The unforgiving glare on Bill Belichick’s personal life is yet to lessen. But he does have a new job after all. Belichick is now at Chapel Hill after seeing doors close on him in the NFL post the end of his glorious career with the New England Patriots. North Carolina football is in stark contrast to that of the glitzy kind in the NFL. For the first time in many years, people will pay the Tar Heels some thoughtful consideration because of Belichick. But a major issue that lay ahead for the HC was the return of his problematic QB room. In what will be the most important season in the history of UNC football, that department is still a major question mark.

Bill Belichick is famous for his coaching genius. But, he’s also one part of the iconic pairing he shared with veteran QB Tom Brady. Tar Heels QB Max Johnson is no Tom Brady, but, he will be the guy Belichick has to form an important relationship with at Chapel Hill. The situation is even more delicate because of the QB’s health. Johnson fought off Conner Harrell in the lead-up to the 2024 season for the QB1 spot. With the heavy crown, he soon stumbled devastatingly in the very first game and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. This is bad news for Belichick’s first year at Chapel Hill. The rest of the QB room is, unfortunately, not yet primed for such a high-stakes season. And Belichick, a coach who is synonymous with the concept of quarterbacks, is being dealt such cards.

In a press conference held on June 11, Bill Belichick shed light on the UNC QB room. “Honestly, none of them, with the exception of Max, for a handful of plays last year, none of them have really taken any snaps here. It’ll be good to see how all that plays out,” the HC said. Last season, 5 QBs took snaps under Mack Brown’s coaching. 3 of them (Jacolby Criswell, Michael Merdinger, and Harrell), who were the only ones with experience, transferred out in 2025. That left Max Johnson as the only experienced QB still remaining in North Carolina. Only sophomore QB DJ Mazzone chose to stick to UNC along with him. Then, Belichick recruited freshman Bryce Baker and got some relief in the transfer portal by adding Gio Lopez. Ryan Browne also transferred to UNC, but left just three months later.

At this point, Johnson and Lopez are his biggest bets to lead the QB room in 2025. “I think we have good competition there, and our offense is our offense, and we’ll be able to adapt to whoever it is. We’ve, you know, certainly had a lot of quarterbacks through the years with different skill sets, and, you know, we’re able to work with all of them. But we’ll see how it all plays out. So, right now, that position is one that we just don’t have a lot of on-field experience with,” he said.

Johnson, with his 71 yards, is the only experienced returning QB for the Tar Heels. Bill Belichick truly is in a pickle, especially because of his success with the quarterback position. He has depth in the QB room, but his potential is highly doubtful. However, Max Johnson is gearing up to soothe some of Belichick’s worries.

Bill Belichick gives promising update on Max Johnson’s former season-ending injury

When Johnson arrived at Chapel Hill, he had 5,852 yards and 47 TDs in the bag, playing for LSU and Texas A&M. Imagine that potential fizzing out of the Tar Heels teams in just one big blow, that too in the very first game. Johnson broke his leg in the opener and missed the season. Not only that, but he also missed out on spring practice. However, now, he looks like the recovery time is working in favor of Bill Belichick and the QB. “Max is doing very well,” the HC affirmed.

“His rehab, it’s been long. I have a lot of admiration for him. It’s a tough injury, but nobody’s worked harder than he has. He certainly is able to do a lot more than he was last spring. We’ll see exactly where he is when things start, but it’s a whole lot closer. We certainly expect to see him out there. It’s been very encouraging,” Belichick added further.

This means that the Tar Heels’ offense will not look like a meek one, now having a great QB getting into form. Johnson will likely compete with Gio Lopez, who brings a total of 3,034 yards and 22 TDs with him. Bryce Baker also serves as a formidable candidate for the QB1 spot, especially because he brings with him more than 6,000 yards from his prep career.

It’s very surreal to see Bill Belichick entering his first season as a college football HC with such a dangerously hollow QB room. Season tickets are sold out for UNC’s home games, before they even began – people have huge expectations from this rejuvenated program. But will the veteran HC see the same success with quarterbacks here, like he did in the NFL?