WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — This was all new for Gio Lopez.
He was a high school star in Alabama. A bowl game MVP as a freshman at South Alabama. A year later, he threw for 18 touchdowns and five interceptions in his first year as a full-time college starter.
But last fall, he was the banged-up quarterback of a North Carolina team led by the most successful coach in NFL history. One that was making headlines as its losses piled up.
“It was just really the first time I’d dealt with public failure,” Lopez told The Athletic.
Before the season began, he’d deleted all social media from his phone. But the noise was so loud even his well-constructed earplugs couldn’t repel it.
Lopez will forever have the distinction of being Bill Belichick’s handpicked first college quarterback. But it didn’t work out as planned: UNC started 2-5, finished 4-8, and by January, Lopez was on the move again after the Tar Heels signed his replacement. He found a new home 75 miles down the road at Wake Forest, where he’ll aim to apply the lifetime of lessons he gained in seven months in Chapel Hill.
Seven months about which he said he has no regrets.
“I just had never really dealt with responding to negative press or negative performance,” Lopez said. “Having to keep showing up grew me as a man.”
This time last year, Lopez was going through his third spring practice at South Alabama. But he entered the transfer portal after the spring and UNC quickly made contact with his agent and quarterback trainer.
“Hitting that portal was an opportunity a lot of people wouldn’t pass up at the time. Coach Belichick, one of the greatest coaches of all time,” Lopez said. “It was an opportunity I had to take.”
He signed a deal worth a reported $2 million annually to move up to the Power 4 and play for a six-time Super Bowl champion coaching college football for the first time. Lopez used part of his NIL earnings to build a fence at his sister’s home so his 4-year-old niece, who has autism, could freely roam in the backyard without the family fearing she might stray into danger.
On the field in Chapel Hill, the adjustment was difficult.
Lopez arrived in May. Practices didn’t begin until August. Opportunities to spend time with new teammates — Lopez was one of about 70 new players UNC added last offseason — were minimal in the meantime.
“I think I never realized how important it is to really know your teammates,” Lopez said.
Practicing in front of a film crew was another challenge, he said. UNC was initially the subject of a Hulu docuseries before it was shelved. Lopez said he would drop back for a pass and out of the corner of his eye, spot a member of the crew with a parabolic microphone filming and capturing sound at practice.
“That was definitely an experience,” Lopez said. “It’s funny. You grow up as a kid wanting to be the center of attention. And the older I’ve gotten, I’ve realized I just want to play football. Having a camera in your face, the Hulu, whatever that was going on. It felt like everything was on top of you.”
The offense was a change, too. Lopez worked in a power spread offense under Rob Ezell at South Alabama and carried the ball 83 times for 463 yards and seven scores in his first year as starter for the Jaguars.
Lopez, who spent time in his earliest football years playing running back, worked almost exclusively under center in a UNC offense that didn’t feature nearly as much quarterback run game.
“Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, in my opinion,” Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert said.
Said Lopez: “I was trying to be the quarterback he wanted me to be. That was a difficult thing for me. I didn’t think my game fit as much as we were trying to. … That was like the first time I had ever really not run in my life.”
At South Alabama, Lopez was a quarterback who would look at his first two or so reads. If they weren’t open, he was tucking and running. But his time at North Carolina turned him into a quarterback capable of standing in the pocket and moving through all five reads as needed. He learned to trust that his receivers would be where the scheme demanded them to be. He retrained his eyes to watch where defenders went more than his receivers and deliver the ball based on what he saw defenses doing.
But it was an adjustment. So was the language.
South Alabama used a word-based play-calling system. North Carolina’s was built around numbers. For a quarterback with only a few months to prepare for the season, it further upped the degree of difficulty.
So did injuries. He was in a car crash days before the season began in which the other driver was cited for failure to yield. During the Tar Heels’ season-opening loss to TCU, a back injury ended his night early. Weeks later, he suffered a gruesome injury against UCF that UNC initially feared could end his season.
He also suffered an ankle injury in the season finale against NC State that left his availability for spring football in doubt.
“It’s football, you’re always a little banged up,” he said. “Playing hurt, that’s part of the game.”
Known for making plays with his legs at South Alabama, Gio Lopez never got it going in the quarterback run game at UNC. (Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)
By season’s end, he finished with just 1,747 passing yards and 10 touchdowns with five interceptions. He ran for just 133 yards. His numbers from his redshirt freshman season at South Alabama dipped across the board.
“Personally, not being able to perform how I wanted on a bigger stage on a P4 level, it was tough for me,” he said. “I’m the first person in my family to play college football or even go to college. I wanted to make my family proud and I felt like I let them down.”
Lopez rehabbed his ankle injury in hopes of returning in time for spring, but UNC brought in a new offensive coordinator in Bobby Petrino. And once the transfer portal opened, UNC found itself in a bidding war with Wake Forest over quarterback Billy Edwards Jr., who began his career there, played at Maryland and missed most of the 2025 season at Wisconsin with an injury.
Carolina won, adding Edwards to the roster. It told Lopez he could stay and compete for the job.
“I had a great conversation with (general manager) Mike Lombardi. He told me to just be ready to compete for the job,” Lopez said. “Lombardi and Belichick were always great toward me.”
A day after Edwards committed, Lopez entered the portal.
Ezell, his coordinator at South Alabama, had moved on to Wake Forest. Lopez remembered back in 2021 that Ezell and the Jaguars offered him a scholarship the same day he underwent shoulder surgery. That belief still resonated as the Demon Deacons searched for a new quarterback.
“Going through a whole season of just feeling like left was right and up was down, it was a long year. The idea of going somewhere I’m familiar made me interested in Wake Forest,” Lopez said.
Dickert’s history of coaching quarterbacks like Cam Ward and John Mateer, who have similar styles to Lopez, piqued Lopez’s interest, too.
“He could have gone somewhere with the highest bidder. We weren’t the highest bidder,” Dickert said. “But he came here because he knows this is what he needs to create success for himself.”
Coincidentally, Dickert was familiar with Lopez because when he was shopping for an offensive coordinator after the 2024 season, his deep dive into Ezell showcased plenty of Lopez’s film. He knew the kind of player he might be getting. But he had questions for Ezell.
“What’s the competitor like? What’s he like when s— goes wrong? Who is he on a day-to-day basis? Everything he said has aligned with Gio’s actions,” Dickert said. “He shot it to me straight. It’s not all roses. But it’s been a really good partnership for both sides.”
Ezell reconnected with his former quarterback and saw a more mature version of the player he’d coached in 2024. He’d developed a greater ability to diagnose defenses after a season playing under Belichick. For an offense without much experience, it’s been needed.
“He’s a fun-loving dude. He’s just a really good guy to be around. He has a great energy. My boys play catch with him. He’s a humble guy,” Dickert said. “He hasn’t forgotten who he is. You’re 18-23, you get all this money, it’s easy to get caught up in all this.”
At one practice earlier this spring, an offensive lineman was bullrushed into Lopez’s pocket and stepped on Lopez’s ankle. Lopez went down. The once-lively practice field fell silent. Everyone held their breath.
But Lopez stood up, walked it off, took a few plays off and rejoined his teammates.
“Dude didn’t say anything. He wasn’t blaming. Wasn’t slamming helmets. There’s some leadership moments that show everyone who you are,” Dickert said. “I’ve seen a lot of people react negatively in that situation. Cuss out the lineman. Throw a helmet. He’s ‘Next play.’”
Lopez’s time at UNC rarely comes up with coaches or teammates. On those occasions, he speaks about it positively. It was challenging. It forced him to grow in ways he didn’t expect.
“I grew a lot learning from (Belichick). He gave me great advice. He’s got great stories. People might diss him or talk bad on him but it was awesome learning from him.” Lopez said.
And while Lopez uses the word “failure” to describe his time as UNC’s quarterback, Dickert takes issue with it.
“Anytime you ‘fail’ — and that’s a perception thing, that’s not a real thing in my mind — you either grow from things or you don’t,” Dickert said. “He’s coming here with a real edge and a real chip on his shoulder and a real intense focus. And our team needed it.”
Last season, the Demon Deacons were one of the sport’s surprises, winning nine games. Nine-win seasons give way to expectations, which Lopez knows plenty about.
He spent a year “not enjoying” football and feeling like eyes were peering at him for the wrong reasons. Now, he’s hoping for a better outcome after hitting the reset button.
“It was an experience not many people can say they went through. Coach Belichick’s first-ever college quarterback?” Lopez said. “To be able to experience that, it’s something I’ll tell my kids about when I’m older.”
