r/CFB • u/joe2352 Missouri Tigers • Sep 03 '26
Feature Story Lombardi out as UNC investigators probe allegations of drug use, sex among players, staff
https://www.wral.com/sports/north-carolina-lombardi-out-general-manager-tar-heels-september-2026/937
u/tangential_quip Stanford Cardinal Sep 03 '26
I think that headline could be written better.
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u/mschley2 Wisconsin • Wisconsin-Eau Clai… Sep 03 '26
The headline is definitely saying that everyone in UNC football is fucking each other, and I refuse to read the article in case the article makes it clear that something else was intended.
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u/StrategicCarry Indiana Hoosiers • Colorado State Rams Sep 03 '26
I think the headline is plainly stated in clear English and any more details from the article would just muddy the waters.
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u/Reibyo Nebraska Cornhuskers Sep 03 '26
Just want to make sure I'm understanding. There is drug use, the players are banging each other, and UNC has staff?! This messed up world...
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u/tmcgeeAD6 Oklahoma Sooners Sep 04 '26
You forgot the part that Lombardi came out as gay during the probe
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u/Reibyo Nebraska Cornhuskers Sep 04 '26
Most do, but what do you expect when someone is getting probed?
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u/mschley2 Wisconsin • Wisconsin-Eau Clai… Sep 04 '26
Fun fact: Vince Lombardi, HOF NFL coach who the Super Bowl trophy is named after, had a gay brother. That contributed to Vince Lombardi's tolerant and even protective attitude towards gay and black players. At a time when it was common for black players to be unable to stay at the same hotel or eat at the same restaurants as the rest of the team, the Packers had a team policy that they all stayed and ate together. There was also a 0 tolerance policy for homophobia amongst the team and staffers. Vince, who was a devout Catholic and considered priesthood for many years, even blessed the marriage of a black player and his white wife at a time when interracial marriage was still highly controversial.
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u/eetsumkaus California • 立命館大学 (Ritsumeikan) Sep 04 '26
The probe makes everyone gay. Without exception
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u/IamDoobieKeebler Wisconsin Badgers Sep 04 '26
Seems pretty far fetched to me. I watched a lot of games last season and it didn’t really look like they had staff.
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u/Richard_AIGuy Ohio State • Georgia Tech Sep 03 '26
The headline is clearly saying that UNC football are having drug-fueled taxpayer funded orgies under coach Bill Belichick.
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u/the_urban_juror Michigan Wolverines • The CW Sep 03 '26
Meanwhile Belichick is just living in a Nornam Rockwell painting as a football coach in a monogamous relationship with a former cheerleader.
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u/bug_man_ North Carolina • Appalachian… Sep 03 '26
Next thing you know they're going to be listening to rock and roll
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u/RevengeOfTheMothman Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
Gonna have to change the name from Tar Heels to Cum Heels
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u/ResponsibleWater1697 Bradley Braves Sep 03 '26
It might be the worst headline of the year.
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u/RumpEater5000 Oregon Ducks Sep 03 '26
Sex. Drugs. Staff. Couldn't write it's self better.
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u/Ugaalive1991 Georgia Bulldogs • NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
UNC’s hottest club is “Lombardi’s”. This club has everything. Sex. Drugs. MTVs Dan Cortes.
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u/PAC2Representative Oregon State • Washington State Sep 03 '26
It’s that thing of when like an old grizzled coach returns to keep his glory days alive but ends up letting himself and his teen gf down.
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u/LoquaciousTheBorg Sep 04 '26
Have you heard of Blacula, the Black Dracula? Well, they have a Jewish Dracula...
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u/Arkehn Longhorn Network • Paper Bag Sep 03 '26
Are we not doing phrasing anymore
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u/shapu West Virginia Mountaineers • WashU Bears Sep 03 '26
Are we doing phrasing? No. Are we doing each other? Apparently.
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u/AcadianTraverse Oregon Ducks • Acadia Axemen Sep 03 '26
Making Chapel hills sound like Sodom, Gomorrah, Dante's Second Circle of Hell, and Zion from the Matrix all rolled into one.
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u/No_Butterscotch8726 SMU Mustangs • Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
Hey, Sodom and Gomorrah has likely been mistranslated for about 200 years. They were dammed for violating xenia, their sexual perversion was likely that they didn't respect consent, at all, even to the point that they were willing to assault angels who were guests of one of their fellow residents.
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u/soapy_goatherd Utah Utes Sep 03 '26
Look, have you ever visited Franklin street during the off-season?
(Actually it’s lovely and quiet even if warm, I just wanted to make a dumb joke but I love CH)
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u/PlagueOfBedlam Michigan Wolverines Sep 03 '26
I heard they were having sex with rocks painted to look like god’s face.
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u/YoungKeys Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sep 03 '26
Sex amongus
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u/FearTheKeflex Kentucky Wildcats Sep 03 '26
Damn, the developers went in a direction I was not expecting with the sequel.
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u/70MCKing Palmetto Bowl • Air Force Falcons Sep 03 '26
nah, my headcanon now is that UNC participates in Event Horizon style orgys
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u/warneagle Auburn • Central Michigan Sep 03 '26
What even are commas
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u/RulersBack Ohio State Buckeyes Sep 03 '26
Didn't want to be cynical about Steve's "medical" issue being rehab PR but dam. Shit show over there
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u/Set-Admirable West Virginia • Backyard Brawl Sep 03 '26
The Steve allegiations are the least surprising part of this. I really hope he gets the help he needs, but genuinely, what the fuck are they doing down there? No serious program should have issues that bad so quickly.
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u/RulersBack Ohio State Buckeyes Sep 03 '26
Idk staffers messing around in the workplace is a dirty secret of the industry and par for the course. A D1 defense coordinator giving drugs to players? That's insane
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u/Fear_the_chicken Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
He had good shit! What do you want him not to share??
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u/Worried-Lettuce6568 Sep 03 '26
Any chance you were in a frat at Penn State?
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u/MajorMoooseKnuckle Sep 03 '26
They didn’t share shit at penn state. That was standing on Buisness
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u/Zealousideal-Bug310 Michigan Wolverines • UTSA Roadrunners Sep 03 '26
Umm.. Never heard of such a thing.
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u/SaintsSooners89 Red River Shootout • Oklahoma Sep 03 '26
Uhh yeah what do they think it is the 80s?
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u/EMTDawg Washington Huskies • Wyoming Cowboys Sep 03 '26
I named my cats Thoughts and Prayers. My cats are just as useless as the phrase. My other cat we got 2 or 3 years later was named Chairman Mao-Mao, RIP.
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u/Dangerous_Pop1388 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
Is banging a recruiter an impermissible benefit if all students had the opportunity to bang them?
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u/BusinessWarthog6 Appalachian State Mountaineers Sep 03 '26
I think the real smoking gun for the investigation is the parking citations
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u/sicsemperyanks NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
UNC (statewide) school system is gonna get it's parking violation money. Never seen an enforcement agency work as hard as campus parking police.
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u/Aurion7 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
Look, it's a tradition. You go to school in Chapel Hill, you go to Raleigh, you go to Greenville... you get a parking ticket. It's a rite of passage.
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u/willpc14 Trinity (CT) Bantams • Princeton Tigers Sep 03 '26
Why do parking police suck at literally every university? There's never any arguing with them even if they're wrong. They're honest to go worse than private security or actual cops.
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u/justforthisbish Clemson Tigers Sep 04 '26
God, yes. Got a ticket for parking near the dorms temporarily to unload groceries because I was on the third floor, no elevator, and parking was full AF. Damn if in a span of 10 mins did I catch a ticket for them just to bold face look at me and say "yeah, totally get it. Oh? Yeah you can't totally appeal it 😘"
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u/palabear North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 04 '26
I’m currently in Charlotte but there is a chance I will have a parking ticket from Chapel Hill on my window in the morning.
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u/Aurion7 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
Rick Pitino is probably best qualified to answer that question.
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u/Dangerous_Pop1388 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
Those were prostitutes, this is a state employee choosing to conjugate with whoever she (or he, its is Chapel Hill after all) pleases. Huuuuuge difference
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Sep 03 '26
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u/thesymbiont Georgia • Washington & Lee Sep 03 '26
You gonna take care of his freshmen? Huh? After he's gone?
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u/bbMD_ Michigan Wolverines Sep 03 '26
This headline makes it sound like an orgy.
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u/Im_A_Real_Boy1 LSU Tigers • Montréal Carabins Sep 04 '26
I don’t see where they said it WASN’T an orgy so until told otherwise…
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u/AideDisastrous8432 Notre Dame • Jeweled Shillelagh Sep 03 '26
That UNC vs. TCU shitshow in Ireland is going to go down in history. Horrific game of football and both coaches might end up fired for cause by the end of the season.
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u/smoke_inyoureyes TCU Horned Frogs Sep 03 '26
it’s that family guy cutaway “guys guys, you’re both just..awful”
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u/frone Oklahoma State Cowboys • Big 8 Sep 04 '26
I gotta believe it isn't really a curse anymore. If your are dumb enough to schedule this game, you are dumb enough to do a bunch of other stupid shit as well.
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u/--RandomInternetGuy Ohio State Buckeyes Sep 03 '26
Any truth to the rumor I'm making up that Lane has now applied for the job?
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u/Aggressive-Map-8392 Tennessee Volunteers Sep 03 '26
I know a guy that confirmed your rumor by smoke signal three minutes ago.
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u/Cobretti86 Sep 03 '26
UNC jumps to the front of the line for possible SEC expansion.
Step up FSU and Clemson.
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u/AcademicAxolotl NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
“Sex among players, staff” sounds like a big yikes
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u/mikeyfreshh Arizona State • New Hampshire Sep 03 '26
The article implies the recruiting staff was sleeping with both the players and assistant coaches, which seems like an insane locker room environment
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u/xienze NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
I'm guessing "recruiting staff" are those hostess girls that accompany recruits, not anyone with a real job on the staff. But damn, that would be something if so...
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u/Aggressive-Map-8392 Tennessee Volunteers Sep 03 '26
There are four women listed in recruiting on their website media guide. Those are the staff members. Interns and student workers are typically not referred to as staff.
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u/mikeyfreshh Arizona State • New Hampshire Sep 03 '26
That's worse if they're just hiring these girls to sleep with recruits and coaches
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u/xienze NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
Brother that's been going on for years and years everywhere.
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u/LikesBlueberriesALot Ohio Bobcats Sep 03 '26
Yeah people being surprised by this is the most surprising part of it for me.
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u/SaintsSooners89 Red River Shootout • Oklahoma Sep 03 '26
Young hot 20 somethings are sleeping with athletes? At college?
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u/Aurion7 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
It's usually only an issue for most if a school is um, encouraging it.
I remember Tennessee getting in a bit of trouble for their 'hostess' program a while back and the consensus was 'it happens, they were just too obviously prodding people to do it'.
Which is odd, because prodding healthy young adults to have sex usually isn't exactly something you gotta do.
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u/Aggressive-Map-8392 Tennessee Volunteers Sep 03 '26
In ALL workplaces. This is not some football phenomenon.
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u/yaygee513 Fordham Rams Sep 03 '26
“33rd team”
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u/sophandros Tulane Green Wave • Metro Sep 03 '26
Remember the show, "Playmakers" in ESPN?
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u/yaygee513 Fordham Rams Sep 03 '26
It got shut down by the league for being too realistic, right? I’m 30 was a bit ahead of my time
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u/Serallas Notre Dame • Appalachian State Sep 03 '26
Taking this UNC job is really gonna ruin Bill's legacy if this is all true. UNC is even more fucked
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u/xienze NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
Inexplicably forgetting how to be a good coach once Brady left is what sealed it. This is just an old man embarrassing himself.
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u/joeycrose Wisconsin Badgers Sep 04 '26
He was fine those first two years without Tom. Shit hit the fan in 2022 when he put Matt Patricia in Joe Judge in charge of the offense.
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u/ttuurrppiinn North Carolina • Northwestern Sep 03 '26
UNC is even more fucked
Not really. If Clemson and ND beat us a combined 120-10 in Weeks 3 and 4, then it's pretty easy to use the investigation as a "for cause" firing. NIL era can make for a quick rebuild. The real shitshow is if Bill actually decides to lock in and somehow win enough games that people actually start thinking about keeping him around.
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u/Lane-Kiffin UC San Diego Tritons • USC Trojans Sep 04 '26
This will impact his legacy about the same as the Jacksonville Jaguars will affect Urban Meyer’s legacy
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u/AtBat3 Oregon Ducks • Kutztown Golden Bears Sep 03 '26
Shoutout to that awful toupee he’s got there
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u/shapu West Virginia Mountaineers • WashU Bears Sep 03 '26
Oh thank god, I was afraid I was the only one who was going to mention it
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u/AtBat3 Oregon Ducks • Kutztown Golden Bears Sep 03 '26
His career is a sham so why wouldn’t his hair be the same
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u/RVALover4Life Sep 04 '26 edited Sep 04 '26
The complaints on Lombardi specifically are NIL related and bullying. If there wasn't any smoking gun I seriously doubt he would resign and leave that much money on the table, UNC no longer has to pay him out. Apparently there was a meeting today and Lombardi then resigned which means he's likely saving face with the likelihood of he being fired for cause and that humiliation as well as having the investigation into his conduct. The greater investigation will continue but he can kinda go into obscurity even if still under investigation.
Lack of institutional control would've been enough to fire Lombardi with where this investigation is headed and it very well could end up with Bill being forced out.
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u/stevebr0 Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
So the whole joke about omitting the Oxford comma creating “interesting” phrase….. this is the opposite of that
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u/RevengeOfTheMothman Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
UNC isn’t a basketball school it’s an orgy school
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u/SLCer Utah Utes Sep 03 '26
A real-life The Program. Just without, you know, the winning.
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u/NotPapaHemingway Florida State • Appalachian … Sep 03 '26
To be fair they're undefeated this season
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u/MarkWithAnM7 Ohio State Buckeyes Sep 04 '26
Can’t believe Lombardi keeps getting jobs. Prime example of “it’s not what you know, but who you know”.
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u/Dry-Membership3867 Jacksonville State • Arkansas Sep 03 '26
Why do I think this era at UNC is gonna end in a death penalty
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u/dubcwa Washington Huskies Sep 03 '26
No team will ever receive the death penalty again. Hell, we don’t even really see bowl bans anymore.
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u/Few-Willingness-3482 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26
If Penn State didn’t get it it won’t happen, and if we’re doing something worse than Penn State, we would deserve it.
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u/dubcwa Washington Huskies Sep 03 '26
Yeah and we saw Michigan have the biggest cheating scandal probably ever. And nothing.
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u/CieraVotedOutHerMom South Carolina Gamecocks Sep 03 '26
You don’t need a death penalty, just a TV ban.
I wish they’d bring back that punishment.
The networks would hate it and it also punishes the opposing schools
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u/D1N2Y NC State Wolfpack • Charlotte 49ers Sep 04 '26
UNC is too valuable of a brand to kill off for the value they bring to march madness. They got literally nothing when running academic fraud when the NCAA had real teeth, no shot of anything close to a death penalty.
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u/nosoup4ncsu NC State Wolfpack Sep 04 '26
UNC ran their athletic dept without rules, when there were actually rules....got the academic side of the University put on probation, and received no punishment.
There is no universe where they get a death penalty.
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u/Ugaalive1991 Georgia Bulldogs • NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
If there is a god, it will.
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u/thesymbiont Georgia • Washington & Lee Sep 03 '26
A lot of programs need smitin', apparently
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u/xienze NC State Wolfpack Sep 03 '26
If only. Belichick will be gone by the end of the year and the investigation will drag out so long no real punishment will be given out because "that was years ago and it's not fair to these players who had nothing to do with it."
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u/ttuurrppiinn North Carolina • Northwestern Sep 03 '26
Definitely feels like we're continuing the investigation as ammo for a "for cause" firing. Honestly, you should play the long con and root for us to win 8-9 games in a season the media calls a massive overachieving effort. Would be hysterical to see our AD try to figure out whether to pull the trigger or not.
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u/mtnchkn Georgia Bulldogs Sep 03 '26
I mean, if your staff isn’t having sex with them AND going on 2 Fast 2 Furious cosplays, are you really an FBS program?
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u/Conchigliono Boston College • Oklahoma State Sep 03 '26
A recruiter having sex with a player is crazy.
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u/tangential_quip Stanford Cardinal Sep 03 '26
I mean...recruiter is likely a title that only exists to cover a payment expense.
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u/Dry-Membership3867 Jacksonville State • Arkansas Sep 03 '26
It’s pretty frequent in softball but I’ve never heard it in football
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u/No_Butterscotch8726 SMU Mustangs • Penn State Nittany Lions Sep 03 '26
Explain yourself?
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u/Procrastin8_Ball North Carolina Tar Heels • Team Meteor Sep 03 '26
There's a lot more homosexuality in softball than football. At least publicly and stereotypically
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u/HermitageHermit Florida Gators Sep 03 '26
There was a Law and Order: SVU episode about it in the early seasons. It may not be as widespread as it was a decade ago now that there is cash involved, but it definitely still happens.
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u/Wolfpack_DO NC State • South Carolina Sep 03 '26
Insane title lol but sadly I expect nothing less from WRAL
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u/SwissForeignPolicy Michigan Wolverines • Marching Band Sep 04 '26
Why the hell is the whole offseason happening in one week?
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u/CrashingBlumpkins46 New Mexico Lobos • Alabama Crimson Tide Sep 03 '26
They should also investigate the source of Lombardi's awful toupee.
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u/TheSpinsterJones Wisconsin Badgers • Virginia Cavaliers Sep 04 '26
Imagine being one of the most respected educational institutions in the United States with a storied athletic program and inviting the crew of the real housewives of foxborough into your fold. absolute disgrace
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u/MiniAndretti Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sep 04 '26
You mean the one that had special classes just for athletes and the athletes never had to attend said classes?
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u/BusinessWarthog6 Appalachian State Mountaineers Sep 03 '26
i can talk shit on UNC all day but I do hope Steve gets the help he needs if the medical issue was drugs use
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u/EmuMan10 Arizona State Sun Devils Sep 03 '26
Guys, I think Bill might not be cut out for college ball
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u/FixedCroissant Florida State • West Florida Sep 03 '26
Yeeeeah, it’s kinda blowin’ up around these parts. To be clear, let’s fire them all. Come on Billy B., what have you added? Chaos and confusion?
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u/StorminXX Miami Hurricanes Sep 03 '26
We are keeping our Convicts crown forever, but UNC are trying hard!
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u/Remarkable-Juice-280 Sep 03 '26
Sex among players 😶😶
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u/Aurion7 North Carolina Tar Heels Sep 03 '26 edited Sep 03 '26
Allegedly banging recruiting staff, which uh... I guess not technically against the rules by itself but also not something you want to be encouraging.
Is against school policy if the staffer has the ability to supervise or evaluate the player- since they are still students in theory it would apply.
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u/Cover3Shell North Carolina • Notre Dame Sep 04 '26
How about all that crazy stuff happening at LSU right guys?
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u/SirMellencamp Alabama Crimson Tide • SEC Sep 03 '26
Dont get me wrong, I am excited for the season but this off season has just been a treasure and it is going out with a bang
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u/Aggressive-Map-8392 Tennessee Volunteers Sep 03 '26
Apparently going into season with much banging as well.
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u/clitcommander420666 Florida State Seminoles Sep 03 '26
They out here running freakoffs, theres gotta be a greased up covered in glowsticks shirtless bill belichick pic floating around somewhere
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u/stephencua2001 Florida Gators Sep 04 '26
Has there been a steeper coaching drop than Bill Belichick?
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u/heelxtiger North Carolina • Vanderbilt Sep 04 '26
At least we made it through week 0 without being a complete embarrassment
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u/twentyitalians Notre Dame Fighting Irish Sep 04 '26
Who among us hasn't slept with our college recruiter?
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u/mikeyfreshh Arizona State • New Hampshire Sep 03 '26
Remember when the Patriots inexplicably benched their best cornerback in the Super Bowl against the Eagles, allegedly because he had some beef with Steve Belichick? Wonder what that was about