Michael Lombardi
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Hey, look, you give me a chance to promote the school, I'm going to promote it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Yeah, hit it running. I haven't stopped, yeah. It's hard because we're trying to get this thing going. We're trying to... We've got to recruit. There's all sorts of levels of recruiting. There's the portal. There's still the high school recruiting with the kids. Then there's your own kids you've got to recruit. There's three different worlds coming together.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, I think a lot of that was conversations that we've had ongoing. You know, we were doing the coach podcast. We still are. And we would have conversations about opportunities. And I think when this one came up, you know, as I've mentioned many times before, Bill and I were on this campus and We were walking around here thinking, how can't you win here? It's a magical place.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I mean, there's nothing prettier than Carolina. And they've been so good, and they've got such great fan base, the alumni. It's a great institution. And we've always thought this had untapped potential. And so I think, to me, it was more about – what he wanted to do than it was what I wanted to do. I always wanted to go back and work with him.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
So that was easy to kind of assume it was what he was going to be comfortable with. And once he started talking to North Carolina, I think he realized he got very comfortable.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Oh, yeah. I had a good thing going with the media, with VEASAN. As you know, we were partners on DraftKings, and I was doing a lot of things. And it was a perfect ending to my career. I've written two books, and I was working on a third book. And so I wouldn't have done this if it wasn't I wanted to work for him. I've always did. We've enjoyed ourselves working together.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
It's a really good partnership. It's tremendous reward. And I know that the effort that he's going to put in is going to far exceed anything that anybody else would. And I wanted to be a part of it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, the third book was actually going to be about the last five years in New England. He's writing a book on leadership. But if you look at the last five years, the last five years of New England, the success that they had, three Super Bowls, we won two together.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
a conference championship loss those kind of things you know it was the book is going to be about the second run you know like we've made the first run back in the early 2000s but that second run from 14 to 18 was pretty impressive too
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
No, I think he, I think, look, I think, you know, the question everybody asks is why isn't he chasing Shula? And the people that ask that question really don't know Bill.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
because if you know bill bill wants to win championship bill wants to go somewhere he wants to set up his program he wants to build a program and he wants to run the program now people misconstrued that conversation as if he wants to control everything no he wants to be able to build his culture there's two different things building a culture and controlling are two different
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
And so he wants to build a culture. And in pro football today, it becomes increasingly harder to establish a full throttle culture because you've got so many outside entities coming in. I've often said this many times, they've never dedicated a monument to a committee. And so in the NFL, there's a lot of committees. And so it's hard to get anything done.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
And I think in college now with the landscape, because it is professional, the players are getting paid, that you can run your program how you want to run it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Because it's one of the greatest public institutions in the country. The campus is incredible. The high school football in North Carolina is great. And when you produce a player like Lawrence Taylor, Julius Peppers, guys that are in the Hall of Fame, they've always had great players. I mean, we could fill up the ring of honor back here at the stadium like you can't believe.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
but they've not been able to kind of sustain success or get over that threshold, you know, and this notion that, well, they're a basketball school, that's a crock of crap, right? I mean... You're a school. Vince Lombardi used to say this. A school without football is basically just a cathedral of knowledge. That's all it is. And so it's a giant study hall.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
And I think to me, football is a huge sport. And I think if you see now the landscape by these conferences, how things have changed, football is a predominant moneymaker. And you've got to have a good football team if you want to support all the other programs in the school. So, and this school's got, look, the women's soccer team just won their 23rd championship.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
This school's got great history in all the sports. I just think to me, football needs to catch up and that's why we're here.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Oh, I think it is big because, you know, Coach P could tell him about everything that goes on down here. They have a great relationship and what it's like to work here and what it takes to win here, right? And I think that was a huge influence. I'm sure that was the first call Bill made when he was talking about the school.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Oh, you know, I've had some interesting texts. You know, one text I got from a very good friend of mine who I've known for 40 years. He's a high power agent. He said, you've lost your mind. And so I wrote him back. I love you, too. But I think to me, this is I don't see it that way. I see I've been this is the arena I've lived in my whole life. Sure.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I've spent my whole life having people knock on my door wanting money. I mean, so whether it's 18 years old or whether you're 40, I mean, the knock's the same knock. You know, the story is the same story. I got better at saying no. You know, you know, what's that Jimmy Buffa line? Occupational hazard mean occupation just not around? Well, you know, you got to be able to move to the next one.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, actually, I think I have way more authority here than I had as a general manager of the Cleveland Browns. So I had a report to a president. I had a report to the owner. Everything had to be checked and balances with the president. So I have a lot more authority to do what I want to do to set up the program. That's going to take a lot of work.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Just because you have the authority doesn't mean you're going to get the job done. There's a lot of process. We have to establish a process. So what we're going to try to do here at North Carolina is build a personnel department that is resembling a NFL pro personnel department. See, whenever you have money involved in any decision, you have to value the player.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Player Y is valued at X. Player X is valued at this. So without grades, the player's value is meaningless. So we're going to build that database. We're going to grade every high school player. We'll grade every college player. So when a guy hits the portal, we know exactly what we're doing.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Yeah, I don't know that. I just know how to run this. I know how to do this job. And I said this to somebody else, and I don't mean this in any egotistical way. As you get older in life, you get better at what you want to do. I am so more prepared to be a general manager at 65 than I was when I was able to do it in my 30s. So I'm going to do the best that I can based on the experience.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Experience matters. And you've got to understand how you want to build a team. The appealing factor about working with Coach Belichick is we both see how to build a team in the same way.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I mean, we got in this to win a championship, and this school should recruit nationally. There's no, I mean, that brand. I mean, when I wear this, when you see this, this isn't at every airport. You can't go to an airport and not see somebody wearing a North Carolina gear. We've got Michael Jordan. You've got Lawrence Taylor. We're going to be able to walk into any high school and say,
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
They're going to know North Carolina. Now, we've got to sell the school and sell the ability to win. So I don't see why we should put any cap on it. I mean, we're going to climb a mountain. Now, we're at the bottom of the mountain. We get that. But we're going to try to get to the top. I mean, there's no sense in going halfway up Everest. Nobody gives you an award for that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
No, I mean, look, it's not just because we're here. It's going to take a collective effort. We've got to get really good players. We've got to spend time. But one thing I do know, we have the greatest coach of all time coaching the team. The team will get better. There's no question about that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
No, well, I mean, he's always been a really good recruiter. I don't think people have seen that side of Bill because of what you guys see at the press conferences, the one-word answer. Bill's very good inside talking to a player, especially one that loves football and wants to get better.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I don't think there is a challenge to him because you actually have more time to spend with players than you do with the NFL. You get more practice time here in college. We got spring practice. Hell, we can't do anything with the players until May in the NFL. We lost all that in the last collective bargaining agreement.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
That's why the offensive lines in the NFL are so deficient, because we've lost so many of those players that we haven't been able to do that. So I think that's really a hard thing. I think it's actually easier to do this than it ever was before.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I mean, look, I know he can do it. I've heard him do it many times. He just doesn't want to do it for the 60 million people that come to his press conference.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Not yet. I'm going to buy one. He's going to buy one. Look, we're fully vested in this. We're not going down to Boca Vista here and retiring. We're going to put every ounce of energy we have into this.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, isn't that where Seinfeld's parents retired to?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, no question. And not have to answer to anybody. You know, we have Lee Roberts, the chancellor here, is tremendous. I mean, he sent me a text this morning asking me what we need, how we're doing. I mean, I never got that text from anybody when you work in the NFL. Right. So it's like you're just you're here without interference.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
And when I say interference, I don't mean it in a malicious way without anybody telling you how to run to do it. You know, we see you see all these reports that come out that the owner of the Jets wanted, you know, didn't want to trade for a player because his Madden rating wasn't high enough.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I mean, seriously, if that's a true story and I don't know if it is, but that's the world I don't want to live in.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Are you surprised by that? Well, I mean, look, the Atlanta Falcons improved their team by saying they didn't think he was very good, haven't they? They've done a great job with that. I mean, you know, they've spent a hundred million dollars on a quarterback that they're going to bench. They had three coaches better than Bill Belichick.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
So I, my hat's off to them to find three guys better than him at seven. And what's their record seven and six. Now they, you know, they haven't really improved from Arthur Smith who did a really good job there last year. So no, I'm not surprised because as Bill Walsh once told me in 1984, it's not always the league of the best and the brightest.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Oh, no, we need Michael Jordan, and we need the basketball school to be great. I mean, that's part of what makes this school so good. Every time a sport wins, the baseball team, the football team, the women's soccer team, we need that because we're a school that's going to build winners, and they have. And they have. They haven't needed Michael Lombardi or Bill Belichick to produce winners.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
They've done it on their own. We're just going to try to help them.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
I mean, I think Bill and him had a conversation. I think to me he's going to hopefully – I think he's proud of his school. So I'm sure he wants to see good football in his school. He loves football. He loves the competition. We need him. I mean, I think there's no question. We need Lawrence Taylor. I mean, Lawrence was on Adam Schefter's podcast the other day talking about it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
So, look, this school has incredible alumni, whether they play football, whether it's – Whether it's in the country music world where there's certainly people that gravitate to this team that want to be around it. I think to me, it's really important.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Well, look, you can't win the second one until you win the first one. That is true.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Yeah, and I love it. And I love it. And so, look, that comes with the territory. As the great Hyman Roth said in The Godfather, this is the business we've chosen. We know what the rules are.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Right. Right. Yeah. So what he wants is he wants one of those. He wants to get comp for room food and beverage and but not play the slots. Right. So that's what he wants. He wants to get any coordinator positions.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
was that might be that might be exhausting too much research he might have to you know he might need the pearl vision eyesight plan to make sure he doesn't lose it and all that but hey look we'll take anybody who can help us i'll tell you that wow okay okay so he's hired i mean no he's not high you got an interview right listen i'll pay you to get him away from us okay
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
GBF- Santa Paws
Thank you so much. Thank you so much, guys. I appreciate you having me today. Thank you. It's been great.