Bill Belichick's New North Carolina GM Lays Out Tar Heels' Simple Recruiting Pitch

The legendary ex-NFL coach is ready to build.

A North Carolina helmet before the No. 17 Tar Heels' 46–42 loss to Georgia Tech on Oct. 28, 2023. / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

North Carolina has its next coach, having hired legendary ex-NFL boss Bill Belichick on Wednesday.

Now, the tricky part—building a team to contend in the bloated, unpredictable modern ACC.

On Thursday, longtime NFL executive Michael Lombardi—who will serve in a general manager role with the Tar Heels—took to The Pat McAfee Show to sell recruits and transfers on the merits of playing for North Carolina. His pitch was not a complicated one.

"If you want to play for the greatest coach of all time and you wanna be around a winning program, please enter the portal. We'll take you," Lombardi said. "We're gonna go into it deeply. This is an advertisement for it. We're gonna go deep into it."

"If you want to play for the greatest coach of all time ... please enter the portal, we'll take you."

New UNC football GM Michael Lombardi with a message to college football players on the @PatMcAfeeShow. pic.twitter.com/lMZf80IvnO

— ESPN (@espn) December 12, 2024

The Tar Heels are coming off a 6-6 record in 2024—their worst since a 6-7 disappointment in 2021 after opening that season ranked No. 10 in the country.

"We're gonna rebuild the team," Lombardi said. "This is team building. It isn't about adding players. We're gonna systematically and strategically build the team the right way so that we have sustainable success."

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