Carolina Football Live: GM Emphasizes Trusting Process with UNC’s Plan

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In a 1,384-word email sent to certain North Carolina football boosters on Monday, general manager Michael Lombardi outlined the recruiting approach the Tar Heels are taking as they navigate the ever-changing landscape of the transfer portal and NIL.

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Lombardi noted UNC’s focus will be building a roster of high school recruits as a means of applying a primary foundation, and then addressing specific needs with additions through the portal. The approach became a topic on Monday night during the weekly Carolina Football Live radio show, when Lombardi was joined by coach Bill Belichick.

“We’re going to use high school recruiting as a cornerstone of the program,” Lombardi said on the radio show. “We’re going to be active in the portal, there’s no question. But no team can live in the portal, just like no team in the NFL can live in free agency.”

It’s an emphasis that’s being underlined in the wake of the troubles UNC has encountered during the regime change from former coach Mack Brown to Belichick. Lombardi talked about how difficult it was to construct a roster when he arrived here with Belichick, and even gave the impression that some of the work they did was wasted when players departed in the spring portal cycle during the second transfer window.

And with the early national signing period for high school recruiting from Dec. 4-6, a week before the Tar Heels hired Belichick, both new leaders of the UNC football program have mentioned that the large transfer portal class this past offseason was out of necessity rather than choice.

“So everything we did in the spring ended up being not really what we were, because we were coaching players that ended up leaving, and we had 70 new players,” Lombardi said Monday night, as Belichick remarked “mm-hmm” in agreement. “Our 35th practice was yesterday, so (building a culture) is an ongoing thing.”

In his email and on the radio show, Lombardi hit on the importance of Belichick’s 2026 high school recruiting class. As a way of combating the issues Carolina has had in retaining recruits during recent years — for example, of the 22 high school prospects signed in the 2022 class, only two remain on the team now — the Tar Heels plan to land 40 high school recruits this time around.

With a class size nearly double that of typical high school recruiting cycles, Lombardi and Belichick will aim to develop players across four years and then use the portal selectively when necessary.

“We want this ’26 class to have to ultimately be two classes, so we can add some of the fill-in, some of the gaps that we had in the roster in terms of prior years,” Lombardi said. “Then you use the portal like you use free agency to fill holes that you have to fill.”

UNC already has racked up 37 high school commitments for the largest 2026 class size nationally, and an 18th overall ranking per Rivals.com. Lombardi also pointed to the handful of commits UNC has been able to flip from other Power Four programs, such as defensive back Jakob Weatherspoon, who de-committed from Ohio State. Lombardi also alluded to another potential flip by an SEC commitment.

Without a game to coach during the weekend, Belichick spent the open date on the Tar Heels’ schedule in the New England area watching a pair of high school football games (details here).

When radio show host Jones Angell asked Lombardi how UNC’s shaky 2-2 start this season could impact future recruiting or the retention of previous commitments, Lombardi responded with the following argument.

“Everybody says, ‘well, if you don’t win, you’re going to lose the commits,’ ” he said. “No. Actually, their eyes get bigger because they want to play sooner. So that’s a really good thing, and you just have to keep recruiting them.”

Whether Lombardi is trying to hold out hope during a wobbly start to Belichick’s tenure or prospects actually see the Tar Heels’ current struggles as opportunities to come to Carolina, Lombardi’s call to trust the process sounds like a request for continued patience in an era of college football when turnarounds can be expedited at an accelerated rate.