Bill Belichick has maintained a steady start with a strong 2-0 lead, but the same can’t be said about his staff. The rapidly collapsing support structure around Bill Belichick at UNC has led many to wonder that this turmoil could lead to something else.

College football insider Steven Godfrey is widely projecting that the legendary head coach and the university might be heading towards an inevitable split. This thought comes after the sudden resignation of Steve Belichick, which is not surprising for Godfrey.

“It’s a little bit more of the same,” Steven Godfrey said on Yahoo Sports Daily on September 17. “This is not really a big deal. I know it sounds dramatic and all that. Steve Belichick was almost certainly not going to come back to this program. Mike Lombardi, the GM, has already been removed from this program.”

“You’re seeing the core around Bill Belichick leave North Carolina at a time when they’re actually playing a little bit better college football than we expected, but this still leads me to, I just said this in the college football choir. Everybody expects Bill Belichick in North Carolina to move on in the near future. And this is just another sign of that.”

Belichick accepted the UNC job after a long NFL tenure. But he didnt come alone. He brought in his trusted inner circle to run the football infrastructure. In just a few months, that circle has completely vanished.

The forced departure of General Manager Michael Lombardi and the sudden resignation of Defensive Coordinator Steve Belichick mean the head coach is now entirely isolated from the staff he built. Coaching in an environment without his closest confidants can dampen Belichick’s long-term desire to stay in Chapel Hill.

Michael Lombardi officially resigned from his position as the General Manager on September 3. Lombardi was unexpectedly placed on paid administrative leave by the university just before fall camp. He did not travel with the team for their Week Zero opener in Dublin, Ireland.

As he resigned voluntarily, UNC was completely cleared from paying out the remainder of his three-year, $1.5 million annual contract. His suspension originally stemmed from a formal human resources complaint filed by a former UNC front office employee.

Steve Belichick, who has been on medical leave since August 6, will resign as UNC’s defensive coordinator effective October 27, the university announced September 17.

Even UNC can part ways with him, seeing both Lombardi and Steve left because of internal issues. UNC’s administration has also heavily protected itself when it comes to Belichick’s contract.

According to USA TODAY, the unique “anomaly” of the deal is that while it is a five-year contract, only the first three years are fully guaranteed. This allows UNC the flexibility to move on from Belichick at the end of the current season. The advantage is that the payout will be just a $10 million cheque. It is a massive discount compared to standard coaching mega-buyouts like the $54 million LSU owed Brian Kelly.