North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi took 'exploratory fundraising trip' to Saudi Arabia in August Nick BrombergOctober 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM 0 North Carolina's football program was willing to explore some untraditional avenues for funding.
- - North Carolina GM Michael Lombardi took 'exploratory fundraising trip' to Saudi Arabia in August
Nick BrombergOctober 16, 2025 at 6:51 PM
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North Carolina's football program was willing to explore some untraditional avenues for funding.
The school confirmed to the Athletic Thursday afternoon that general manager Michael Lombardi made an August trip to Saudi Arabia. Per the report, Lombardi went "to gauge interest in whether the country's Public Investment Fund [PIF] would be interested in investing in Tar Heels football."
A spokesperson for the school said that Lombardi's trip came via an invitation from the country and it was an "exploratory fundraising trip" paid for by the country's government.
The report came after Pablo Torre said on social media that his Friday podcast episode would be about Lombardi's trip to Saudi Arabia. Torre previously focused his "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast on the role that coach Bill Belichick's girlfriend Jordon Hudson had behind the scenes at North Carolina this spring.
Lombardi's trip also came over a year after a former Colorado staffer took a trip to Saudi Arabia to pitch the country's investment fund on Colorado football. Ex-special teams analyst Trevor Reilly paid for the trip himself without Colorado's involvement in December 2023.
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The Tar Heels are 2-3 and play their first game in two weeks on Friday night. Since a 38-10 loss to Clemson, numerous stories have come out about the UNC program as it navigates its first season under Belichick and Belichick's first season as a college football coach.
A story by WRAL in Raleigh outlined frustrations in and around the program. In it, sources were cited is saying Lombardi was "rude" and "nasty" and that he was unliked within the program.
The speculation surrounding UNC football even led Belichick to release a short statement last week saying that he was fully committed to the program. Belichick's statement was accompanied by a vote of confidence from athletic director Bubba Cunningham. On Monday, Belichick said there was no truth to any reports that he had discussed a buyout with North Carolina.
Belichick's deal with the school is for five years, with the first three years guaranteed. His buyout clause is $1 million. Lombardi, who Belichick worked with in Cleveland and New England, was hired as the team's GM as part of Belichick's hire.
No staff changes have been made at North Carolina through the first five games of the season, though cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins has been suspended for alleged NCAA violations.
The Tar Heels begin a stretch of seven games in seven weeks at Cal on Friday and are 10-point underdogs. After Cal, UNC hosts No. 18 Virginia before traveling to face a Syracuse team that has a road win at Clemson already this season.
Source: "AOL Sports"
Source: VoXi MAG
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