The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has placed Michael Lombardi, general manager for the UNC football program, on paid administrative leave "effective immediately."
UNC's vice chancellor Dean Stoyer did not share the reason in Monday's announcement but released the following statement:
"As is standard procedure with personnel matters, leadership, staff, and student-athletes are prohibited from addressing this topic further, and has no reflection on the merits."
https://www.wral.com/sports/unc-football-gm-michael-lombardi-placed-paid...
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So much for UNC trying to stay out of the tabloids this season.
My guess is:
Embezzling/misusing AD/NIL funds for personal gain
Gambling
Banging a student/coworker
In that order of likelihood.
My first thought when stuff like this happens is that he was using his gonads for brains. My order of likelihood is 3,1,2.
I am totally here for the schadenfreude. Shambles. That program is in shambles.
I can't imagine being on the team that handles UNC FOIA requests. The last two years must have been brutal.
Well half of the FOIAs are coming from Jordon lol
Lol Jordon is literally a horror movie trope for the Tarholes.
Wait, why is Jordon submitting FOIA requests? ;^)
Yea, I think sexual misconduct is a likely possibility, I just can't imagine someone wanting to sleep with him. I could totally see him getting busted for tickling his tarheal at the office, getting upset that he has to wear pants on a zoom call, etc
at risk of being too flippant with a serious topic, maybe they didn't really want to
touche_la_flor.gif
And, I hate to say it, but we all know it is true. If someone has enough money, there is a subset of the population that will not care what the person looks like or how old they are.
Money is an incredibly effective aphrodisiac. Or so evidence suggests. I wouldn't know.
I know about it from the opposite side based on experiences with my ex-fiance. Well, the old rich guy came well after we split up, but when she stood 2 or 3 feet away from me as said I had to get a job that earned a minimum of $100,000 a year - and this was back in the late 1990s, when $100,000 a year was a lot more than it is now - I was not surprised when she eventually married a man who was "much older" than her.
Yeah, I'm with you. Think #3 is the most likely.
Bill if that's the case
Or
4. Pissing off Belichik.
Flirting with Bill's gold digger might be in there as well... maybe list that as item 3a
You mean the 33rd NFL team UNC football GM?
Did Jordon do this to take over as official GM?
Dude has definitely been fishing in another mans pond.
"Human Resources" issue (according to espn). Amazing he gets paid leave.
there is a step on the ladder where it becomes basically impossible for consequences to really hurt you*
*conditions apply, usually determined by gender, skin color and socio-economic status
I think you can add "influence" or "political connections" to your asterisk
In fairness, if someone is accused of something and you do not have proof, it should be administrative paid leave. If a company fires someone without having real data to back it up and it turns out to be false, you are leaving yourself open to a world of hurt in the coming lawsuit. This way you are covered pending what an actual investigation shows. It's not like people don't lie or have axes to grind.
The Bill Belichick experiment at UNC is going better than anyone could have conceivably imagined. The sheer volume of organizational incompetence is off the charts, and UNC went all in on it. There isn't anyone left there that even has the slightest idea on how to turn it around.
I was definitely on the worried side. I thought sure he would have some speed bumps adjusting to the college game after being an NFL HC and GM for so long, but I also figured he'd be so good in some aspects, like actual game planning, having his guys ready to play, in-game decisions, developing players, etc. I for sure thought his skills in those areas would overcome the experience gap of NFL vs CFB very quickly, and never expected a losing record, like ever. Let's hope it keeps on rolling downhill for them.
Still makes me chuckle to think about how they opened last year with a primetime home game against TCU. They marched down and scored a TD on the opening drive, and the broadcast and stadium looked crazy, including panning to MJ and Mia Hamm. Then they lost by 34 haha
Bill Connelly always says three parts of college football coaching: Acquiring talent, developing talent, and deploying talent. I think Belichick has actually been pretty good deploying talent; he's done well at game planning, in game decisions, etc since being at UNC.
IMO, in the NFL everyone's roster is ~3% more/less talented than yours, and success is all about being 2-4% better schematically than everyone else. NFL is mostly about winning on the margins. CFB is more about relying on overwhelming talent advantages.
Belichick has ailed at acquiring and developing talent. Acquiring talent is the GM's job at the NFL. Developing players isn't nearly as big part of the NFL HC Job Description as it is in college. NFL Players are actual professionals, and are expected to take ownership of their own development (on and off the field). College just isn't that way, so development falls to football coaches and strength coaches.
Still though, he went 4-8 at an ACC school. literally only 1 more win than us. Per the 247 talent composite rankings for 2025 (for whatever those are worth), he lost to 7 teams that had less talent than UNC. They were actually ranked higher in the talent composite in 11 of 12 games last year. It's only been 1 season (and it's hard to count TCU since they were 1 spot below UNC so you can call that a wash buuuuut they also lost by 34 at home to TCU so hey), but that doesn't scream "good at deploying talent".
Also you mentioned that acquiring talent is the GM's job at the NFL level, but he was the Patriots' de facto GM for like 20 years so you'd still expect him to be able to handle that decently enough.
I think being an NFL GM is about picking the right 3 guys from a group of 2-3 dozens options, and finding a way to make the numbers work for one of those 3 guys.
There's sooooo many more college athletes to scout; a GM may have to cast a wider net, rely on their network and employees, etc. College recruiting requires a lot of projection; not only do you not know how the player will develop; the recruits may literally still be growing. Very rarely will a target be a complete package. Often it's just about mitigating risk.
On top of that, the NFL owners share all salary info, so you know exactly what the market is. That is not at all the case in CFB.
There's a reason why there are so few coaches who have won consistently at both levels. I think that even as the GM/DPP position becomes more formalized, we'll see the same exact trend.
You mean the fake classes didn't actually teach them anything at UNCheat?
Per Pablo Torre, Lombardi was the source of the "Jordon banned from FB facilities" rumor.
Her FOIA requests were largely related to trying to unravel that.
I suspect some dirt was dug up during that process and that is now coming to roost. Although it's hard to imagine such a gentle soul like Jordon being vengeful like this. /s
Barring a surprise 9-3 type campaign, I highly suspect this is Bill's last year in Chapel Hill. Its one thing to deal with bizarre, sometimes embarrassing media stories when you are winning, but not when you are struggling to stay out of the ACC basement.
His girlfriend got his hand picked GM fired because he was trying to do what he could to keep her craziness from impacting the school and the school fired the GM for it?
His GM also may not have been very good and took lots of credit for past successes that were not truly his.
I.e. during his time with the 49ers, he was described more as a "coffee boy" than someone involved in any level of personnel decisions.
The PTFO episode "Put a Ring on It" from October '25 was a fascinating listen about Lombardi.
As Al Davis once said about him...he was fired from a job where he worked for free.
If they fire him before Dec 2027, they own him everything up to that date...north of $20mil.
Wow...so they wrote a contract that allowed his offset clause to take a new job drop drastically after less than a year while also keeping a huge buyout to fire him??
UNC absolutely bought themselves a timebomb here and it is perfectly hilarious.
From Thamel:
"HR complaint" can cover a lot of ground, but it suggests some level of inappropriate behavior rather than financial misdeeds or whatever.
Also, slightly OT, but first time I've used the new twitter embed thing. Pretty slick.
My guess is it's one of two things.
1. The former employee felt they were wrongfully terminated and they assert that Lombardi broke some law(s) in removing them from their role
2. The former employee alleges that they were treated by Lombardi in a manner that violates whatever code of conduct UNC might have (this could be harassment or abuse-of-power or something of the ilk)
"an" human resources complaint? I'm sure he's correct here, but c'mon.
That's right on the border for me. It's "an" when the h sound gets washed out (an hour), a when there is a hard consonant sounds (a hard consonant sound). Human feels like one that is regionally dependent? In some places it's more "yuman," in others that "huh" sound is more defined.
So.....
Rumor has it that this is ehat caused the HR complaint. Reposting AI OnlyFans content...
LOL at all these washed up NFL dudes just failing at life.
Oof, not a great day in Chapel Hill.
Suppose the commission finds that UNC has been cheating their faces off with their NIL stuff.
How long before they just file suit and get an injunction against whatever penalty they are assessed?
Immediately, and NC judges would absolve them of any wrongdoing just as fast
Were they not investigated by the CSC over the athlete classes, and nothing came of that?
The CSC was formed after the House Settlement, so they weren't involved in UNC's fake classes case. Theoretically it should have more enforcement power than the NCAA, since it was created as a separate entity to specifically enforce NIL and rev share rules, but time will tell.
I thought that was an NCAA investigation.
TIL there are rules for NIL...huh, who knew?
As far as NCAA, UNC and (probably) NIL are concerned ...
They can't even follow the rules when there ARENT EVEN ANY RULES!!! They need to be relegated to the SoCon pronto
All this time I thought yall were talking about Michael Jordan. Totally forgot about Bill's gf... lol I'm dumb.
I was right there with you, buddy
"SOME CLOWN NAMED MIKE LOMBARDI"
Maybe my favorite thing Jason Kelce has ever said. And he is proven right on it, time and time again.
I know some people well connected along with some former players... This isn't good at all...
But on the bright side, for UNC fans, this will bring an end to the Billy B. era much quicker it seems.
nothing could be more appropriate for a school that has always operated as if the rules don't apply to them but projected a public image of being above the messiness of college athletics
But remember, UNC wanted to keep VT out of the ACC because they thought our program wasn't clean enough for their standards
FTFY
Hey this is nothing compared to the Alabama NIL Content Director.
He was arrested in a human trafficking sting for solicitation.
Story here
people paying for sex is something I don't think I'll ever understand
You've never courted a female?
I was gonna say, can you define the term "pay"?
I wondered if someone would make this argument
it's different and here's why
courting a female is a two way street. Yes, you may be treating someone on a date (buying food/drinks, paying for the entertainment, etc.), but the other side is there for many of the same reasons. There is mutual interest and attraction. If it leads to sex, very unlikely that it was coercive or contrived.
paying a sex-worker (or, perhaps in this case, a trafficked sex-slave) is completely different. there is no need for, or even existence of, mutual attraction or interest. the payer is paying for a specific act. the payee is doing a job, regardless of who it is they are doing the job for or whether they want to be there.
Yeah I would feel like such a massive loser if I ever had to pay for it, and that's best-case
There's the awkward Robert Kraft Oriental Massage Moment where they make a remark and you don't know if they're joking, serious, testing the waters for additional pay, or if it's "on the house".
Oh I know, I was just making a joke.
But, I know myself is guilty of this (maybe others); of paying for or entertaining dates with the expectation of hanky panky and nothing else. Which is sorta like paying for it, just less dirty feeling.
I figured it was a joke. I wanted to address it anyway.
I think it feels less dirty because it's not a guarantee that you'll get the "hanky panky". You're "investing" in the possibility of it but the other half has free will to either engage in the act or not. That makes it different, IMO, in a few important ways. But, chief among them, you're not paying for someone to do something obligatory. You're also compelled to make yourself desirable so that the other person is interested in moving forward with it. Sex workers (or slaves) don't have that option. They gotta show up and do whatever they get paid for regardless of who it is. There's no mutual attraction or interest. You can wine and dine someone all you like but they gotta want it if you're gonna get it. That's different.
And, for me personally, that's one of the parts I struggle with understanding. To me, sex is way more enjoyable if I know the other person wants to be there and is enjoying it. That can't happen if I'm paying for it. So, I just don't understand the allure.
I have had a similar thought process with strip clubs. I've only ever been to 2 (both on the same bachelor party in Montreal) and I couldn't grasp paying for something I couldn't touch or "have", and then paying more to be teased with it in a private room.
I told my friends: I could go to a bar where "I'm the exotic American out of towner", have a few drinks, meet/talk to someone, and then probably seal the deal for a lot less investment.
"Becoming a man is realizing we aren't really loved. We provide something and get love in return for it. Once we start lacking a bit it's end of story."
- Michael Scott
This entire post has to be a co-pilot generated response. I refuse to believe a human being would feel the need to seriously address this on TKP lol.