Raiders, spoke to his former coach directly.

Based purely on how recently he took the UNC job, the odds of Belichick returning to the NFL are probably low. But it's not great for the Tar Heels that Lombardi has to publicly dispel this idea.

That makes for great fodder when rival schools are chasing the same high school recruits or players in the transfer portal as North Carolina. It's pretty easy to float the idea the whole vision the Tar Heels are trying to lay out with Belichick could disappear in an instant.