Bill Belichick's ACC Media Days representatives put any QB questions to rest

It's going to be Gio Lopez, but we all knew that
68 Ventures Bowl - South Alabama v Eastern Michigan
68 Ventures Bowl - South Alabama v Eastern Michigan | Michael Chang/GettyImages

If there was any doubt that Gio Lopez is the guy in 2025, it was answered Thursday.

UNC released the names of the players that will join head coach Bill Belichick at ACC Media Days. Lopez, the projected starting quarterback, will join cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, safety Will Hardy and wide receiver Jordan Shipp in Charlotte. The three-day event starts on Tuesday, July 22. 

This shouldn't have been much of a surprise. Lopez has been treated like the QB1 since he transferred to the program from South Alabama. Lopez, a 6-foot, 220-pound lefty, should give the Tar Heel offense a different look with his dual-threat abilities. 

Overall, the UNC quarterback room has something that is valued these days on a college football roster - two experienced veterans.

Max Johnson will stick it out and see what happens, even as a backup

Max Johnson is still on the roster and will be entering his sixth year of college football. We all remember that Johnson was the opening-week starter last year against Minnesota and suffered a broken right leg in the third quarter that put him on the shelf for the season. 

He had surgery a few days later and announced he would return in 2025. When he announced this, it wasn't known that Mack Brown would retire and Bill Belichick would take over. It's rare that a quarterback, especially a veteran like Johnson, would stay during a coaching change, but Johnson is here and says he's ready for fall camp.

The well-traveled Johnson has been through the gambit during his time in college football. He won the starting job at LSU late in 2020 and kept it through the 2021 season, but transferred from the school when Brian Kelly was hired and wanted to bring in Jayden Daniels. 

He went to Texas A&M and was a part-time starter there with Connor Weigman over two seasons. Johnsont transferred to UNC as a graduate student and won the starting job out of camp. Now he'll be back on the sidelines, rooting Lopez on and wondering if he'll get another opportunity. 

There's something to be said for a guy that's played under Ed Orgeron, Jimbo Fisher, Brown and now Belichick. Johnson probably has some good stories. He's also learned a lot of football.