Ex-South Alabama QB Lopez Commits to UNC

The North Carolina Tar Heels have made their first huge transfer portal addition under new head coach Bill Belichick.

The Tar Heels are signing former South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez prior to the kickoff of the 2025 season. Lopez, one of the elite passers in the spring transfer portal, ranked the No. 6 available transfer in ESPN’s spring portal rankings, entered the portal Wednesday after he was the team’s starter in 2024, and he quickly committed to the Tar Heels. According to sources with knowledge of the situation, Lopez will join North Carolina on a two-year, $4 million contract with three seasons of remaining eligibility after a breakout redshirt freshman season in 2024.

A traditional signal caller with all the measurable, 6-foot-2, 220-pound dual-threat, Lopez came out of nowhere as one of the most productive Group of 5 quarterbacks in the country last fall when he led South Alabama to a 7-6 finish in coach Major Applewhite’s first season. Lopez was efficient, completing 66% of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns in 11 starts, adding another 465 rushing yards on the ground and seven touchdowns. He also used his wheels and rushed 83 times for 463 yards and seven scores as USA’s potent offense averaged 6.8 yards a play.

When reports surfaced that he was entering the transfer portal earlier in the week, Lopez immediately became a highly sought after recruit for power conference teams searching the landscape for an upgrade at the quarterback position. And North Carolina fits that bill to a tee.

The Tar Heels went an underwhelming 6-7 in legendary coach Mack Brown’s final season with the program in 2024 and struggled to find consistent quarterback play after Max Johnson’s injury in the season-opening game vs. the Minnesota Golden Gophers. With Johnson sidelined for the year after a significant leg injury, Jacolby Criswell became the team’s primary quarterback for the remainder of the season. He was slightly above average at best, completing only 58% of his passes for 2,459 yards and threw 15 touchdowns and six picks. Criswell entered the transfer portal in January and signed with East Tennessee State.

Johnson is in the middle of his rehab process and is scheduled to make his long-awaited return to the Tar Heels in 2025. Conner Harrell, Criswell’s backup in 2024, transferred to Charlotte in the offseason.

If Johnson is fully recovered and ready to go, he will compete in a quarterback competition alongside Lopez to be the team’s starter ahead of the 2025 season. Former Purdue Boilermakers quarterback Ryan Browne put his name the transfer portal this week, too, after landing on his feet with the Tar Heels in December.
Browne played in eight games for the Boilermakers in 2024 and was 43-of-76 passing for 532 yards and four touchdowns while also rushing for 155 yards. It is still up in the air where his next move will be, but he chose to start over when the Tar Heels’ pursuit of Lopez gathered steam.