On Bill Belichick’s coach show Monday, he was asked about the QB competition. Belichick discussed Miles O’Neill and Billy Edwards, noting those were the only two in the mix to start. He concluded with, “So, we had to go with somebody,” which might not be most inspiring way to frame his enthusiasm for the pick. Travis Burgess got a nod as someone who’d made tremendous progress since spring and made some really impressive plays. Absent from the discussion: Au’Tori Newkirk.
Newkirk came to UNC as part
of last year’s recruiting class, well behind Bryce Baker in fanfare but a late add to the four-star category nonetheless. His only other offers were HBCUs. When Newkirk passed Baker on the depth chart, that elevation was cited as evidence for GM Michael Lombardi’s and Bill Belichick’s discerning eyes for talent. Paraphrasing the overall sentiment: “They found a guy that no other P4 wanted but who beat out Bryce Baker!”
However, once new coordinator Bobby Petrino joined the staff, Newkirk quickly faded to fourth string behind the three new additions to the QB room. During fall camp viewing sessions, Newkirk worked with the scout team QBs while Edwards, O’Neill, and Burgess did drills with receivers. And in last night’s coach show, Newkirk didn’t even rate an acknowledging nod from his coach.
Stepping back a bit, that makes three QBs brought to Chapel Hill entirely by Michael Lombardi. Baker’s recruitment preceded Lombardi, while Edwards and O’Neill arrived after Petrino’s evaluative input had been added to the mix. Those three QBs:
- Gio Lopez. No need to discuss beyond an average talent who can produce in a very specific sort of offense. Unfortunately, UNC wasn’t planning on running that sort of offense, which begs the question how anyone thought Lopez would be a good fit for it.
- Ryan Browne, Purdue: Browne came to UNC in 2025’s first portal period, attracted by an NIL offer from Lombardi. Browne’s stats prior to coming to UNC: 55 completions on 92 attempts (60%) for 636 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. After watching Browne during the spring, Belichick and Lombardi absorbed the sunk costs and sent him back into the portal. Browne’s stats last season at Purdue: 199 for 338 (59%), 2,153 yards, nine touchdowns and ten interceptions. Yes, Lopez’s stats were better.
- Au’Tori Newkirk. Despite a year in the program, a true freshman — albeit talented — passed him for third on the depth chart.
Newkirk thus seems emblematic of the core failure of college football’s highest paid GM. A guy who sneers in a press conference, “I know what I’m looking for, and you don’t,” raises the bar on needing to deliver the goods. When that sort of arrogance instead delivers Ryan Browne, Gio Lopez, and Au’Tori Newkirk, for the game’s most important position, the knives get longer and sharper.
Lombardi likely never returns to UNC football, and that probability has nothing to do with the reason(s) he’s been on paid administrative leave. He stinks at his job. He’s clearly holding the program back with both the opportunity cost of his failed evaluations and his abrasively unwarranted self-regard.
So, the question for today becomes this: can Belichick recover from turning his first two recruiting classes and first three portal periods over to a blowhard buffoon?
