UNC Puts College Football's Top-Paid GM on Leave

North Carolina's football program is heading into preseason with a major front-office shakeup. The school on Monday put general manager Michael Lombardi—a longtime Bill Belichick ally and one of college football's highest-paid executives—on paid administrative leave, reports the Athletic. UNC gave no reason, citing "standard procedure with personnel matters," per the AP, and said staff and players are barred from discussing the move. School policy says such leave, typically tied to probes of job performance or conduct, generally runs no more than 30 days.

Lombardi, who declined comment, came to Chapel Hill with Belichick and was tasked with building a roster he once said he hoped would resemble an "NFL 33rd team." At $1.5 million a year, the Athletic notes that he easily became college football's top-paid GM. The team finished with a disappointing 4-8 record in Belichick's first season. The move lands just weeks before UNC's August 29 season opener in Ireland against Texas Christian University.