Miami arrives in Chapel Hill on Saturday as the No. 1 team in the country, and some Hurricanes fans used Monday to remind North Carolina of something its former general manager said about Mario Cristobal. The remarks date to December 2024, shortly after Michael Lombardi arrived at UNC alongside Bill Belichick, and the meeting Saturday puts them back in front of both fan bases.
Lombardi made the comments after Miami’s 10-win 2024 season ended without a College Football Playoff berth. In Canes Warning’s summary of them, Lombardi cast Cristobal as a coach who knows how to recruit but has not proven he can build a complete team. The criticism drew a response from Miami general manager Dennis Smith at the time, and Miami fan accounts recirculated it on Monday ahead of the trip to Kenan Stadium.
Lombardi will not be in North Carolina’s building to see how the argument holds up. UNC placed him on paid administrative leave on July 27 after a former front-office employee filed a human resources complaint, and he resigned on Sept. 3 while the university’s investigation continued…