Bill Belichick shares what he looks for in a starting quarterback

Bill Belichick’s name is synonymous with Tom Brady, his quarterback for 20 seasons with the New England Patriots. Now the head coach at North Carolina, it’s no surprise that the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach has high standards for the position.

North Carolina has three players vying for the QB1 position this fall: experienced veteran Max Johnson, four-star freshman Bryce Baker and South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. Belichick revealed what could elevate one of these three players to the starting role for Week 1.

“Most importantly, a quarterback has to be able to run the team,” Belichick said on the ACC Network on Thursday. “Get the play called, make the right decisions, handle basic situations so that we can execute the play. But you know, ultimately, it comes down to production in the passing game. So we’ll see how that goes. I like our competition at quarterback, and we’ll see how they play.”

Despite defense being his bread and butter, Belichick told the panel on the ACC Huddle that it’s important to have a pulse on the entire team. That starts with having a great relationship with his quarterback room.

Johnson is the only quarterback with starting experience at the collegiate level. A college football journeyman, his career began in 2020 at LSU. He spent two seasons in Baton Rouge before transferring to Texas A&M. After two seasons there, he arrived at his final stop — Chapel Hill. He has nearly 6,000 passing yards under his belt, but is coming off a broken right leg that ended his season after 19 passes as UNC’s starter.

Lopez transferred into the program coming off a season where he completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,559 yards with 18 touchdowns and five interceptions at South Alabama in 2024. He’s a dual-threat option and could be an exciting player to watch out of the backfield if named the starter.

Meanwhile, Baker is the least experienced but is a top 100 recruit from this past year’s recruiting cycle. He threw for 79 touchdowns during the final two seasons of his high school career. Even if he doesn’t start right away, he’s a player that has tremendous upside.

Belichick and his offensive staff will have to make a decision in the next several weeks, as the Tar Heels are set to kick off the 2025 regular season against TCU at home. Kickoff is slated for Sunday, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. ET and will be aired live on ESPN.