QB Gio Lopez Restarts at Wake Forest With Old Coordinator
The left-handed quarterback left Bill Belichick's North Carolina program to rejoin Rob Ezell, the offensive coordinator who helped him thrive at South Alabama.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Quarterback Gio Lopez has transferred from North Carolina to Wake Forest, reuniting with offensive coordinator Rob Ezell after a difficult season as Bill Belichick's first college starting quarterback.
Lopez, who is left-handed, joins another in-state Atlantic Coast Conference program, one that went 9-4 in Jake Dickert's first year — a season that included shutting down Lopez and the Tar Heels and beating Southeastern Conference opponent Mississippi State in a bowl game. North Carolina finished 4-8.
The draw was familiarity. Ezell coached Lopez at South Alabama, and the quarterback said he has known him since he was 16.
"It gives me a lot of comfort, also just being with him in the spring," Lopez said during the first week of the Demon Deacons' preseason camp. "I didn't get to experience the spring last year. ... He's known me like the back of his hand. So I just trust his play calls. I never really question his judgment."
At North Carolina, Lopez won the starting job in camp after arriving too late for spring practice, and opened the season with a 39-yard deep ball on his first throw during a touchdown drive. He finished with 1,747 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, plus 133 rushing yards and three scores in 11 games, never topping 216 passing yards in a game. He was knocked out of two games by injury and needed surgery for a left-leg fracture suffered in the season finale at N.C. State.
Under Ezell at South Alabama in 2024, Lopez threw for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns, including a 432-yard opener against North Texas, and averaged 8.2 yards per attempt — 1.5 better than at UNC. He also ran for 465 yards and seven scores, with a 105-yard game against Appalachian State.
Dickert said Lopez has processed the season constructively. "He's used the term with me: 'I've never failed that loud before,'" Dickert told The Associated Press. "Failure is life's greatest teacher."
Wake Forest, a private school with about 5,600 undergraduates, leaned heavily on the run last season but plans to move closer to Ezell's preferred approach. Lopez said he has no regrets about his year in Chapel Hill: "I got to make a bond with Coach Belichick that I'm super thankful for."
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