North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick. Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick, North Carolina shaking up the quarterback room for 2026

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Jan 6, 2026 10:06 PM ET

The North Carolina Tar Heels have added another quarterback to the roster for 2026, and he has interesting potential.

Bill Belichick has gone into the transfer portal to continue adding to that room after former starter Gio Lopez decided to leave Chapel Hill.

Lopez's decision came shortly after the Tar Heels landed Wisconsin transfer quarterback Billy Edwards.

Edwards will be a redshirt senior for UNC after playing just 34 snaps this past year due to a knee injury. Before Wisconsin, he played for the Maryland Terrapins for three seasons, starting multiple games. In 2024, as a full-time starter for Maryland, Edwards threw for 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Alongside Edwards, the Tar Heels have now added former Texas A&M quarterback Miles O'Neill via the transfer portal.

BREAKING: Texas A&M QB Miles O’Neill has Committed to North Carolina, he tells @On3Sports

The 6’5 225 QB was ranked as the No. 9 QB in the 2023 On300

He’ll have 3 years of eligibility lefthttps://t.co/RlUbB6Fk7q pic.twitter.com/rWIalOZa3Y
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) January 6, 2026

Out of the recruiting class of 2024, O’Neill was a four-star recruit from Marblehead, Massachusetts.

Miles O'Neill to transfer from Texas A&M Aggies to North Carolina Tar Heels

He was ranked as the No. 22 quarterback in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite, and he committed to Texas A&M out of high school.

O'Neill took a redshirt season in 2024, and this past season, he played sparingly. In eight games, he completed 12 of just 20 passes for 171 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He was a garbage-time quarterback for the Aggies, but he does have a ton of potential for Belichick and the Tar Heels.

“Big-framed quarterback who touts arguably the strongest arm in the 2024 cycle,” On3’s Charles Power wrote of O'Neill as a recruit.

It's now up to Belichick and his staff to try to bring out that potential. Rising redshirt freshman Au’tori Newkirk and incoming freshman Travis Burgess are also among the players UNC will have in its quarterback room in 2026.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

More must-reads: