The University of North Carolina has hired an outside firm to lead its search for a new football general manager after the resignation of former GM Michael Lombardi during an internal investigation into the program.
UNC announced that former Michigan general manager Sean Mageea vice president at Turnkey ZRGwill serve as a consultant to the program while the firm leads the search for a new general manager for Bill Belichick’s program.
Lombardi, a longtime Belichick confidant, signed a three-year, $4.5-million deal to be the Tar Heels’ general manager. He resigned Sept. 3, a move that was announced as WRAL was set to publish a report into allegations of drug use and sex within the football program. Lombardi was the highest-paid general manager in college football.
ZRG Turnkey has worked with schools across the country on coaching and general manager searches. Magee, in his current role, consults with football and men’s basketball leaders nationally about general manager operations and the modern name, image and likeness era.
Magee graduated from Navy, where Belichick’s father coached for several decades. Belichick grew up in Annapolis and is very fond of the Navy program. Magee was the U.S. Naval Academy’s Director of Player Personnel from 2012 to 2016, during which time Navy won 45 games in five years.
Magee, an active duty naval officer from 2004 to 2012, was an associate athletic director for football at Michigan from (2017-22), chief of staff for the Chicago Bears (2022-24) and general manager at Michigan (2024-26). Michigan won the national title in 2023 under coach Jim Harbaugh. Both Harbaugh and Sherron Moore, who succeeded Harbaugh in 2024, left the program during scandals.
“I am really looking forward to working with Sean, given his many years of high-level executive leadership experience in both professional and collegiate football,” Belichick said in a statement.
Said Newmark: “He will be a great resource for Coach Belichick and our staff as we search for a permanent GM.”
During the internal investigation, Lombardi and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick – Bill’s son – resigned. The seven-week investigation found “a disregard for Carolina’s values and standards of conduct,” but said “these actions were isolated in scope and not a systemic failure.” Newmark said the resignations were part of the school’s “corrective actions,” which include additional training around workplace climate and environment.
Newmark and UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts said they backed Belichick’s leadership of the football program.
“He understands that that support comes with expectations around conduct and behavior,” Roberts said. “Nobody understands that better than Coach Belichick.”
Source: www.wral.com
