College football’s highest-paid general manager is officially out of a job.
North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned from his position at the university, according to a report from ESPN on Thursday, Sept. 3.
The decision comes more than a month after the school placed Lombardi on paid administrative leave on July 27. Though the school declined to elaborate on the move, multiple reports stated that a former North Carolina employee had filed a human resources complaint against Lombardi.
Lombardi was hired by longtime friend Bill Belichick ahead of the legendary former NFL coach’s first season with the Tar Heels. He was in the second year of a three-year
contract with an annual salary of $1.5 million, the highest mark of anyone in that position in college football.
A transfer-heavy roster he helped assemble struggled mightily last season, going just 4-8 overall and 2-6 in ACC play. North Carolina averaged just 19.3 points per game on offense, ranking it 120th of 136 FBS teams. Heading into that season, Lombardi had infamously boasted that the Tar Heels considered themselves “the 33rd NFL team.”
Before arriving in Chapel Hill, Lombardi spent decades working in NFL front offices, including an ill-fated 11-month tenure as the Cleveland Browns’ general manager from 2013-14. Lombardi had previously worked with Belichick with the Browns, where he was a player personnel staffer from 1989-95, and the New England Patriots, where he was an assistant to the coaching staff from 2014-16, a role created specifically for him.
North Carolina defeated TCU, 15-10, last Saturday in its 2026 season-opener.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi resigns amid internal investigation
