UNC GM Mike Lombardi calls on esteemed alumni like Lawrence Taylor and Jeff Saturday to inspire new athletes  

North Carolina football is perhaps at the dawn of a bright new chapter in its history, and general manager Mike Lombardi believes that esteemed alumni like Lawrence Taylor and Jeff Saturday will have a role to play in it. The Tar Heels made possibly the biggest coaching hire of 2024 when they brought in Bill Belichick to Chapel Hill to take over their football program.

In turn, Belichick brought in Lombardi, former general manager of the Cleveland Browns, to help him manage player relations and the recruiting game. Speaking on Thursday's episode of "The Pat McAfee Show", UNC GM said (39:00):

"You can't build a team without creating a sense of belonging, and the only way you create a sense of belonging is to look to your past. So we need the Jeff Saturdays, we need the Lawrence Taylors, we need all those, Quinton Coples, we need all these great players that played here and dominated to be part of our program. Dre Bly.

"There's so many of them right, that have been here. Greg Ellis. They're all first-round, a lot of them, first-round picks... We need them to build so we can walk into a home and remind players about North Carolina's tradition of great talent here."

It seems that the team of NFL vets Bill Belichick is gathering in North Carolina is wholeheartedly tackling the new challenge of rebuilding a college football program.

Mike Lombardi on why Bill Belichick is being slow with his hires at North Carolina

Last week, the NFL Network and other major publications accused Bill Belichick of considering leaving North Carolina before even coaching his first game.

According to another report by the Pro Football Network, the fact that Bill Belichick was taking some time to form his coaching staff has alarmed the authorities in Chapel Hill and has made them wonder if the coach is weighing his options concerning NFL vacancies.

Mike Lombardi went on X to deny this claim:

"We are not slow, just being diligent, hired three people on Sunday, not one is nervous other than this erronous report, a completely fabricated story. thank you."

Mike Lombardi's tweet lines with what has been allegedly said by Belichick himself. According to some reports, the coach turned down a potential offer by the Las Vegas Raiders who used minority owner and former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to reach Belichick.