Whether Mike Lombardi gets a slap on the wrist or loses his job, the highest paid general manager in all of college football continues to create embarrassment for the oldest public university in the country.
After Monday’s unceremonious announcement that he is currently on paid administrative leave, it feels unlikely that Lombardi will continue his regular regimen substituting for Bill Belichick on media duties during the 2026 season, which includes a Monday morning radio appearance on 97.9 The Hill and his weekly syndicated show from Top of the Hill.
The release from South Building says Lombardi will continue earning his $1.5 million salary as long as he’s employed, but if the rumors that are already swelling within UNC are true, he may be on his way back to Cleveland before the season even kicks off. One of the reports says a complaint was filed by a former front office employee. Such an accusation these days is received even worse than cheating in recruiting.
I guess we should have known this was coming if we had checked the references from his years in the NFL, where Lombardi was among the most unpopular administrators across five teams. Not even the vaunted New England Patriots after three their Super Bowl championships could find a way to hide Lombardi despite his loyalty to Belichick. He didn’t have much more success with four other franchises and wound up as a podcaster before Belichick asked him to find out Carolina who was considering after it fired Mack Brown.
Then after the Tar Heels offered the Hoodie $10 million a season and introduced him with cut-off sleeves gracing the flabbergasted Rams Club ballroom — and with trustees John Preyer and Jennifer Lloyd basking in congratulations after pulling off the coaching coup — Lombardi capped it off with the stupidest scouting report in the history of football. Knowing very little of how the transfer portal and new revenue sharing model had changed college football, Lombardi declared Carolina’s goal would be the “33rd NFL franchise” during their first season on the job. And we all know how that turned out.
There was no subtlety to any chicanery from the beginning, with Belichick hiring his sons Steve and Brian to his defensive staff and Lombardi hiring his son Matt — who had never been a full time college football coach — to get the quarterbacks ready for the ACC. When Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham found out that they were running afoul of UNC’s nepotism policy, they all came up with some way to skirt rules that are plain as day on paper.
After UNC finished their first season 4-8 against a pathetically easy schedule (and remember, Brown had coached his last 12 Carolina teams to bowl games), Belichick and Lombardi failed to have a single player picked in the 2026 NFL draft. Despite a slight uptick from recruiting, a 2026 schedule that seems three times as difficult could make getting four wins seem like a winning season.
And — for now — who knows what the plan will be for the general manager and recruiting players for 2027?
Featured image via AP Photo/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.
Chansky’s Notebook: Chicanery Chapelboro.com.
Hence then, the article about chansky s notebook chicanery was published today ( ) and is available on chapelboro ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Chansky’s Notebook: Chicanery )
Also on site :
- Best-Selling Author and Fan-Favorite Comic-Con 2026 Guest Dominates Amazon Charts With Beloved Series
- “Chicharito” Hernández tiene nuevo club: lo que debes saber del Atlético Dallas y el USL Championship
- Kaitlan Collins addresses Trump’s WHCD insults and tells viewers to focus on the president’s ‘non-answers’