Mike Lombardi resigns as UNC General Manager

[Bill Lee]

His accomplishments will definitely get him into NFL HOF. His legacy will turn into Sonny Liston when you think about him. When it should be thinking about his greatness

It is interesting to me how he was so respectful of other coaches, which in turn suggests he really cares about his own reputation, yet in reality it is Bill himself who trashed his own reputation. Bill is the one who said **** it, let's go with Cam Newton for an entire season. Bill is the one who said **** it, let's install MP and JJ to run the offense. Bill is the one who was OK with dating a 22 year old then installing her deep into his public relations machine. Bill is the one who brought Mike Lombardi in as his chief lieutenant despite what Al Davis said about him. Bill is the one who brought Sweaty Steve into UNC instead of letting him keep his distance in Colorado.

 

[203Pat]

NCAA is going to hit UNC with the dreaded "lack of institutional control". Wild that Bill seems to find a new way to embarrass himself so frequently.

 

[rkarp1]

NCAA is going to hit UNC with the dreaded "lack of institutional control". Wild that Bill seems to find a new way to embarrass himself so frequently.

he has reached the point (about 5-6 years ago) where he simply does not give a f*ck
he wants to do what he wants to do it, with who he wants to do it with, and when he does it.
critics be damned, he doesn't care.

 

[EddardSnow67]

Going to the college game was a bad fit. He doesn't really do much of the coaching anyway. He would have been better off staying in the media or taking a front office job somewhere. But UNC threw him the bag, hard to turn down $30 million guaranteed and a chance at $50 million.

I think the lack of institutional control is inherent here, really. Did anyone really think Bill would be in control of that program at this point in time like he had been in New England?

I think there's a battle of overreactions here. There are those making a little bit too much of this in terms of tarnishing legacies of multiple parties but then there are some outright rationalizations.

It's a bad look and a serious thing, but it's also not the worst impropriety we've seen by a long shot.

Ultimately, it's just another mid tier scandal that will eventually be a footnote. Bill Belichick is old and clearly tired. He was never going to bend over backwards to run a squeaky clean program. It's a disappointment but also not completely unexpected for a variety of reasons, not all of which necessarily having to do with Belichick directly.

 

[h0c2000]

 

[Bill Lee]

he has reached the point (about 5-6 years ago) where he simply does not give a f*ck
he wants to do what he wants to do it, with who he wants to do it with, and when he does it.
critics be damned, he doesn't care.

To me the amazing part is that he's doing whatever the **** he wants to do while still getting paid $10M a year to do so, under a contract that guarantees him $30M. If Fat Mike was the one who made that happen, I think we have to respect his game.

 

[Bill Lee]

Ultimately, it's just another mid tier scandal that will eventually be a footnote. Bill Belichick is old and clearly tired. He was never going to bend over backwards to run a squeaky clean program. It's a disappointment but also not completely unexpected for a variety of reasons, not all of which necessarily having to do with Belichick directly.

If we believe some of the reporting, there is a power struggle between the UNC Board and the Athletic Department (AD). Bill is the Board's guy. The AD presumably has many reasons to want to be able to hire and fire coaches without the Board being so directly involved. Therefore I bet a lot of the people giving leaks to WRAL etc are UNC AD people.

 

[DoubleDeluxe]

If we believe some of the reporting, there is a power struggle between the UNC Board and the Athletic Department (AD). Bill is the Board's guy. The AD presumably has many reasons to want to be able to hire and fire coaches without the Board being so directly involved. Therefore I bet a lot of the people giving leaks to WRAL etc are UNC AD people.

Imagine being the AD trying to work with BB?
Can't imagine there's many bilateral talks there.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Parasites is a bit strong.

Maybe BB's son is in rehab. The article says the lawyers are asking if BB Jr. did drugs on campus. Can you imagine if everyone on the UNC campus who had done drugs was investigated?

And a female member of the recruiting staff had sex with a player. Can you imagine that people on UNC's campus are having consensual sex? OMG, the horror.

This is another very minor story that is greatly exaggerated. Whether it is an illness or drug rehab, I wish Steve Belichick all the best and a fast recovery.

I don't think it's strong. These are people BB trusts completely who a) would not be enjoying their current fruits in life without him and b) due to their behavior embarrassed him.

BB Jr. in rehab is understandable. Drugged up during games? Unacceptable.

Lombardi has issues and is an embarrassment.

Bunny's behavior is an embarrassment.

BB is to blame in this as well. He has a blind spot for bum magnets.

 

[Bill Lee]

BB Jr. in rehab is understandable. Drugged up during games? Unacceptable.

The guy is being paid $1.3M to be a member of the UNC coaching staff.

Being high any time he's at his workplace is unacceptable.

His contract language says even permitting/condoning drug use is unacceptable, never mind taking them himself.

The WRAL report says that, and it's an even higher (sic) bar for BB:

Lombardi’s employment contract required him to abide by UNC employee policies, as well as “policies, regulations and rules that apply to this position,” and that he must cooperate with any investigations. Under the contract, the university could have fired Lombardi if it found a major violation of any state or federal law or any policies or rules set by the NCAA, ACC, and the university. The university can decide what it considers a major violation. Lombardi’s contract also noted that he could be fired for failing to report infractions, including instances in which sexual harassment may have occurred, or if he was found to have permitted or condoned illicit drug use. Steve Belichick’s contract contains the same provisions.

Bill Belichick’s contract stipulates those things and more, requiring him to “promote an atmosphere of compliance” in the program, referring to the same regulatory bodies. It also says he’s responsible for the conduct of his assistant coaches and other program employees, and that he also must report knowledge of the illegal use, sale or possession of drugs or the possible violation of UNC’s policies on sexual harassment or other possible sexual misconduct.

Lombardi resigns as UNC investigators probe allegations of drug use, sex within football program

Lawyers investigating UNC football questioned people about allegations involving assistant Steve Belichick and, separately, about a possible sexual relationship between at least one employee and at least one player, people familiar with the probe tell WRAL. GM Michael Lombardi resigned Thursday.

www.wral.com

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

The guy is being paid $1.3M to be a member of the UNC coaching staff.

Being high any time he's at his workplace is unacceptable.

His contract language says even permitting/condoning drug use is unacceptable, never mind taking them himself.

The WRAL report says that, and it's an even higher (sic) bar for BB:

Lombardi’s employment contract required him to abide by UNC employee policies, as well as “policies, regulations and rules that apply to this position,” and that he must cooperate with any investigations. Under the contract, the university could have fired Lombardi if it found a major violation of any state or federal law or any policies or rules set by the NCAA, ACC, and the university. The university can decide what it considers a major violation. Lombardi’s contract also noted that he could be fired for failing to report infractions, including instances in which sexual harassment may have occurred, or if he was found to have permitted or condoned illicit drug use. Steve Belichick’s contract contains the same provisions.

Bill Belichick’s contract stipulates those things and more, requiring him to “promote an atmosphere of compliance” in the program, referring to the same regulatory bodies. It also says he’s responsible for the conduct of his assistant coaches and other program employees, and that he also must report knowledge of the illegal use, sale or possession of drugs or the possible violation of UNC’s policies on sexual harassment or other possible sexual misconduct.

Almost every employment contract has a "for cause" paragraph - that is standard employment law language. There are drugs and sex on a college campus? BB is both a genius and an idiot? Nothing new here.

In this case, not widespread, but only a couple of consensual cases. YAWN.

 

[Crazy Patriot Guy]

lol. Do you know anything about college sports? This is the NIL era. Anything goes. This isn’t an NCAA investigation. It’s a UNC investigation looking for cause to get out of Belichicks contract. Drug use? lol. Financial impropriety? Ever hear of NIL. Staffers sleeping with players? One of the staffers in question is a recruitment hostess. What do you think her “job” is? Look up recruitment hostesses and you’ll see every college has them. Heck Rick Pitino is still coaching and he took the lazy way out by skipping the hostess staffing and just hiring an escort agency. Lombardi is said to have yelled at staffers and reamed them out. This is a big nothing burger. Though Belichick should take heed that the long knives are out. They don’t want to pay him what they guaranteed.

Yeah this reminds me of The Aviator when the senator is grilling Howard Hughes about undelivered planes and bribes and whatnot and Hughes points out the billions in government contracts for other companies that didn't get delivered and yet he was the only one being questioned.

We can dislike it all we want, but we can't call this a UNC-only problem.

 

[Bill Lee]

We can dislike it all we want, but we can't call this a UNC-only problem.

I'm trying to figure out where anyone said it was a UNC-only problem.

We know UNC put Fat Mike onto administrative leave and then Fat Mike chose to resign.

Just because UNC feels they have a problem they need to act on, doesn't mean it's a UNC-only problem.

 

[jimnance]

Yeah this reminds me of The Aviator when the senator is grilling Howard Hughes about undelivered planes and bribes and whatnot and Hughes points out the billions in government contracts for other companies that didn't get delivered and yet he was the only one being questioned.

We can dislike it all we want, but we can't call this a UNC-only problem.

No its not. But what Belichick has done since 2019 is Shakespearrean Tragedy.
First he lost his ability to make great roster building decisions. Then, he lost his mind.
It's very sad. Dude seems to no longer have any self-awareness.