Bill Belichick is in Chapel Hill and UNC is where he plans to stay.
That's according to Michael Lombardi, the new general manager of Belichick's Tar Heels football program, who told Pat McAfee on Thursday of the controversy surrounding the legendary coach's possible NFL U-turn. He is said to have said that the rumors he is hearing are not true.
“Bill Belichick fucked North Carolina State. He promised it to me, he promised it to the university, and there was no conversation about it, but we talked about it from my office here, to my We drove to where we were staying, like this football field in the back. We commute to work together every day, and how much of a mess the NFL is and how grateful we are for college football. We're both talking,” Lombardi said on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Belichick, who burst into the college ranks in December after nearly 50 years in the league, has been at the center of NFL coaching conversations since Sunday's regular season ended.
Wednesday, a day after the Raiders parted ways with Antonio Pierce after his first full season as head coach. NFL.com reported Tom Brady, now minority owner of the Las Vegas franchise, “recently” spoke with Belichick about “what it would take to make a reunion happen.”
Belichick, 72, and Brady, 47, won six Super Bowls over 20 seasons in New England.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback left the franchise after the 2019 season, won one more Super Bowl with Tampa Bay in 2021, and ended his career in early 2023.
A year later, in 2024, Belichick parted ways with the Patriots after 24 seasons as head coach.
Lombardi told McAfee on Thursday that McAfee and Belichick are “completely committed” to North Carolina, but criticized the Raiders' report as “a complete lie.”
“When that story came out, Coach Belichick was recruiting in South Jersey. Today he was at Bergen Catholic, one of the teams we saw play in Ocean City. He was at Princeton. We are going to the Hun School to recruit children from all over the world,” Lombardi said.
“I mean, that story didn't have any legs. I think what happens a lot with rumors, and what you see doing it in the league, is people try to make connections. A to B. C But that's not always the case. Yes, Tom Brady is doing interviews. Yes, Tom Brady is doing research on head coaching candidates. He's calling people for advice because that's why he's so good at what he does, and he listens to advice. But that's what he wants from Bill Belichick. Don’t think it’s because you’re doing it.”
Lombardi served as general manager and executive vice president of the Browns in 2013 after serving in personnel roles for teams such as the 49ers, Raiders and Eagles.
Lombardi was named an assistant on the Patriots' coaching staff in 2014, when Belichick was still at the helm.
Belichick's tenure at UNC has been widely speculated about since he took the UNC job in December.
Belichick's contract with UNC includes a $10 million buyout if he leaves by June 1st.
After that, it drops to $1 million.
The Raiders will be working hard this offseason.
In addition to needing to secure a new head coach, the team announced Thursday that it has fired general manager Tom Telesco after one season.
The Raiders are one of six coaching vacancies this cycle, including the Bears, Jets, Jaguars, Saints and Patriots.
The Jets and Titans are also looking for a new general manager.
