UNC Football Catch-all | Bill Belichick Era underway

[NOVAHEEL13]

Don't worry y'all. We'll have a good team once Mike (visage below) rids himself of all the subpar players that he recruited and enrolled last year, and replaces them with better players that he'll recruit from HS and the portal at the end of this season. He even said so!

Full copy of UNC GM Michael Lombardi's email to top boosters amid mounting losses

Lombardi explained North Carolina's need to sign a large 2026 recruiting class amid a roster rebuild that did not go to plan in 2025.

www.cbssports.com

Why you ask? Because he's making $1.5 million a year, has a giant ego, and ostensibly knows what he's doing! Seems like a modest proposal.

well why didn't he just say that from the beginning?!? I would've totally watched another 23.7 minutes of us suck

 

[Milk and Cookies]

Don't worry y'all. We'll have a good team once Mike (visage below) rids himself of all the subpar players that he recruited and enrolled last year, and replaces them with better players that he'll recruit from HS and the portal at the end of this season. He even said so!

Full copy of UNC GM Michael Lombardi's email to top boosters amid mounting losses

Lombardi explained North Carolina's need to sign a large 2026 recruiting class amid a roster rebuild that did not go to plan in 2025.

www.cbssports.com

Why you ask? Because he's making $1.5 million a year, has a giant ego, and ostensibly knows what he's doing! Seems like a modest proposal.

He says HS recruiting will allow them to build depth without having to rely heavily on the portal. But HS recruiting is not like the NFL draft. Guys you draft you sign to a 4-yr rookie contract. Guys you recruit are immediately a free agent if they want to be in college. You will always have to pay your players to keep them. HS recruiting does not guarantee a player will stick around.
We’re looking at another 60-70 new players next season. What a mess.

 

[OGtruthhurts]

unc and our fanbase has been swindled and will cont to be hustled lmao

 

[CFordUNC]

unc and our fanbase has been swindled and will cont to be hustled lmao

I’m just dismayed that our administration and apparently a non-insignificant portion of our donors and fans value being in the headlines and being able to brag to their buddies at the water cooler about having a big name coach, instead of valuing substance on the field and winning football game. Until enough people in positions of leadership or authority at UNC decide that winning football games is more important than winning the Pat McAfee show, we are going to continue to get Mack Brown 2.0 and Bill Belichick type retread hires in perpetuity, and the ass kicking on the field will continue.

 

[GoHeelsweeeehoooo]

Can we pull the plug on this Belichick/Lombardi experiment and just hire James Franklin?

 

[gregh1]

Don't worry y'all. We'll have a good team once Mike (visage below) rids himself of all the subpar players that he recruited and enrolled last year, and replaces them with better players that he'll recruit from HS and the portal at the end of this season. He even said so!

Full copy of UNC GM Michael Lombardi's email to top boosters amid mounting losses

Lombardi explained North Carolina's need to sign a large 2026 recruiting class amid a roster rebuild that did not go to plan in 2025.

www.cbssports.com

Why you ask? Because he's making $1.5 million a year, has a giant ego, and ostensibly knows what he's doing! Seems like a modest proposal.

Shitty commentary regarding non-starting guys still in the team from priors, but at least he is saying what I think are the right things regarding portal:
"The portal is... good for filling specific holes in the roster, not conducive to fill depth and developing talent"
and
"We will be active in the portal, filling spots on our roster for an immediate talent influx"

22 graduating, so with 40 Highschool'rs that would be 18 portal departures which seems typical. Add another 10 to trade for transfer starters. 28 total departures doesn't seem that much in this era with 105 roster size. Probably on the higher end, but not extreme.

Transfer Portal: Top portal departures by school

With the winter transfer portal window closed outside of graduate transfer entries, it's time to see which programs were hit with attrition.

www.on3.com

 

[gregh1]

He says HS recruiting will allow them to build depth without having to rely heavily on the portal. But HS recruiting is not like the NFL draft. Guys you draft you sign to a 4-yr rookie contract. Guys you recruit are immediately a free agent if they want to be in college. You will always have to pay your players to keep them. HS recruiting does not guarantee a player will stick around.
We’re looking at another 60-70 new players next season. What a mess.

I bet it is closer to 55.

 

[rodoheel]

Can we pull the plug on this Belichick/Lombardi experiment and just hire James Franklin?

There are some logical reasons to think Franklin could work here but personally I don't want any part of hiring someone else who got fired from their most recent job, I've said this dozens of times in various fora but to repeat again: I want someone on the upswing of their career, not the downswing. Franklin is at least not 70 years old and semi-retired, but I still would rather just pass.

 

[rodoheel]

He says HS recruiting will allow them to build depth without having to rely heavily on the portal. But HS recruiting is not like the NFL draft. Guys you draft you sign to a 4-yr rookie contract. Guys you recruit are immediately a free agent if they want to be in college. You will always have to pay your players to keep them. HS recruiting does not guarantee a player will stick around.
We’re looking at another 60-70 new players next season. What a mess.

Bingo. This is why the logic of Lombardi's plan makes no sense. They say they want to make HS recruiting a priority because it's cheaper than the portal. ignoring that any of the guys we develop into great players will just have to be paid not to go into the portal anyway. These dumbasses continue to act like they're operating under NFL rules without trying to understand the differences at all.

 

[Milk and Cookies]

I bet it is closer to 55.

If it is, that means only about 15 incoming transfers. They can't afford to miss on a single one.

 

[Milk and Cookies]

Bingo. This is why the logic of Lombardi's plan makes no sense. They say they want to make HS recruiting a priority because it's cheaper than the portal. ignoring that any of the guys we develop into great players will just have to be paid not to go into the portal anyway. These dumbasses continue to act like they're operating under NFL rules without trying to understand the differences at all.

Exactly. You're either playing offense or defense with the portal. But you have to beat the portal for every player every year.

 

[NOVAHEEL13]

Timing the portal is like timing the market. You can't do it. This is gonna be another shitshow

 

[Peppers49]

He says HS recruiting will allow them to build depth without having to rely heavily on the portal. But HS recruiting is not like the NFL draft. Guys you draft you sign to a 4-yr rookie contract. Guys you recruit are immediately a free agent if they want to be in college. You will always have to pay your players to keep them. HS recruiting does not guarantee a player will stick around.
We’re looking at another 60-70 new players next season. What a mess.

Beyond that, even the best HS recruits usually need a season or two developing their bodies and learning the college game before they turn into significant contributors (obviously there are some exceptions). Expecting a bunch of raw 18 and 19 year old players to step in and immediately make the team better next season is a really stupid strategy.

 

[SnoopRob]

Shitty commentary regarding non-starting guys still in the team from priors, but at least he is saying what I think are the right things regarding portal:
"The portal is... good for filling specific holes in the roster, not conducive to fill depth and developing talent"
and
"We will be active in the portal, filling spots on our roster for an immediate talent influx"

22 graduating, so with 40 Highschool'rs that would be 18 portal departures which seems typical. Add another 10 to trade for transfer starters. 28 total departures doesn't seem that much in this era with 105 roster size. Probably on the higher end, but not extreme.

Transfer Portal: Top portal departures by school

With the winter transfer portal window closed outside of graduate transfer entries, it's time to see which programs were hit with attrition.

www.on3.com

That’s not 28 total departures, that’s 28 portal departures and 50 total departures.

I’m not sure that a third of the roster with eligibility left entering the portal and almost half of the total roster turning over can be considered even ok from a continuity standpoint.

 

[akillesheel]

There are some logical reasons to think Franklin could work here but personally I don't want any part of hiring someone else who got fired from their most recent job, I've said this dozens of times in various fora but to repeat again: I want someone on the upswing of their career, not the downswing. Franklin is at least not 70 years old and semi-retired, but I still would rather just pass.

franklin is the best compromise hire we could make. big, splashy name, but also a real track record of success not just at penn state but also at vandy - and it'd make bill's buyout much easier because penn state is going to be paying the bulk of franklin's salary.

edit - which is all to say he's not my favorite candidate for the job in a vacuum because i broadly agree with you, but if UNC is going to make a hire without real leadership in place in this transitory period away from bubba, he's far and away the best i could hope for from the people who have so far been controlling hiring.

 

[Calheel]

The absolute key to the portal is nailing the QB. This year would feel different if we had picked Chandler Morris rather than Ryan Browne.

 

[superrific]

Beyond that, even the best HS recruits usually need a season or two developing their bodies and learning the college game before they turn into significant contributors (obviously there are some exceptions). Expecting a bunch of raw 18 and 19 year old players to step in and immediately make the team better next season is a really stupid strategy.

I can't speak for football. But in basketball, what the portal means is that small schools are now the minor leagues for the big schools. They take unproven players, players with holes in their games, whatever -- some % of them become really good and then the big schools can swoop in and grab them up.

It seems to me that this recruit HS stuff is putting us in the minor leagues.

 

[Peppers49]

franklin is the best compromise hire we could make. big, splashy name, but also a real track record of success not just at penn state but also at vandy - and it'd make bill's buyout much easier because penn state is going to be paying the bulk of franklin's salary.

edit - which is all to say he's not my favorite candidate for the job in a vacuum because i broadly agree with you, but if UNC is going to make a hire without real leadership in place in this transitory period away from bubba, he's far and away the best i could hope for from the people who have so far been controlling hiring.

He’s a really good coach that I would trust to do well at a place like UNC, I just can’t get past the sexual assault cover up attempt fiasco that got him in hot water at Vandy. That incident + generally seemingly like a difficult person to work for or with would make it hard for me to root for him.

In any case, even if the UNC job does open up the off-season it won’t be like last year where we were the best job on the market. At least a few SEC jobs and maybe some Big 10 jobs will be open and I bet one of them gets Franklin.

 

[rodoheel]

The absolute key to the portal is nailing the QB. This year would feel different if we had picked Chandler Morris rather than Ryan Browne.

Heck, the year might feel different if we kept Ryan Browne instead of throwing him back and taking Lopez. But while the QB is important, I think it's a fallacy to think that if you get the QB right, you can afford to miss elsewhere. You don't just need a QB. If we had a better QB right now we might have some slightly closer losses but we wouldn't have a different record.

 

[Milk and Cookies]

He’s a really good coach that I would trust to do well at a place like UNC, I just can’t get past the sexual assault cover up attempt fiasco that got him in hot water at Vandy. That incident + generally seemingly like a difficult person to work for or with would make it hard for me to root for him.

In any case, even if the UNC job does open up the off-season it won’t be like last year where we were the best job on the market. At least a few SEC jobs and maybe some Big 10 jobs will be open and I bet one of them gets Franklin.

No idea how truly realistic all of these openings are, but yeah -- there are some really good jobs coming available