By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — Coach Bill Belichick won’t lack quarterback options during his first season as North Carolina’s coach, but he’ll go into preseason camp with little experience working with any of them on the practice field.

“Right now, that position is one that we just don’t have a lot of on-field experience with,” UNC coach Bill Belichick said during a Tuesday press conference at the Kenan Football Center.

South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez, a 6–0, 220-pound left-handed junior, figures to be the frontrunner to start for the Tar Heels, but Belichick didn’t tip his hand. Lopez transferred after the spring semester, so he didn’t go through spring practice with UNC.

Also in the mix are 6–3, 205-pound four-star true freshman Bryce Baker and 6–5, 225-pound redshirt senior Max Johnson. Johnson suffered a season-ending broken right leg in the opener at Minnesota and has endured six surgeries and a long, challenging rehabilitation process.

“We’ve got some freshmen,” Belichick. “We’ve got Max, got some experience and Gio. We’ll see how it all plays out. Honestly, none of them — with the exception of Max, for a handful of plays last year — have taken any snaps here. So, it’ll be good to see how all that plays out.”

Also on the roster are 6–0, 175-pound redshirt freshman DJ Mazzone and 6–3, 200-pound freshman Au’Tori Newkirk.

Johnson, who was 12 of 19 for 71 yards against the Gophers, couldn’t do too much during spring practice, but has posted videos on X (formerly Twitter) here and here showing that he’s working into shape.

“Max is doing very well,” Belichick said. “His rehab has been long, and I have a lot of admiration for him. A tough injury, but nobody’s worked harder than he has.”

Belichick said that Johnson, who threw for over 5,800 yards and 47 touchdowns at LSU and Texas A&M, is a lot closer, and that’s encouraging.

Read a transcript of Belichick’s Tuesday press conference.

“He certainly is able to do a lot more than he was last spring, so we’ll see exactly where he is when things start, but it’s a whole lot closer. And we certainly expect to see him out there,” Belichick said.

As with many positions following the coaching change, there has been a significant transition at quarterback from last season. Gone are Jacolby Criswell (transferred to East Tennessee State), Michael Merdinger (Liberty) and Connor Harrell (Charlotte), the latter facing UNC on Sept. 6 in Charlotte.

After playing as a sophomore at Purdue last season, Ryan Broome transferred to UNC for the spring semester and participated in spring practice, only to transfer back to Purdue.

“As we see the offensive evolve, [the style will be] somewhat reflective of how those quarterbacks do and how that position shapes up,” Belichick said. “I think we have good competition there, and our offense is our offense, and we’ll be able to adapt to whoever it is.”

While he had the luxury of starting Tom Brady for most of his career coaching at New England, he also coached several other Patriots quarterbacks.

“We certainly had a lot of quarterbacks through the years with different skill sets, and were able to work with all of them,” Belichick said. “But we’ll see how it all plays out. Right now, that position is one that we just don’t have a lot of on-field experience with.”

With Lopez reportedly being paid $4 million, you would expect the position to be his to lose.

“He was really productive at South Alabama,” Belichick said. “He’s a dual-threat quarterback. He’s had plenty of production yardage, both the running-game and passing-game experience. Tough kid. Played well against some good competition, teams like LSU. It looks like he’s definitely ready for this level. Excited to work with him, as we are with everybody else.”

Lopez threw for 3,034 yards and 22 touchdowns and ran for 617 yards and nine touchdowns in 16 games over two seasons at South Alabama, but will have to adjust to the power-conference level.

Baker comes to Chapel Hill with a lot of hype after throwing for over 6,605 yards and 79 touchdowns, running for 536 yards and nine touchdowns and leading East Forsyth to a 23–3 record and two league titles the last two seasons. He has the big size scouts love, but has to prove himself at the college level.

UNC schedule

Month/ date	Time, TV	Opponent
September
1 (Monday)	8 p.m., ESPN	vs. TCU
6	7 p.m., ESPN+	at Charlotte
13	3:30 p.m., ACCN	vs. Richmond
20		at Central Florida
October
4		vs. Clemson
17 (Friday)	10:30, ESPN	at California
25		vs. Virginia
31 (Friday)	7:30, ESPN	at Syracuse
November
8		vs. Stanford
15		at Wake Forest
22		vs. Duke
29		at N.C. State