The move to Wake Forest represents more than just a change of scenery for Lopez; it’s a search for a specific environment he felt was missing at UNC. In his first comments since the transfer, he sheds light on what he was looking for and why the Demon Deacons provided the answer.

The upcoming season isn’t just a senior year for Gio Lopez but an opportunity to get his true self back that he seemed to leave behind at Hancock Whitney. The 5’11 QB made his move early in this regard, leaving Bill Belichick’s UNC to join Wake Forest for better suitability. Speaking at a presser amid the Demon Deacons’ Spring Practice, Lopez raved about Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert’s role and the overall family vibes around the program as the substantial reasons for him to commit to the team.

“It’s a lot easier when the team goes nine and four the year before, but also just coach Dickert also played a big part in my decision,” he said. “Just the culture, the way they run the team, not just the offense, but the team. It’s just a real good culture here. People want to be here.”

“We’re in a day now where college football feels like a business. But I feel like, here it’s just back to like playing football, being family. So, that was really like a big call for me as well. Of course, coaching was a big help as well,” he added further.

The decline was stark for Lopez: after a career year at South Alabama with 2,559 passing yards and 18 touchdowns, his production at North Carolina plummeted to just 1,747 yards and 10 scores.

Lopez had some bright stretches in which he helped his team win with ease. For instance, the Syracuse game, where he passed 216 yards and recorded 2 touchdowns in a 27-10 win. But those stretches were fairly inconsistent with the Tar Heels’ overall offensive approach. The former UNC QB himself had spoken of this issue of coming together as a team as one of the major hurdles in Belichick’s locker room.

“I think for us it was just like the last two weeks, where we’re like we got to just get in the end zone. We got to get in the end zone. Like, we’re playing good football,” said Lopez following the Syracuse game last season. “We just didn’t capitalize. We’re not finishing plays. We’re not finishing in the red zone. So I think for us it was a good job to finally start finishing in the red zone, and you know, putting up more than just a field goal. And I think in the locker room, it just felt like it was ourselves… we just did a good job.”

On top of that, Belichick’s bid to bring in more QBs from the transfer portal, including Billy Edwards Jr., narrowed his role on the team, which seemed to be a plausible reason for his departure.

Yet Gio Lopez’s move to Wake Forest was technical, not driven by emotion, though. For Lopez, it’s the perfect program for him to make his season count under his former offensive coordinator at South Alabama, Rob Ezell. Additionally, playing under a “player’s coach” like Dickert will be quite a positive for Lopez, given the unity and lively atmosphere he has built around the program.

Wake Forest’s graph under Jake Dickert has been on the rise. As a veteran leader, Lopez has the potential to elevate the team’s performance. And the team’s initial practice session, featuring Lopez, also signifies a positive stride in that direction.

Wake Forest head coach Jake Dickert heaps praise on Gio Lopez amid Spring Practice

Lopez’s bonding season with the Wake Forest team and its head coach has begun. As Spring practice tipped off, reports suggested that Lopez has fit into the team’s mix quite well, with team training in full flow. And head coach Jake Dickert seems to be quite content with Lopez and the team’s seamless drills, so much so that he couldn’t help but vent out some of this praise in his press conference.

“I think I was really impressed with all of those guys, just the decisiveness, you can see it,” Dickert said in his media availability. “I thought even for the preparation that we put up to this point, the ball jump today, you could see the energy, you could see the focus. He walked into the building with that scowl in his face, I’m like, let’s go get it.”

Courtesy of his experience, it’s quite certain that the starting QB position will go to him in the upcoming season. With a more formidable offense in comparison to the Tar Heels, Wake Forest will most likely suit Lopez more and can possibly fulfill the quality of finishing in the end zone that he demands from his teammates.