CHAPEL HILL — University of North Carolina leaders defended a seven-week investigation into the Tar Heels’ football program and said they remain supportive of head coach Bill Belichick despite the resignation of his general manager and defensive coordinator amid the probe.

UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and athletics director Steve Newmark on Thursday addressed the investigation for the first time publicly since it concluded last week. General manager Michael Lombardi, who was placed on paid administrative leave, and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill’s son who is on medical leave, both resigned during the investigation. 

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“Coach Belichick continues to have our support, the support of the administration and of the board [of trustees],” Roberts told the media during a break in a UNC Board of Trustees meeting Thursday. “He understands that that support comes with expectations around conduct and behavior. Nobody understands that better than Coach Belichick.”

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The probe examined allegations of drug use and sex in the program, as well as the workplace environment and culture within the program, WRAL previously reported. UNC said the investigation found certain actions that demonstrated "a disregard for Carolina's values and standards of conduct." The university said it considered the actions isolated in scope and not part of a more systemic problem, adding that it is taking corrective actions. 

Bill Belichick, 74, was one of the most successful NFL coaches, having won six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots. He hadn’t coached college football before UNC hired him in 2024 to help elevate the Tar Heels’ program. UNC went 4-8 last season, Belichick’s first, and the program generated more off-the-field headlines than victories. 

Lombardi was placed on paid administrative leave in late July, placing a cloud over Belichick’s second season. Shortly after, UNC said it had hired outside investigators to conduct a review of the program. Officials said last week the probe was launched after some employees filed complaints related to the program. UNC hasn’t disclosed specifics about the complaints, citing laws that protect state employee records. But investigators affirmed WRAL’s previous reporting about the nature of the questions they were asking interviewees.  

The investigators conducted more than 60 interviews, including with Belichick. As details about the investigation emerged, Lombardi resigned. 

Roberts said Thursday that the outside investigation was a voluntary and proactive effort to ensure that the culture football program was sound. 

“Nobody made us do an investigation,” Roberts said. “Nobody made us hire an external firm. Nobody made us reveal the existence of an investigation, but we did it because we care about the conduct standards of the football program, and we're continuing to put in place policies and training and monitoring to make sure that the standards we expect of the football program are being adhered to."

Newmark said the investigators were clear that the conduct found by investigators wasn’t pervasive, weren’t related and often unconnected. 

“When we look at the overall body of work around it,” Newmark said, “we believe there were serious allegations and serious conduct that we needed to address, but we didn’t find that it was program-wide.”

Bill Belichick declined to answer questions about the end of the investigation, its findings or the resignation of Steve Belichick at his postgame press conference Saturday in Clemson, S.C. The Tar Heels are off this week, and Belichick has not held another press conference. Belichick said this month that his team maintains an environment of compliance. “We want to run the program in the very best way,” he said on Sept. 7. “And if there’s things we need to do to correct it, then we’ll obviously do them.”

Newmark said corrective actions are being implemented, including training, monitoring and reinforcement of policies. That process will be overseen by Newmark and the Office of the University Counsel, he said.

“It’s my responsibility to ensure that we set expectations and create a culture of accountability for all our programs, including football,” Newmark said. “Out of this investigation, we feel like there were significant outcomes. The initial ones were the change in leadership position for two of our senior coaches in the football program.”

Lombardi was the highest-paid general manager in college football. He was in the second year of a three-year, $4.5-million contract. Steve Belichick was the Tar Heels’ highest-paid assistant coach in the second year of a two-year, $2.7-million contract. Steve Belichick’s resignation will be effective on Oct. 27, when the medical leave ends, UNC previously said. 

“Coach [Bill] Belichick is in complete alignment and will work hand-in-hand to make sure that we continue to create a safe, welcoming and respectful environment,” Newmark said.

The resignations were just part of a tumultuous stretch for the program. Last week, during a traffic stop, one football player was cited for speeding and another was charged with a gun and drug offense. WRAL has reported on a number of speeding and reckless driving charges among UNC football players since Belichick took over as well as complaints from faculty over parking and driving habits on campus.

“We continue to take those seriously,” Newmark said. “We need to make sure we create a safe environment not only for our student athletes but for the UNC community. And we’re continuing to look at different ways to make sure that we can not only set the expectations, but when necessary, when we make mistakes, that we impose appropriate disciplinary actions to address it.”

Neither player in the traffic stop played against Clemson on Saturday and one is suspended indefinitely.

Despite the issues, Newmark and Roberts remained confident in Bill Belichick’s abilities to lead the football program forward. The head coach is in the second year of a five-year, $50-million contract. The first three years are guaranteed.

“We believe that he can be successful with our football program on and off the field,” Newmark said. “At the same time, and as with all our coaches, there are expectations about culture and conduct for each of our programs, and Coach [Bill] 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. I think we’re aligned in those efforts. We just need to continue to take more steps to ensure that we enforce and instill that into the football program.”

Roberts said that Bill Belichick has done work to connect himself and the football program with the wider campus community, including shaking hands with students on the first day of classes, inviting other coaches to appear on his radio show and sending his team out to pick up trash on a Sunday morning across campus.

“Those are things that, I think, are unusual for a head football coach, either here or at any other Power 4 program, and we appreciate everything he’s done to try to be part of the campus community,” Roberts said.

Paul Newton, the university’s general counsel, and Nate Huff, an outside attorney who led the investigation, discussed the investigation with WRAL and two other outlets last week.

“We followed where the evidence led and, in a few instances, the evidence led us to conclude that there was conduct that sort of fell short of the university’s values,” Huff said.

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