Upon learning from head coach Bill Belichick that he had won North Carolina’s starting quarterback competition Wednesday, Gio Lopez’s first call was to his dad in Alabama.
“I’m going to be Coach Belichick’s first starting quarterback in college,” Lopez said he told his dad. “It’s a great opportunity.”
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Belichick, who is coaching in college for the first time after a legendary NFL coaching career, told Lopez on Wednesday, informed the rest of the team and then about 10 minutes later broke the news publicly. UNC opens its season – and the Belichick era – on Sept. 1 against TCU in Chapel Hill.
Lopez, a 6-foot, 203-pound redshirt sophomore, transferred from South Alabama after spring practice. He was competing with veteran Max Johnson, who started UNC’s opener last year before breaking his leg. Johnson almost lost his leg due to the injury, but was able to compete throughout fall practice.
“Gio has made a ton of progress,” Belichick said. “We’ve evaluated things through training camp and, as now we get ready for TCU, he’ll be our starting quarterback.”
Belichick said Lopez would get most of the reps in practice in advance of Monday’s game.
“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 said. “We have a lot of practices in front of us and a lot of games in front of us, and we’ll all learn a lot from those. So, I think he’s ready, but I think he’ll be, like everybody, more ready as we go forward.”
Lopez accounted for 3,024 total yards and 25 total touchdowns in 2024 under coach Major Applewhite at South Alabama. He previously said he planned to return to South Alabama and Applewhite, who he called his “football mentor.” But when Lopez had the chance to move to UNC and play for Belichick, who he called “greatest coach of all time,” Lopez took it.
“tt all kind of worked out for me, but I'm just thankful for the opportunity,” Lopez said.
Lopez completed 66% of his passes in 2024 for South Alabama, and Belichick previously said that Lopez played well against good competition, including LSU, indicating he was ready for a higher level of college football. Multiple reports indicate UNC is paying Lopez on a two-year, $4 million contract with three seasons of remaining eligibility.
“Just not have negative plays and compete,” Lopez said about what would make the offense successful. “If we do our job, we should put ourselves in a good opportunity to win the game. For me, I just want to win games. I don’t care if I have 500 yards or have five yards, if we win the game, that’s all that matters to me.”
Some of Lopez’s receivers have already bestowed a nickname upon him – citing an NBA legend who retired long before the current UNC players were born.
“We call him Magic Johnson,” receiver Jordan Shipp said. “He’ll make every play, make every throw, no matter where. Having a quarterback like that, it’s definitely a big opportunity for big plays. He’ll just get out of the pocket, and I know he has trust in me. There’s times where he’ll just throw it up, just let me go make a play. That’s something I’m grateful for. It comes over just the hard work and time and time and that’s building that connection.”
Lopez said the nickname came during a training session.
“I did like a no-look throw or something, something random, and ever since then, it kind of stuck,” Lopez said. “I don’t know why we went with Magic, but it’s a cool reference.”
Last week, Belichick declined to name a starting quarterback when asked by WRAL's Pat Welter.
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