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Gio Lopez on playing for Bill Belichick at North Carolina: 'it's a great opportunity to be a part of'

Danby:Daniel Hager•06/29/25•

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via UNC Athletics

Former South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez announced his transfer to North Carolina on April 17, seemingly setting himself up to be the first starting quarterback of the Bill Belichick era in Chapel Hill.

Lopez shined in his first season as South Alabama‘s starting quarterback in 2024. He passed for 2,559 yards, 18 touchdowns and five interceptions and led the Jaguars to a 7-6 record and a 30-23 win over Western Michigan in the Salute to Veterans Bowl. He also passed for 173 yards and one touchdown in a 42-10 loss to LSU.

The Madison, AL native discussed playing for the Hall of Fame coach at the Manning Passing Academy on Saturday.

“It’s a great opportunity to have someone that demands excellence,” Lopez said about Belichick. “Just being with a coach that’s seen it all and has coached it all, just that kind of situation that you don’t take for granted. Whenever he speaks, everyone listens so it’s a great opportunity to be apart of.”

Belichick raved about Lopez earlier this month

Coming off a season in which the Tar Heels went just 6-7 (3-5), Belichick brought in the No. 8 ranked Transfer Portal class in the country. The class is headlined by Lopez, former Washington cornerback Thaddeus Dixon and Boise State linebacker Andrew Simpson.

“You know, he’s taught [Tom] Brady and he teaches defense. He knows about offense but when he teaches defenses he knows what he’s talking about. When you get to learn from someone who’s seen so many defenses and coached so many different players, you just learn tendencies. He teaches you ball placement and why it matters. He teaches you the things that don’t get talked about. We’ve met about it a few times. He talks about how interception change the game and how fumbles change the game. Also how not picking up a first down changes the game. He just understands things you don’t really think about.”

The six-time Super Bowl winning coache, who is one of three former NFL coaches in the ACC this season (joined by Boston College‘s Bill O’Brien and Stanford‘s Frank Reich), raved about Lopez at a media opportunity earlier this month.

“He was really productive at South Alabama,” Belichick said. “He’s a dual-threat quarterback who has had plenty of productive yardage in both the running game and the passing game. He’s a tough kid who has played really well against tough competition and teams like LSU. It looks like he’s definitely ready for this level. We’re excited to work with him, as we are with everybody else. We’ve got some freshmen, we’ve got Max [Johnson], we’ve got some experience in Gio so we’ll see how it all plays out.”