Did UNC GM Michael Lombardi Travel To Saudi Arabia For NIL Talks? Yes, But UNC Says Saudi's Paid For The Trip

The hits just keep coming for Bill Belichick's UNC football program, at least from a PR standpoint, as North Carolina confirmed on Thursday that GM Michael Lombardi waa invited to Saudi Arabia to discuss potential NIL funding opportunities. 

This has obviously been a whirlwind of a season for North Carolina, and we're only six games in, with the Tar Heels having a 2-4 record. 

Just last week, North Carolina's athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, along with Bill Belichick, both released statements affirming their support for the football program amid reports that the situation in Chapel Hill had become unhinged. 

Update: North Carolina officials have confirmed that Michael Lombardi did take a trip to Saudi Arabia, but that the school did not pay for said trip that took place two weeks before the season opener. At the time, the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF), was looking at potential opportunities to get involved with potential NIL funding for the Tar Heels athletic department. 

Bill Belichick Tries To Silence Outside Noise, But This Whole Ordeal Prevents That From Happening

It should come as no surprise that there was more information set to come out about Bill Belichick's first season as a college football head coach. This has been described to OutKick as a "train wreck" by multiple UNC athletic department officials. 

Now, Pablo Torre, who did a number of deep-dive stories into Belichick's girlfriend Jordon Hudson, and her involvement with UNC football as the right-hand man to the head coach, most notably the 60 Minutes interview disaster. 

When Belichick agreed to become the head coach at North Carolina, it was known that he was bringing Michael Lombardi with him as the team's general manager. After an offseason filled with North Carolina scouring the transfer portal for additions to the team, the program turned its attention to the NIL side of things. 

As OutKick has reported, the Big Ten is currently discussing an idea of a cash injection that would be tied to private equity. 

Lombardi Saudi Idea Wouldn’t Be The First, But Certainly The Biggest In CFB

But, having a college football program pursuing financial backing from Saudi Arabia is a whole different game, though Lombardi would not be the first. 

Former Colorado special teams coach Trevor Reilly tried to get the Buffaloes involved in the Saudia Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, looking to that entity for help with NIL funding. Colorado said after he was fired that Reilly was acting on his own during this period. 

In a resignation letter released to Sports Illustrated at the time, Reilly mentioned that he was close to securing funding from the group. 

"You paid me $90,000 a year and let me handle special teams," the letter says, according to Sports Illustrated. "I did all this work in your name and was told to pursue it. I burned through all my contacts in my Mormon community, which is worth about $3 trillion. Now, I can't get these people to answer my calls because I just found out today that none of my endeavors will happen.

"I even went to Saudi Arabia and got a meeting with the Saudis, who were interested in pursuing business. I have email receipts to prove it, and you guys let it fall flat on its face."

We will see what Pablo Torree has uncovered in relation to North Carolina potentially doing the same in searching for NIL funding, when the episode is released on Friday. 

Once again, North Carolina football is in the news, for a variety of things.