Training camp is officially underway in Chapel Hill, and, contrary to belief, there's actually football to be discussed!
Bill Belichick and his team are gearing up for the 2026 season, one that the program hopes is an improvement from last year's disappointing year. The Tar Heels added some reinforcements on the recruiting trails and made some notable staff changes, most notably naming Bobby Petrino as the program's new offensive coordinator.
Petrino, known as an offensive guru, aims to help steer the Tar Heels' offensive attack, one that struggled mightily a season ago. Fittingly, the UNC football program has essentially an open competition for its QB1 job, one that has four quarterbacks competing for the job.
While only one is a returner from last year's squad, the other three are fresh faces to the program. During his media session following the first day of practice, Petrino provided some insight on each of the quarterbacks, and his short assessment of them is quality information for Tar Heel fans who are monitoring this competition.
Bobby Petrino goes in-depth about UNC's quarterback room
One important note is which one of these quarterbacks was taking the first-team reps during the media portion of practice. That would be Miles O'Neill, the transfer from Texas A&M who followed Petrino to Chapel Hill.
To no surprise, Petrino has high praise for O'Neill, who he recruited to Texas A&M in the first place before recruiting him to North Carolina once he took the job at UNC.
“Miles is a big physical guy with a big arm, can run, and is a great athlete who can make a lot of different things happen,” Petrino said. “He just has to show that he’s consistent with his decision-making and accuracy.”
The guy right behind him in line on Thursday was Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr., the most experienced quarterback of the group. After dealing with injuries in past seasons, Petrino and the Tar Heels are hopeful that a clean bill of health can get him back to the player he was a few seasons ago at Maryland.
“Billy is the one with the most experience,” Petrino said. “When he got here in the winter, he had some things to take care of physically, and he’s as healthy as he’s been in a long time. So it’ll be fun to see how he does out there.”
The lone returner is Au'Tori Newkirk, a guy who saw limited action in his freshman season a year ago. He saw action against Richmond and at NC State, throwing his first touchdown pass of his career against the Wolfpack.
"Au'Tori is a guy I like a lot. He understands the offense and he's a quick learner. His ability to be consistently accurate just needs to get better, but he's done a good job."
Burgess is the highly-touted prospect who is trying to make up for lost time. His senior season of high school football was cut short due to an injury, as Petrino noted that they are working hard everyday to get him up to speed.
“Burgess impressed me today with how hard he has worked in his ability to step in the huddle, call the play, picture it in his mind and go through his progression,” Petrino said. “He took a huge step forward in June and July.”
Petrino and the Tar Heels seem to really like this quarterback room, one that has a nice mix of young, raw talent and veterans who have been around the block. This competition might not have a "frontrunner" at this point, but you'd have to expect that it will ultimately come down to O'Neill and Edwards Jr., but the pressure is now on for all of these guys to make an impact during training camp.
While some might think that an open quarterback competition hurts a team as they prepare for a new season, Petrino doesn't see it that way. He firmly believes that the pressure these guys are facing each day in practice will help best prepare them for the challenges they face when they take the field on Saturdays this fall.
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