Bill Belichick breaks his silence on investigation

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program is currently in the midst of an internal investigation that has already resulted in the departure of the team's general manager and could potentially put head coach Bill Belichick's job at risk as well. Now, Belichick is addressing the investigation himself.

In a press conference on Monday, Belichick did not say much about the ongoing investigation, but he did express commitment to "doing things properly."

With Lombardi now officially out of the program, WRAL News reports that the investigation has turned its attention toward Steve Belichick, as investigators are reportedly asking questions about whether he used drugs while on the job or supplied drugs to at least one player.

"Lawyers hired to conduct the investigation are also questioning people about whether defensive coordinator Steve Belichick used drugs on the job or provided drugs to at least one player — and, separately, about whether a member of UNC's recruiting staff had a sexual relationship with a player, people familiar with the investigation told WRAL. They also asked about possible sexual relationships between assistant coaches and recruiting staff, the people said," WRAL reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, WRAL reports that investigators are also examining whether an unnamed member of North Carolina's recruiting staff was involved in a sexual relationship with a player.

UNC has so far declined to publicly reveal the specific purpose or scope of the Lombardi investigation.

"As is standard procedure with personnel matters, leadership, staff, and student-athletes are prohibited from addressing this topic further," the university said in a statement after the probe was announced.

Bill Belichick's Job Could Be In Jeopardy

While the investigation is reportedly focused on Steve Belichick, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Bill Belichick's position could also be in jeopardy as a result of the ongoing investigation.

As Florio notes, the WRAL News report states that "people said they were asked whether they had reported any potentially questionable behavior to Bill Belichick." According to Florio, that line of questioning could potentially give UNC grounds to fire Bill Belichick for cause if investigators determine that he was aware of one or more of these issues and failed to report them.

Florio also shared a key section of Belichick's contract with the school, specifically Article 11(c): "Any action that is (i) taken by Coach or someone supervised by Coach, or (ii) taken at the direction of Coach or someone supervised by Coach, or (iii) known by Coach or someone supervised by Coach and not reported by Coach as required by this Agreement to the Department of Athletics Compliance office by the person supervised by coach, and that results in any material form of disciplinary finding, material action against, or material sanction for the Coach or the Program by the University's athletics association (e.g. NCAA), athletics conference (e.g. ACC), University, or other regulatory body that exceeds an institutional letter of admonishment or reprimand."

Belichick signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the school. If the investigation concludes that he failed to properly report these issues, UNC could potentially fire him for cause, which would also mean forfeiting his buyout.

Ahead of Monday's press conference, a UNC spokesperson indicated that Belichick nor anybody else would be speaking on the investigation.

"Coach Belichick, student athletes, and other university employees will not discuss the situation in any manner. That is necessary to protect the integrity of the process and the rights of everyone involved," the spokesperson said via WRAL .

Still, Belichick addressed the situation in his opening statement, saying "the importance of the work that's being done by the investigative team and, obviously, our high standard here of our code of conduct and doing things the right way and making sure that our student-athletes are given the utmost, the best treatment, the very best care, and the very best coaching that we can possibly give them."

"Obviously everybody's responsible, including me, for doing things properly," Belichick said via ESPN . "And we intend to do that."