Michael Lombardi Resigns, UNC GM Has Been on Paid Leave During 2026 CFB Season

Michael Lombardi's tenure as North Carolina's football general manager is over as he resigned from his role on Thursday, the school announced.

ESPN's Pete Thamel initially reported the news.

UNC said in a statement that it "will continue its ongoing investigation and will consider all appropriate corrective actions responsive to the information it learns" following Lombardi's resignation.

This comes after North Carolina announced in July that the general manager was placed on paid administrative leave. The program did not provide any other details regarding the situation at the time:

Lombardi joined the Tar Heels with head coach Bill Belichick ahead of the 2025 season.

Considering Belichick was a six-time Super Bowl champion and widely considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, it was somewhat surprising to see him join an ACC program in the collegiate ranks.

However, Lombardi joining him was not as surprising.

They worked together on the Cleveland Browns starting in 1987 and were famously together on the New England Patriots from 2014 to 2016. New England won two Super Bowls and reached the AFC Championship Game in the other season during that three-year run.

Lombardi was the highest-paid general manager in FBS during the 2025 season with a $1.5 million salary.

That was well ahead of everyone else, as Ohio State's Mark Pantoni was the second-highest-paid GM at $900,000.

Despite the high salary, things did not get off to an ideal start with the Tar Heels.

They were just 4-8 overall and 2-6 in ACC play and finished the season with back-to-back losses to rivals Duke and NC State.

However, the Tar Heels started the 2026 campaign with a 15-10 victory over TCU in Dublin, Ireland.