Bill Belichick arrived at North Carolina with the biggest name the program had ever hired. However, almost two years later, the conversation around his tenure has shifted dramatically. It is no longer only about whether the eight-time Super Bowl champion can win college football games. It is about the people he trusted to help him do it.

That was the issue raised on Pablo Torre’s August 11 podcast, where The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman discussed Belichick’s decision-making at UNC. Feldman pointed to Michael Lombardi, Belichick’s longtime associate and the Tar Heels’ general manager, as a major part of the story. His argument was not that Lombardi lacked football knowledge. It was that Belichick’s biggest strength at UNC may also have become his biggest weakness: trusting people from his inner circle.

“He’s got this relationship with Belichick,” Feldman said. “And that’s the biggest thing on the back of his, you know, baseball card right now: is Bill Bichichick believes in him.”

That relationship was strong enough for Lombardi to become one of Belichick’s first major hires after he accepted the UNC job. Lombardi received a three-year contract worth $1.5 million per year. That made him one of the highest-paid general managers in college football. The arrangement was supposed to give UNC something it had never really had: an NFL-style football operation. Instead, after just two years, Lombardi is embroiled in a massive controversy.

On July 27, UNC placed Lombardi on paid administrative leave. The university did not provide a reason, saying it was a personnel matter. ESPN reported that the move stemmed from a human resources complaint filed by a former UNC front-office employee. The university is conducting an investigation, and officials have said the process will be thorough. That does not establish wrongdoing by Lombardi. However, Pablo Torre questioned Bill Belichick’s judgment in his hiring and later UNC’s haste to appoint him in 2024.

“It just feels like they ended up trusting a guy in Belichick who has, at the very least, not proven the ability to pick the people that he trusts,” Torre said. “And the question at the end, I suppose, is a football question because North Carolina’s best hope lies in the new offensive coordinator, Bobby Petrino.”

UNC is preparing for Belichick’s second season. The Tar Heels open against TCU in Dublin on August 29, and another member of Belichick’s inner circle, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, has also stepped away from the program indefinitely for medical reasons. For now, Bill Belichick said the defense would continue operating collaboratively during his son’s absence. There is another controversial name on the staff too, as Torre pointed.

Belichick hired Bobby Petrino as offensive coordinator after the 2025 season. Petrino’s football résumé is strong. He owns a 137-78 career record as a college head coach and has built several high-scoring offenses. UNC paid him $1 million for 2026 and $1.35 million for 2027 under a two-year, $2.35 million contract. But Petrino also brings baggage.

Arkansas fired him in 2012 after an investigation into his relationship with Jessica Dorrell, a 25-year-old staffer he had hired. Athletic director Jeff Long said Petrino had given Dorrell $20,000 and had misled university officials about the relationship. The scandal emerged after the motorcycle accident involving the two.

In all, Belichick was trusted to build the football program. Then he trusted the people around him. If those choices continue to produce turmoil, the problem will not simply be about one general manager. It will become a question about Belichick himself.