Bill Belichick finally names Gio Lopez as his starting QB for his first season as UNC head coach

Bill Belichick is laying his fortunes as a college football coach in the hands of Gio Lopez, who he named as his University of North Carolina quarterback on Wednesday.

Lopes was a transfer from Soutth Alabama and now plays as the signal caller for a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach.

UNC opens the season on Monday evening against TCU in Chapel Hill.

'Gio's made a ton of progress,' Belichick said about his man on Wednesday. 'We have evaluated things through training camp and as now we get ready for TCU, he'll be our starting quarterback. 

'So, we'll give him the majority of the reps in practice and make sure we get him as much preparation as possible. But everybody needs to be ready to go.

'I feel very comfortable with him and what he's doing. 'But he'll get better as we go forward because we just will - 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.

'I think he's ready. But I think he'll be like everybody: more ready as we go forward.'

Lopez, a 6-foot redshirt sophomore, was the full-time starter for South Alabama in the 2024 campaign and recorded 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns.

Will Johnson was the starter for UNC last season, a time before Belichick joined. The team finished the season with a 6-7 record.

Speaking earlier in August to ESPN, Lopez outlined how much he was enjoying being coached by Belichick.

'He's (Belichick) talking about how a fumble in the second quarter changed the way a play unfolded in the fourth quarter,' Lopez said. 'This guy knows it all. 

'It's one of those situations where you sit back, zip your lips and open your ears.'