North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi calls Bill Belichick NFL return reports 'complete falsehood'

When Bill Belichick took a job with the North Carolina Tar Heels, it was a major surprise to most people around football who felt he would find a job in the NFL. With that, there have unsurprisingly been rumors that he could return to the NFL.

Recently, it was reported that the Las Vegas Raiders were inquiring about Belichick as they undergo a coaching search. When North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi appeared on The Pat McAfee Show shortly following those reports, he quickly shot them down, calling them a falsehood.

“Completely committed. 1,000% committed,” Lombardi said. “I know for Coach Belichick and myself those conversations — look, guys that do the insider stuff for the NFL they’ve got to put stories out there. That one was a complete falsehood. Coach Belichick when that story came out was recruiting in South Jersey. Today, he was at Bergen Catholic, one of the teams we watched play at Ocean City. He’s going to the Hun School to recruit kids in Princeton. That story just had no legs.”

Tom Brady, the longtime quarterback for Belichick in New England, is now a part owner of the Raiders. With that, he’s involved in the coaching search and there is an obvious connection between the two sides.

“I think what often happens in rumors, and I know this from doing it in the league, is people try to make a connection. A to B equals C,” Lombardi said. “Well, that’s not always the case. Yes, Tom Brady is being involved in interviews. Yes, Tom Brady is doing research on being involved in coaching candidates. Yes, Tom Brady is calling people up for advice and counsel because that’s why he’s so great at what he does because he’s listening for advice. But don’t assume that because he’s doing that he wants Bill Belichick.”

Another reason why Belichick has been mentioned for jobs is that his buyout at North Carolina is not overly large. It currently sits at $10 million, which while that’s a large number is manageable for an NFL team.

Despite that, Lombardi made it clear that they’re committed to North Carolina. In fact, the duo appears happier to be in college.

“Bill Belichick committed to North Carolina. He committed it to me. He committed to the university. There’s been no conversation about anything and we drive from this office, this football field behind me, to where we’re staying,” Lombardi said. “We commute each day together and we talk about how messed up the NFL is and how thankful we’re in college football because we’re shaking our heads… This is the best job we could have at this time of our lives and we’re going to really embrace it and we’re going to work hard to make Carolina proud.”

For the time being, it appears Bill Belichick is staying at North Carolina. However, that doesn’t mean NFL rumors are just going to go away.