One week after UNC closed its internal investigation into the Tar Heel football program for potential conduct and policy violations, the university’s leaders shed more light on the decision and their next steps.
UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and Carolina Athletics Director Steve Newmark addressed local media gathered at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting. While neither the football investigation or the resignations of defensive coordinator Steve Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi were discussed in open sessions by the trustees, the pair answered lingering questions around the investigation’s scope and how its results may impact head coach Bill Belichick’s role.
As had widely been reported, Newmark confirmed the investigation originated from allegations the university received from former employees — which coincided with Lombardi being placed on administrative leave in late July. The athletic director said he and other university leaders though an inquiry “was appropriate” based on the level of allegations and UNC retained a third-party law firm — Barnes & Thornburg LLP, according to WRAL — to dig into it. The television station also reported the scope of the investigation broadened from just allegations against Lombardi to whether Steve Belichick used any drugs while on the job or distributed drugs to a player or players, and whether players or staff had any sexual relations with staff members.
Both Roberts and Newmark said doing so was voluntary by the university and not required, with Newmark describing the law firm as having “unfettered access to staff [and] facilities” in order to be thorough, fair and comprehensive in their review.
“Based on those interviews — which, I think we’ve shared, [there were] over 60 interviews over a two-month period — they did find isolated incidents that didn’t meet our standards and didn’t rise to the level of what our expectations would be from the football program,” the athletic director said Thursday. “But [the investigators] were very clear it was not pervasive, that these incidents were unrelated and often unconnected. And so when we look at the overall body of work around [UNC football’s operations], you we believe there were serious allegations and serious conduct that we needed to address, but we didn’t find that it was program-wide.”
“At the end of the day, in my role as athletic director,” Newmark added, “it’s my responsibility to ensure that we set expectations and create a culture of accountability for all of our programs, including football. Out of this investigation, we feel like there were significant outcomes. The initial ones were the change at the leadership position for two of our senior coaches in the football program. But we’re also in the process of implementing a corrective action plan that has training, monitoring, and reinforcement of our policies.”
Newmark and Roberts said rules around personnel matters limit what can be publicly shared about that action plan. But the athletic director said it will be overseen by himself, the whole athletic department, and UNC’s Office of University Council. He added that Bill Belichick is in “complete alignment” and will work directly with the university administration to “make sure that we continue to create a safe, welcoming and respectful environment.”
Belichick was hired as the football program’s head coach in December 2024 — a surprise move from the university that marked a bold step in a shifting college sports landscape and one that skirted traditional hiring policies. Previously an NFL lifer, the eight-time Super Bowl winning coach made hiring Lombardi and his sons Steve and Brian some of his first decisions in the role. After a disappointing 2025 season that saw Carolina finish 4-8 and earn only two wins over Power 4 opponents, Belichick still had four seasons on his deal of a five-year contract. Offseason attention and non-football headlines were at a minimum this past summer before news of the university’s internal investigation broke.
On Thursday, Roberts and Newmark both reiterated their backing of the 74-year-old head coach to lead UNC football, which is off to a 2-1 start in the 2026 season.
“Coach Belichick continues to have our support, the support of the administration and of the Board [of Trustees],” the chancellor said. “He understands that support comes with expectations around conduct and behavior. Nobody understands that better than Coach Belichick.”
“As a coach, we believe that he can be successful with our football program on and off the field,” Newmark added. “At the same time, and as with all of our coaches, there are expectations about culture and conduct for each of our programs. And Coach Belichick understands that he and I have been working on how we can strengthen our oversight, our compliance, our reporting, and our accountability in order to meet the standards of the university. So I think we’re aligned in those efforts. We just need to continue to take more steps to ensure that we enforce that and instill that into the football program.”
Belichick and UNC football is in their second bye week of the season and will next hit the field on Saturday, October 3 when the Tar Heels host No. 3 Notre Dame.
Featured photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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