Report: North Carolina, Bill Belichick hiring Oregon staffer Matt Lombardi as assistant coach

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick is continuing to fill out his coaching staff. Belichick is reportedly hiring Matt Lombardi from Oregon as an offensive assistant coach, according to Matt Zenitz.

Lombardi has previously worked at the college level and in the NFL. He has coached with the Raiders and Panthers in the NFL and was an offensive analyst at Oregon in 2024.

According to Zenitz, he could be hired as UNC’s quarterbacks coach under Belichick.

Bill Belichick has been busy since taking over as the head coach at North Carolina. That includes hiring his son, Steve Belichick, as the defensive coordinator.

Bill Belichick has also been on the road recruiting for UNC. It will be interesting to see how he continues to fill out his staff. He previously said that having an NFL presence on his staff was important to him.

“On the staff, we’ll hire the best coaches we can hire,” Bill Belichick said when asked about the possibility of hiring his son, Steve, during his hiring press conference Dec. 12. “I want to do everything I can to help this program and make it as strong as possible, so we’ll hire the best ones we can get. There are several college coaches that are involved in bowl games and so forth, so I wouldn’t interfere with the process at those schools, with their commitments to their teams. We’ll see how it goes.

“But look, in the end, I’ve already had a lot of people contact me. There will certainly be a strong presence of NFL people on the staff. I think that’s a certainty. And not only in the staff but in the training area. But at the same time looking for the best people we can get for Carolina, and that fit is a little different than what an NFL team would have, but we’ll see.”

Report: East Carolina DB transfer Gavin Gibson commits to North Carolina

Elsewhere with the North Carolina football program, former East Carolina DB Gavin Gibson has committed to UNC.

Gibson spent the 2024 season at East Carolina after spending the previous two years at Maryland. He logged 52 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, a forced fumble, three interceptions and three pass breakups with the Pirates.

As noted, Gavin Gibson spent the first two years of his career at Maryland.

As a freshman in 2022, he played in 11 of the team’s 13 games, recording 17 tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss, 1.0 sacks and three pass breakups. It was a productive campaign.

However, Gibson’s sophomore season didn’t necessarily build on this numbers. He played in nine games, racking up 15 tackles and 2.0 tackles for a loss. He transferred out after the season to look for another opportunity.

Prior to enrolling at Maryland, Gavin Gibson was ranked as a three-star prospect and the No. 1,014 overall recruit in the country in the 2022 recruiting class. He also checked in as the No. 100 cornerback in the class and the No. 25 overall player from the state of North Carolina, hailing from Mooresville (NC) William Amos Hough.