CHAPEL HILL — University of North Carolina leaders emphasized this week that a recent outside investigation into its football program found only isolated incidents — signaling they have faith head coach Bill Belichick’s program doesn’t have a widespread problem of misconduct.
But UNC leaders also said they would dig into any new allegations if they arise — putting Belichick and other leaders in the program on notice.
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“This investigation is closed,” UNC general counsel Paul Newton added in a briefing about the investigation, “but our door is never closed to expressions of concern about this program.”
Two of Belichick’s top lieutenants resigned amid the inquiry — his son, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, and general manager Michael Lombardi. But the statements by UNC leaders and their outside investigators offered few specifics about the investigation or whether the resignations were even connected to the probe, which included questions about allegations of drug use and in appropriate relationships.
“The investigation determined that certain actions demonstrated a disregard for Carolina’s values and standards of conduct,” UNC said in its statement Thursday. “The investigation also found that these actions were isolated in scope and not a systemic failure.”
Nevertheless, the university managed to send a clear message to governing bodies that have the power to investigate and penalize universities over compliance issues, according to legal analysts.
“What they're acknowledging in this [statement], which is using as little information as possible, is that, ‘We've taken care of this,’ essentially, ‘and so, outside regulatory bodies, we're handling this as an institution and if you need to know anything, we'll communicate that to you,’” said Jason Montgomery, a former NCAA investigator who is now a partner at law firm Husch Blackwell in Kansas City.
During the course of the inquiry, investigators asked interviewees the culture of the football program under Bill Belichick, raising some speculation about whether the probe could affect his status with the program. His contract requires him to “promote an atmosphere of compliance” and to maintain institutional control in the program, ensuring that rules and policies of the university, NCAA and ACC are followed — and that potential violations are reported. The contract also says he’s responsible for the conduct of his assistant coaches and other program employees.
Belichick said this month that his team maintains an environment of compliance and that he understood the importance of the investigation into his football program and the “high standard here of our code of conduct and doing things the right way.” Investigators said Belichick was cooperative and open during the inquiry.
“Everybody's responsible, including me, for doing things properly, and we intend to do that,” Belichick said during a Sept. 7 news conference. He added: “We want to run the program in the very best way, and if there’s things we need to do to correct it, then we’ll obviously do them.”
It was unclear whether the NCAA would investigate UNC following its internal probe. “Due to confidentiality rules put in place by member schools, the NCAA does not comment on current, pending or potential investigations,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to WRAL. The College Sports Commission, another regulatory body, likewise said it doesn’t comment on the existence of investigations.
“While the investigation has concluded, our commitment to receiving and addressing concerns is not over,” Newton said. “One hallmark of a great culture is a culture that encourages [and] rewards expressions of concerns anybody has at any time, and we are going to have that culture in this football program. People will know that they know they can raise their hand and express their concern without any fear of retaliation, and we will take all concerns seriously and we will act on those that are credible.”
‘The dreaded hammer’
If an NCAA program is found to have lost institutional control, it could face major penalties or probation. So universities seek to assure the NCAA and other bodies that, in the face of scandal, they maintain control, legal analysts said.
“The dreaded hammer from the NCAA is a [finding of] lack of institutional control … which means an overall failure to monitor the football program in a way so that it will operate consistently with the rules,” said J. Andrew Fine, a Durham lawyer who represents athletics-related clients.
Investigators who carried out the UNC probe asked interviewees about whether Steve Belichick had used drugs on the job or if had given drugs to at least one player, people familiar with the investigation previously told WRAL. Lombardi faced a one-game suspension this season for a self-reported NCAA violation involving off-campus recruiting, internal documents obtained by WRAL show. Neither man has responded to multiple requests for comment.
Based on what the university has said about the investigation — characterizing it as an institutional issue and referencing university policies and standards versus NCAA rules — indicates that UNC is treating this more as an internal human resources case and less a case for an outside regulator, Montgomery said.
The resignations and a separate suspension this week of a player who faces a gun charge after a traffic stop happened in a span of two weeks. They’re among a broader tapestry of distractions that have befallen the program, including allegations of a divided locker room, questions about the influence Bill Belichick’s girlfriend has over his media projects, a spate of traffic citations and parking complaints against players, and the suspension of an assistant coach that coincided with a memo reminding members of the program that selling complimentary tickets could violate NCAA rules. There was also a smattering of self-reported minor NCAA violations last year.
And while many of those incidents might be considered one-offs, those kinds of things can add up to something bigger, Fine said.
“These little elements also go to [Bill Belichick’s] supervision of the football team,” he said. “The supervision of the football team is something that's solely his responsibility. So whether these are isolated incidents or not, they speak to a possible lack of supervision that allowed these things to continue. That lack of supervision can certainly be held against him if they want to try to fire him for cause.. … The question just becomes whether or not they have to pay his payout that's specified in his contract.”
Vote of confidence
Bill Belichick’s contract is worth $50 million over five years, though only the first three years and $30 million are guaranteed. If UNC decided to fire Belichick without cause, the university would owe him everything he was set to earn up until Dec. 31, 2027. If it were to fire him after finding cause for termination, the university wouldn’t be on the hook for any salary, bonuses or supplemental income after termination.
But Fine reads UNC’s messaging as a vote of confidence in the head coach, who was hired in late 2024 to elevate the program.
“What it signals is at least an attempt going forward to keep Bill Belichick around longer and help insulate him from these incidents that have occurred or that UNC has uncovered,” Fine said.
Belichick, an NFL coaching legend, won six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots. People familiar with his time there are surprised to see the cacophony of distractions facing the program during his time in Chapel Hill.
In New England, Belichick was known for being a focused, details-oriented coach who was keenly aware of everything that was happening within the Patriots organization. He ran a no-nonsense, no-distractions team, said Kyle Arrington, a former Patriots cornerback who won a Super Bowl with Belichick in 2014.
“One of the first philosophies Bill generally has is he wants to have the most mentally tough team and the most prepared team,” Arrington told WRAL. “So just knowing Bill, I know that the more that we're talking about this, you know, that's the less that they're actually game planning to talk about football.”
Whether the distractions affect performance on the field remains to be seen. The Tar Heels (2-0) visit Clemson (1-1) on Saturday. UNC hosts No. 3 Notre Dame on Oct. 3 and three other teams currently ranked in the top 25 later in the season. Through two games, the Tar Heels have displayed an improved offense and a stout defense, appearing improved from last year’s 4-8 squad.
“The future of Bill Belichick depends on winning,” Fine said, “and the reason for that is because today college athletics is so dependent on the largess of very rich, outside donors to donate to things like name, image, likeness to help the players get paid. And what these people want to see are wins.”
He added: “The people who want to see UNC be successful also don't want to see this kind of chaos in the program. … They don't want to see losses on top of that, and when you combine those two things, it's going to create a very hot seat for Bill Belichick.”
WRAL News reporters Shaun Gallagher and Alex Littlehales, and WRAL News anchor Ashley Rowe contributed to this report.
