There is no question Mike Lombardi will lose his job as UNC football’s general manager and leave Chapel Hill.
When both sides lawyer up with big time barristers, and as the investigations drag on, it looks likes six-figure pissing contest. UNC has attorneys across the state like those who represented the university in the AFAM scandal and the other high-profile cases. Lombardi has hired Tom Mars who has defended players and coaches in the NFL and other leagues.
Lombardi “welcomes the opportunity to clear his name,” Mars said as most lawyers do. But that train has left the station.
There is $3 million at stake in the absurd three-year contract for Lombardi negotiated in late 2024. The $1.5 million per season rate is almost 30% higher than any other college football general manager with far better reputations and resumes. However Belichick wrangled that deal for Lombardi was a major oversight. He had not worked on a college campus since being a recruiting coordinator at UNLV in 1984 and has a poor reputation from his time in the NFL as a grifter on Belichick’s success.
With little evidence being revealed in what Lombardi did to run afoul of the human resources department, along with possible NCAA violations in recruiting, he holds the upper hand in trying to get away with as much money as possible as he blows town. Once negotiations begin, it’s merely a matter of who gets more.
Carolina is likely to cave into paying Lombardi more money than he deserves. Do they fight any litigation, or pay him off to end another bad chapter of Tar Heel football and begin rebuilding the program with new staff?
Unlike other schools that get involved in controversies that last three or four days, Carolina always is a national story from coast to coast in every media you can find. Nobody cares if Wake Forest or NC State or even Duke gets into trouble because those schools will settle their matters and move to the back pages.
The Carolina brand is both good news and bad news. And this has the potential of being another UNC embarrassing athletic moment with the involvement of such a national figure.
Belichick is on the hot seat and feels unlikely to last beyond his second season if the team is bad again. Whether Lombardi broke protocol or the rules, Belichick should also be on the line for what his assistants do. This is not exactly the NFL where teams can serve a penalty and or suspension for Deflategate or Spygate and coach on if they keep winning.
For the Tar Heels, it’s almost better that they have not won that much because the UNC name becomes more important than their record. They can whitewash their indiscretions by turning to the academic side to promote research and fundraising successes. For good and bad, they are known for that more than other southern schools operating as football factories that doesn’t give a hoot about academics.
All universities make mistakes and have to own up to them; Carolina has more pride and accomplishments than gridiron hardware. They will always be a national story. They want to celebrate that for as long as possible and fix the mistakes they made as fast as they can. The administrators who got them into this mess need to be held accountable; that is not always the case. It is more important to get them off that front page and then figure out who is truly to blame.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs on 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro during football and basketball seasons.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
