All eyes will be on Bill Belichick's first season at North Carolina. That means Gio Lopez will be under the microscope, too.
Belichick named the South Alabama transfer his starting quarterback Wednesday, just five days before the Tar Heels open the season against TCU.
Lopez beat out graduate Max Johnson and true freshman Bryce Baker for the job.
Max Johnson, the son of former Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson, was the first to ride UNC's quarterback carousel last season but broke his leg in the third quarter of the Tar Heels' Week 1 matchup versus Minnesota.
Baker is fresh out of North Carolina's East Forsyth High School, where he became a four-star prospect and the No. 9 quarterback in the 2025 class, according to Rivals.
Lopez, though, is the pick for Belichick, a head coach who won six Super Bowls with Tom Brady under center yet has since struggled to find consistency at the quarterback position beyond him.
"Gio has made a ton of progress,” Belichick said of Lopez Wednesday, via WRAL. "I feel very comfortable with him and what he’s doing, but he’ll get better as we go forward because we just will."
Belichick noted that Lopez will receive the majority of first-team reps in practice leading up to Monday night's showdown with TCU.
A redshirt sophomore, Lopez transferred to UNC in April with three years of eligibility remaining and 12 games of starting experience under his belt.
The left-handed, dual-threat quarterback posted an 18:5 touchdown-to-interception ratio last season at South Alabama while accounting for 2,559 passing yards as well as the 465 yards and seven touchdowns he piled up on the ground. In the process, Lopez guided the Jaguars to a 6-5 record, including a 5-3 mark in Sun Belt play. South Alabama finished 2024 tied for 19th nationally with 34.4 points per game.
The season before that, he appeared in five games as a true freshman. But because one of those five games took place in the postseason, he maintained his year of eligibility. Lopez earned 68 Ventures Bowl MVP honors while leading the Jaguars to their first-ever bowl victory. He totaled four touchdowns, three passing and one rushing, and 280 scrimmage yards in a 59-10 domination of Eastern Michigan.
Four different quarterbacks attempted at least 10 passes last year at UNC. Since, the program has turned over significantly — that wave of change starts with Belichick.
Lopez is part of it as well. Together, they'll enter Week 1 with something to prove.
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