North Carolina gets its guy: Gio Lopez commits to the UNC football program

The UNC football program got their guy.

South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez announced his commitment to Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels. This confirms that the speculation regarding his recruitment was true: North Carolina was the clear front-runner to land his services.

Last season, his first as a full-time starter, Lopez threw for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns. A left-handed quarterback, Lopez can also beat defenses with his legs, as he logged 465 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground this past season.

While Lopez won't be a lock to start opening day, he will be very much in the mix. With Ryan Browne departing via the transfer portal, it will likely be a three-man race between Lopez, true freshman Bryce Baker, and Max Johnson, another veteran left-handed throwing quarterback who is coming off a season-ending injury suffered in his debut last season with the UNC football program.

Depending on Johnson's health, it could very well end up being a battle between Lopez, a guy Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels pursued heavily once he entered his name in the transfer portal, and Baker, a highly-touted freshman quarterback who North Carolina put an emphasis on retaining when the new staff took over in Chapel Hill.

After spring practices concluded, it felt like the UNC football program was going to add at least one quarterback to its depth chart during the spring transfer portal window. While they were connected to Tennessee transfer Nico Iamaleava for a hot minute, they get the guy they were after all along, one that has been regarded as arguably the best quarterback available on the transfer portal market.

While the UNC football program has lost a good amount of talent to the transfer portal, the Tar Heels are working on filling some of the voids. Adding Lopez is a major step in the right direction, as the quarterback competition for the starting gig this fall is starting to show who the true competitors will be.