Longtime Bill Belichick lieutenant Berj Najarian lands at Michigan, not UNC

When Berj Najarian left Boston College in December 2025, the question became whether he’d reunite with Bill Belichick at North Carolina.

That's not going to be happening.

Via Pete Thamel of ESPN, Najarian has taken at job at Michigan. He becomes the assistant general manager/strategy, with the job of assisting new coach Kyle Whittingham as to contracts, negotiations, and "strategy for the new college sports landscape."

Najarian served as Belichick's right-hand man for 24 years in New England. When Belichick took the job at Carolina, Najarian was already working for Bill O'Brien at Boston College.

The connection to Belichick nevertheless endured. An April 2025 email from Belichick regarding publicity for his book (which Jordon Hudson posted on social media during the kerfuffle following his disastrous CBS interview), showed “Berj” as a recipient. That raised an interesting question regarding whether and to what extent Najarian (unless Belichick would be sending the email to some other “Berj”) was collaborating with the head coach of a conference rival to his current employer.

So why wouldn't Najarian rejoin Belichick? As noted in December, the elephant in the room may have been North Carolina G.M. Mike Lombardi.

Last year, Pablo Torre reported that Najarian was one of multiple key Patriots employees who complained about Mike Lombardi during his stint with the Patriots, resulting in Lombardi being ousted. (Lombardi has claimed he left voluntarily.)

Or maybe it's as simple as Najarian seeing a more viable future in Ann Arbor, where things are just getting started, than in Chapel Hill, where another lackluster season could mean things will be coming to an end for Belichick and company.