Just a few weeks after stepping down as North Carolina's general manager amid a misconduct investigation, Michael Lombardi is already back in the spotlight. The former NFL executive turned college football power broker announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he's launched a new Substack called "Football Done Right," where he'll share his takes on the NFL.
His debut posts include a deep dive on Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell and reviews of high-impact NFL games. In his announcement, Lombardi wrote: "I started a Substack. Football Done Right is where my NFL writing lives now: the Tuesday review, the Friday Lombardi Look Ahead, QB and power ratings, and deep dives like this one on why Dan Campbell has never fixed the Lions defense."
But if Lombardi was hoping for a clean slate, he might want to check his mentions. He left comments enabled on his announcement post, and the replies are a minefield of trolling and criticism. One user wrote: "Quicker than I thought. No shame. If I subscribe will I find out why your GM tenure at UNC was a complete (expletive) show?"
Another fan lamented: "I loved you on Pods with Bill and listened to the GM podcast every week. Between what happened with UNC and the reporting from Pablo, it's important for people to hear from you regarding those items. It's a bit tone deaf to just pop back in and act as if nothing happened."
The jokes haven't been kind either. One commenter quipped: "Why'd you start a substack I thought you were the GM of the 33rd NFL team?" while another compared him to "the Lavar Ball of Bishop Sycamores."
Lombardi resigned on September 3 after spending time on paid leave during an internal investigation into a human resources complaint filed by a former front office employee. According to ESPN's David Hale, the scope of the investigation widened to include interviews with UNC staffers, coaches, and even coaches' wives and girlfriends. Witnesses were asked about Lombardi's role in hiring and firing decisions involving female and minority staffers.
Through his lawyer, Lombardi initially denied all allegations. At the time of his hiring, he was earning $1.5 million, making him the highest-paid college football GM at that point.
Despite the controversy, Lombardi seems determined to move forward with his new venture. But as the online backlash shows, the court of public opinion isn't ready to let him off the hook just yet. For now, his Substack might be the only place where he can control the narrative—if he can keep the comments on.
