North Carolina: Investigation Into Football Program Cost Nearly $1 Million

The North Carolina Tar Heels started training camp with negative headlines after general manager Michael Lombardi was placed on paid administrative leave while the school investigated claims brought by human resources. Defensive coordinator Steve Belichick was placed on medical leave during training camp. 

Per Brian Murphy of WRAL, North Carolina spent more than $914,000 in the internal investigation that led to the later resignations of Lombardi and Belichick. That's a significant chunk of change for the school to look into the matter, and the program did its due diligence.

Now, the Tar Heels need to put that chapter behind them as they search for better days.

The timing of the investigation wasn't great for the football program or head coach Bill Belichick, who went 4-8 in his first season with the program. However, the Tar Heels overcame adversity, winning their season opener 15-10 over TCU in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 29. 

North Carolina has shown improvement on the football field this season. The Tar Heels are 4-4 after losing 38-35 to Miami in Week 9, the No. 1 team in the country.

Still, the month of November will be huge for the program. UNC will finish its schedule against UConn, Louisville, Virginia, and NC State. North Carolina needs to win at least two of those games to become bowl eligible. While the Tar Heels had a big 24-20 win over Duke on Oct. 17, they suffered a letdown in a 31-30 loss in overtime to Syracuse at home the next week.

The investigation into the Tar Heels football program wasn't what Belichick needed. It reflected poorly on the university. 

With that in mind, Bill Belichick and his team needed to make significant progress to keep questions about the head coach's job at bay. 

It's too soon to know if the progress UNC has made this season is enough. A .500 record isn't great for a program that is paying its head coach $10 million per season. Only the first three years of Belichick's five-year contract are guaranteed, which could make things interesting later in the month.

All four of UNC's remaining games are winnable for Belichick and the team, especially if the team plays like it did against Miami. It's not inconceivable that the Tar Heels win out and finish the regular season with an 8-4 record. Certainly, that would quiet the crowd that might want to make a coaching change.