North Carolina football is reportedly under investigation by the College Sports Commission, per Pablo Torre. This comes on the heels of football GM Michael Lombardi being placed on paid administrative leave on Monday.
The College Sports Commission concerns itself with revenue-sharing and its cap, third-party NIL deals and sport-specific roster limits, meaning that an investigation into UNC’s football team is related to one or more of those areas. Division I athletes are required to report NIL deals of $600 or more, and the College Sports Commission also determines whether these NIL contracts are for “valid business parternships” and that they do not “exceed a reasonable range of compensation,” per the organization’s own website.
What, specifically, UNC is being investigated for is unclear. In the recent past, however, the College Sports Commission has found potentially precedential success. In May, the CSC won in arbitration against Nebraska players, who had agreed to third-party NIL deals that the commission argued lacked a valid business purpose.
As for Lombardi, UNC did not provide reason for his being placed on administrative leave. noting that employees and athletes aren’t permitted to address the topic “as is standard procedure with personnel matters.” The Athletic reported that Lombardi was placed no leave due to a “human resource complaint,” per multiple sources, and that “Lombardi’s actions are believed to be of interest” in the CSC investigation.
Lombardi joined Bill Belichick in making the NFL-to-college move when the school hired the former New England Patriots coach in December 2024. Lombardi’s career as an NFL executive had included being the GM of the Cleveland Browns in 2013, and he was an immediate hire by the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach in Chapel Hill.
The school had hired Belichick to jolt a football program that had largely been an Atlantic Coast Conference also-ran while making periodic but unsustained climbs into national relevance.
A few months into Belichick’s tenure, Lombardi said the goal was running a college program in a way similar to the NFL, saying the Tar Heels “consider ourselves the 33rd (NFL) team” due to the staff connections to the pros.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
