CHAPEL HILL — Amid all of the problems in and around the North Carolina football program — and there are many, including a divided locker room and culture issues documented by WRAL last week — the biggest for Bill Belichick’s first Tar Heel team might be the easiest to understand: The roster isn’t good enough.
General manager Michael Lombardi and Belichick, who put this roster together relying heavily on the transfer portal, are starting to publicly state that as the poor on-field performances mount.
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“We went out and signed a lot of players,” Belichick said Monday at a press conference attended by Lombardi. “We signed players who didn't have offers or offers that they didn't want. Kind of slid through the cracks in terms of the recruiting process. We signed players in the transfer portal that were available. We were late in the running on a lot of them. We were late on relationships. We were late on it in contacts. We ran out of time. We did the best we could.”
Belichick was hired on Dec. 12, three days after the transfer portal opened. Present at his introductory press conference was Lombardi, a long-time Belichick confidant and now the highest-paid general manager in the sport. Lombardi’s last experience in college football was at UNLV in the mid-1980s.
“The way they came into this was somewhat arrogant and unprepared,” a North Carolina high school football coach told WRAL last week.
Another source said Lombardi offered a player $50,000 to remain in the UNC program. But he was already making $100,000, a fact that Lombardi was apparently unaware of.
In a Sept. 29 email to the program’s major donors, obtained by Football Scoop, Lombardi highlighted some of the talent drain from previous recruiting classes. He wrote that just eight starters remain from the team’s last four recruiting classes, including 2025.
Lombardi said the plan is to sign “upwards of 40 high school prospects in the 2026 class.” He used the same number during an appearance on the school’s weekly coaches show. He and Belichick have said the Tar Heels must develop their own recruits.
The portal is expensive, Lombardi wrote, and more for filling specific needs — not wholesale building of a program. The NCAA is shrinking the December transfer portal window and eliminating the post-spring window.
“I think we’ll take advantage of every opportunity we have to improve the team, whether that’s in the recruiting or whether it’s in the transfer or, most importantly, developing the players that are here,” Belichick said. “This is a developmental program, like every program is that I’ve ever been a part of. The idea is to get our players and get them better.”
Belichick pointed to his success with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns (reached the playoffs as head coach), New York Giants (won two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator) and New England Patriots (won six Super Bowls as head coach).
It hasn’t worked so far for the Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 in the ACC), who have been outscored 120-33 in three games against Power 4 conference schools (TCU, UCF and Clemson). According to the NCAA's stats, UNC ranks No. 131 among the 134 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision in yards per game and 117th in points per game.
"I think Michael and his staff did a great job of upgrading the roster, and then it was upgraded again in the spring after spring ball,” Belichick said. “I mean our football team is a lot better than what it was at the end of spring ball, I can tell you that."
The Tar Heels added starting quarterback Gio Lopez, linebacker Andrew Simpson and kicker Rece Verhoff after spring practice. The team also lost linebacker Amare Campbell (Penn State) and defensive end Beau Atkinson (Ohio State) after spring practice.
Simpson, an All-Mountain West second-team player who played in the College Football Playoff with Boise State in 2024, said his conversations with Lombardi were really good during the transfer process.
“He took time to explain to me and my family what we wanted to get to here and how much buy-in everybody had and what we wanted seasons to look like,” Simpson said.
Simpson leads the team in tackles (29) through five games and is tied for the team lead with two sacks.
"In terms of the opportunities we had, could we have done some things going after some different players or whatever?” Belichick said. “I'd say we got the ones we got, and there were others we were after that we didn't get.”
“When you come in late on a recruiting end and on the portal end, we had a better chance in the second portal than we did in the first portal. I think the results of that speak for themselves. Those are some of our best players.”
The Athletic reported that North Texas transfer quarterback Chandler Morris was interested in UNC, but the Tar Heels were put off by the 6-foot, 190-pounder’s stature. UNC signed Purdue’s Ryan Browne (6-foot-4, 210 pounds), who transferred back to Purdue after spring practice. Morris signed with Virginia and has led the Cavaliers into the Top 25. UNC ultimately signed Lopez (6-foot, 203 pounds) from South Alabama.
Lombardi, in a weekly segment with WCHL, echoed Belichick’s comments about not having a recruiting class because of their late arrival.
“Anything worth its weight in gold takes time,” Lombardi said. “You have to be prepared to build something sustainable, and I think, ultimately, that’s what we’re going to do. I don’t know how long it will take, but we’re gonna work diligently to make sure that it happens.”