Bill Belichick walked into a intense press conference on Monday, but stayed tight lipped on the dramatics surrounding his UNC football program.
For the first time, Belichick faced questions about the recent resignation of his former general manager Michael Lombardi and the medical leave of his son and defensive coordinator, Steve Belichick.
“My focus is on getting the team ready to play [East Tennessee State],” Belichick said. “I’m not involved in any other part of the process. My job is to get the team ready to play this weekend and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The university is conducting an internal investigation into a complaint from a former front office employee. During that time, Lombardi, who was Belichick’s first hire for the Tar Heels, resigned on Sept. 3 after being placed on administrative leave on July 27.
Both Lombardi and Steve Belichick have allegedly been questioned by lawyers for drug-related issues and involvement with players.
The younger Belichick has been on indefinite medical leave since early August.
Belichick was asked if his program maintained compliance, to which he said, “Yeah, totally.”
He also admitted he has spoken with Lombardi since his resignation but chose to keep the conversations private.
“In the end, we want to run the program in the very best way, and if there’s things we need to do to correct it, we’ll obviously do them,” Belichick said.
Lawyers hired as part of the investigation are also looking into reports of a sexual relationship between a female recruiting staff member and at least one player, along with one between assistant coaches and recruiting staff.
They’re seeking documents and screenshots of texts while also inquiring about the culture of the program under Belichick and Lombardi.
“The importance of the work that’s being done by the investigative team and, obviously, our high standard here of our code of conduct and doing things the right way and making sure that our student-athletes are given the utmost, the best treatment, the very best care, and the very best coaching that we can possibly give them. So that’s critically important to us,” Belichick said.
The Tar Heels started their second season under Belichick with a 15-10 win over TCU in Ireland on Aug. 29.
They are set to host ETSU on Saturday.
