Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels are preparing for a revival in the 2026 season. But one key unit on the roster remains unsettled. With the season opener just over a month away, head coach Bill Belichick is yet to name his starting quarterback for the season, as he declares an open competition instead.

For Belichick, calling it an open race is more than caution. It signals that UNC will not hand the most important job to any name, status, or past hype. In his first full season shaping the program, the message is clear: the quarterback who earns it in camp will be QB1, not the one with the biggest resume.

“Tori is healthy,” Belichick said Friday, July 17, at ACC Kickoff during the league’s preseason media days. “Travis participated in spring ball on a limited basis, but he’s had a good follow-up at the end of the spring and the summer workouts. So, he’s doing fine. Billy was one of the top passers in the Big Ten two years ago, got injured in the first game last year. So, you know, missed the whole season. And then, Miles was one of the top recruits out of high school, went to Texas A&M and redshirted, then played. [He] was a backup last year, but this is an opportunity for him with a clean slate. Nobody is established here as our starting quarterback. So, we’ll see how the competition goes. All four of those guys, they all have strong points.”

“They all have some things to offer, and we’ll see how [things pan out]. Now that they have a good spring under their belt, knowing the offense and being comfortable with the terminology and different options in the offense and so forth. Now, we’ll see how they do in the competition in the training camp, and then into the season. So, I’m excited to see how they all do.”

UNC’s 2025 season showed the cost of uncertainty at quarterback. The defense slipped to No. 70 nationally, allowing 26.2 points per game, while the offense leaned on South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez. He posted 1,747 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions before departing for Wake Forest, leaving the room wide open for Belichick’s reset.

The unit now wears a new look as they get into training camp for the 2026 season. Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr., true freshman Travis Burgess, veteran Au’Tori Newkirk and Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neil are the players in the Tar Heels’ quarterback room. Seeing that most of them are new, Belichick’s decision to permit some uncertainty is understandable.

However, two of these players have emerged as early favorites for the QB1 role. Billy Edwards Jr. played at Maryland before transferring to Wisconsin, where he suffered a knee injury in 2025. With him fully fit in 2026, he is one of the projected favorites to land the QB1 role. Travis Burgess has no collegiate experience and played just two games in his senior season in high school. His early momentum comes mostly from his high school junior season, not from college snaps.

Less likely quarterbacks to be starting QB1

Au’Tori Newkirk, who has largely played as a backup, has yet to throw for 50 yards in college football, with 23 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. This contrasts with his high school record, in which he threw for 8,838 yards and 114 touchdowns, leading a 30-0 team.

O’Neil’s college resume is similarly limited: only 120 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions in two seasons. It stands in stark contrast with his senior year in high school, where he won the New Jersey Gatorade Player of the Year after throwing for 2,151 yards and 20 touchdowns.

High school starts barely matter in college football. But if Belichick is giving both Newkirk and O’Neil, and even Burgess, the benefit of the doubt, then it must be because of their brilliant high school records. Despite their being the least favorite, the training camp is a defining moment that may change everything for them.