UNC GM Mike Lombardi writes long message to boosters explaining Tar Heels' current roster shortcomings

In an earlier exploration of what's gone wrong for Bill Belichick in Year 1 at North Carolina, we referenced a 1,400-word letter general manager Mike Lombardi sent to high-level donors in late-September -- a week before Clemson handed North Carolina another lopsided loss. 

CBS Sports obtained that document this week. North Carolina sent Lombardi's note via email to heavy-hitting boosters and mail with the program's letterhead. Here is the full transcript: 

29 September 25

Growing up near Philadelphia, I resisted the urge to become a Phillies or Eagles fan. At that time, neither team was good, so my hometown bias wasn't tested as I roamed around the North Street playground. The other team, the one named after the revolution (The 76ers) somehow captured my heart. Since my eleventh birthday this juvenile mistake has ruined my NBA watching for the better part of 55 years, minus the time my favorite coach and North Carolina alumni Larry Brown was in charge. However, through pain and disappointment can often come knowledge as being a fan of the team gave me a valuable team building lesson.

When new general manager Sam Hinkie introduced his "Trust the Process" philosophy in 2013, I was reluctant to embrace his formula of losing badly to win eventually. I hated it then, hate it now. Not competing to win goes against every part of my sports executive philosophy. I felt Hinkie's method to rebuild the team was wrong. However, his messaging to the fans was brilliant. From his introductory press conference, everyone (except me) jumped on board. Hinkie's messaging made every fan feel part of the rebuild, which allowed them to feel a sense of belonging. He was simply exercising the second rule of leadership: Management of Attention, continually explaining the plan of action to the organization—which we do daily. By including the fans in his messaging, Hinkie built a strong community of supporters.

I am not Sam Hinkie; I am not telling you we want to lose to win. What I will borrow from him is his delivery of messaging, which is why this email is so important to our program. It's vital for all supporters of UNC Football, to understand the direction we intend to travel. Having our most ardentsupporters committed and believing in our rebuilding plan will help shape the narrative around our program—which will help us rebuild and restore this program. Peter Drucker once said, "Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes; but no plans." We are committed to making UNC football an elite program and want to share the plan we have in place to ensure it occurs.

First and foremost, this letter isn't an excuse or to shed blame on the past regimes. It's meant to explain our team building blueprint moving forward, now that we have surveyed the inherited land. Looking back provides an understanding on how to move forward. 49er Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh often said when devising a plan:
"In planning for a successful future, the past can show you how to get there. Too often we avert our gaze when that past is unpleasant. We don't want to go there again, even though it contains the road map to a bright future. How good are you at looking through the evidence from the past—especially the recent past? There's a certain knack to it, but basically it requires a keen eye for analysis, a commonsense mind for parsing evidence that offers clues to why things went as they did—both good and bad. And, of course, it often requires a strong stomach, because what you're rummaging through may include not only achievements but the remains of a very painful professional fiasco."

So, let's examine the past here at North Carolina.

Over the past four recruiting classes, (from 2022 to 2025) we only have eight remaining players in our starting lineup. Because of the new rules other Power Four football schools were operating with significantly more cash dollars. This caused our 2023 to 2024 recruiting classes to be severely damaged. In the past two seasons Tar Heel football was hit with the perfect storm—significant money going to high school players and players no longer caring about colors, shoes, education or a greatcampus. Money became the method of enticement; recruiting became more transactional than personal. As an example, in 2023 the team signed 29 players, and only five remain—that's less than twenty-four months for a mass exodus. Of the remaining five only two see significant playing time, twenty-four are no longer on the team. The 2024 class signed thirty-one prospects, with three currently playing significant roles. Fourteen are no longer part of the team. In the 2022 class we signed twenty-one players, and only two remain.

Because we have significant yearly gaps in our roster which cannot be filled by the transfer portal, we needed to develop a strategy to address the issues at hand. You might wonder: Why can't the portal address these issues? The portal is a cash cow, it is expensive, and you pay a premium, which is fine to fill starting roles. The portal is like free agency in the NFL, good for filling specific holes in the roster, not conducive to fill depth and developing talent. We need the high school foundation to support this solution. Since Bill and I didn't arrive until after the December 3rd signing date, the 2026 class will be our first and needs to be our best.

Therefore, our plan is to sign upwards of 40 high school prospects in the 2026 class. We are essentially signing two high school classes in one. Typically, a high school class is 20-24 players, this year it will expand to 40 or more making it the biggest class in Carolina Football history. Hopefully it will include multiple players who are the cornerstone of our rebuild and eventually advancing to professional football. We have beaten many powerhouse football programs for players and in the coming months, we hope to add more players who were scheduled to attend schools in the Big Ten or SEC but decided to flip to UNC. We will be active in the portal, filling spots on our roster for an immediate talent influx. The combination of a large quality recruiting class and a good portal will allow us to close the gap on our competition. 

The best way to improve our team is to win the recruiting battles for 2026 and beyond.

It won't be easy, as mentioned before we will embrace the hard—we have much to sell here at UNC and players, parents and coaches understand winning will occur. Nothing worthwhile comes without hard work and perseverance. Go through the list of every great college coach and examine his first season. Bill was 6-10 and 5-11 his first two seasons in Cleveland and New England. Mack Brown was 2-20 the first two years in Chapel Hill. Nick Saban was 7-6 losing to Louisiana Monroe at home. Jim Harbaugh, 4-8, Lou Holtz, 5-6 at Notre Dame, Kirk Ferentz 1-10. Winning isn't easy, especially when rebuilding needs to occur and culture needs to be developed. Once again, not an excuse for how we have performed, only making you aware building a championship team takes time.

Investing in freshman allows us to build a program of sustainability which has always been the cornerstone of any Belichick program. Twenty years of sustained success in New England was due to investing in the long term, establishing continuity within the program which allowed growth and development of the players. This is the formula we intend to use by signing a large high school class. There must be a blend of old and new-which provides short- and long-term answers.

Playing young players will create bumps along the way, Former Michigan basketball coach John Beilein said it well, "Freshmen want to play. Sophomores want to start. Juniors want to score. Seniors want to win." We need an older experienced team and the best way to address this problem is to have a robust 2026 recruiting class which we develop into our type of players,smart, tough and dependable. Add players from the portal who fit our profile and because of the change in only having one portal we now can use spring football to develop our core roster.

We share this plan with all of you because we are partners in the plan. We want you to embrace our actions like many of the 76er fans embraced the process. We appreciate your support, your patience and hopefully when the 26 class arrives you will quickly understand why this class is so important.

Thank you for your continued support, and look forward to seeing many of you at the Clemson game.

Lombardi is an interesting character. He had a long NFL career, where he worked with Belichick, and then parlayed that into a lengthy period as a media personalty. Here's what my colleague John Talty wrote about Lombardi in February:

Publicly, Lombardi has long been Belichick's biggest defender, using his experience working with the eight-time Super Bowl winner at multiple spots to give a peek behind the scenes on the success and motivations behind the NFL's greatest coach. After last working in the NFL with Belichick and the New England Patriots in 2016, Lombardi leaned into building a media career, writing books, working with VSiN and The Ringer and frequently appearing on Ringer founder Bill Simmons' podcast. 

And here's what Lombardi told Talty about his role as Belichick's consigliere. 

"I have such great respect for the way he works and his vision, and I'm aligned with it so it's easy to work within the framework," Lombardi told CBS Sports. "I've said this many times…I'm not a good personnel guy for a coach I don't believe in philosophically. But when I do with Coach Belichick, I feel like I can be a good productive personnel guy."

Lombardi loves citing the Sopranos, and his money quote to Talty in which he compared his role to Belichick as the one Silvio Dante plays for Tony, offered my lasting impression from the takeout: 

"I think Sil was right -- he wanted to stay in the spotlight, I think he enjoyed it. I think he was willing to tell Tony what he needed to hear. Could be demanding if he had to be, but still was a pragmatist. You have to look at this situation, figure out a solution. I think that's what Sil did."

North Carolina's recruiting class, as of Oct. 9, has 36 verbal commits, including several high-caliber players like four-star QB Travis Burgess and four-star athlete CJ Sadler.  

"Me and the 2026 recruiting class are looking forward to helping the program achieve greater success in the upcoming years," Burgess told 247Sports on Oct. 8. "Go Heels."