Throughout Bill Belichick’s 24-year tenure with the Patriots, his right-hand man was Berj Najarian. But when Belichick landed in Chapel Hill one year ago, Najarian already had another job.
Now, Najarian is available. Via Kevin Stone of New England Sports Journal, Najarian is leaving Boston College. (The report was confirmed by Karen Guregian of MassLive.com.)
Najarian served as coach Bill O’Brien’s chief of staff, taking the job after the Patriots fired Belichick in January 2024. Now that Najarian will be a free agent, the next question is whether he’ll officially re-partner with Belichick at North Carolina.
Unofficially, there’s been an apparently ongoing connection to Belichick. An April 2025 email from Belichick regarding publicity for his book (which Jordon Hudson for some reason posted on social media), showed “Berj” as a recipient. Which 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.
If/when Belichick brings Berj to North Carolina, there will be a fairly sizable elephant in the room. As reported by Pablo Torre, Najarian was one of multiple key Patriots employees who complained about Mike Lombardi during his stint with the Patriots, resulting in Lombardi being ousted (he has claimed he left to write a book of his own).
Lombardi is now the G.M. of the UNC program. Lombardi’s presence could potentially make Najarian unwilling to work with Belichick again. Which could, in theory, force Belichick to choose between Najarian and Lombardi.
It’s not some minor point. Najarian was, by all appearances, the most trusted member of Belichick’s staff in New England. Everything went through Berj.
Here’s how ESPN.com characterized Najarian’s job duties, in 2011 (as found by Guregian): “Point-person for day-to-day operations of the team and acts as liaison across football and non-football departments. Najarian manages several elements of head coach Bill Belichick’s off-field agenda, including football and stadium operations, player and staff communication, scheduling and personal requests. In addition, Najarian manages various special projects in coaching and player personnel.”
That could create a separate complication, as it relates to Hudson. Belichick’s girlfriend seemingly has morphed into much of the Berj role. She may not want Berj around. And Berj may not want to have to coexist with and/or tiptoe around her — especially after she reportedly made a bizarre FOIA request to North Carolina as to communications between Senior Associate Athletic Director Robbi Pickeral Evans and CBS regarding, apparently, the disastrous interview that sparked a torrent of unflattering coverage and criticism of Hudson and Belichick.
However it plays out, Berj is in play to join forces again with Belichick. Where it goes from here will be particularly interesting, possibly awkward, and potentially fascinating.
