Does UNC football have leader in QB battle? Bill Belichick gives update

UNC football coach Bill Belichick will continue to weigh his four options at quarterback when the Tar Heels begin official practice on Thursday, July 30.

During UNC’s “Practice Like A Pro” day in April 2025, Ryan Browne and Bryce Baker took a majority of the snaps in an intersquad scrimmage at Kenan Stadium. Neither player took a snap over the course of the Tar Heels’ 12-game schedule, with Browne returning to Purdue and Baker sitting behind Gio Lopez, Max Johnson and Au’Tori Newkirk on the depth chart. 

Newkirk is the lone returner in a retooled quarterback room as UNC begins preparation to rebound from a 4-8 debut season under Belichick. 

Lopez transferred to in-state rival Wake Forest, Johnson made the move to Georgia Southern and Baker joined James Franklin at Virginia Tech. UNC brought in two transfers at QB and added a highly-touted freshman recruit to join Newkirk. 

"We’ll see how the competition goes with all four of those guys. They all have strong points, they all have some things to offer," Belichick said Friday, July 17, at ACC Kickoff during the league's preseason media days.

". ... Now that they have a good spring under their belt of 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 with competition in training camp and then into the season. We’ll see how they all do.” 

Belichick went on to say "everybody's kind of gotten an equal opportunity and we’ll see how things sort out now as we get closer to the season," so the starting job up for grabs as the Tar Heels track toward their season opener on Aug. 29 against TCU in Ireland.

"I’d say there’s no leader in the clubhouse right now," Belichick said. "Everybody’s out on the course."

Here’s a breakdown of the four quarterbacks competing for Belichick's Tar Heels in Year 2.

Billy Edwards Jr., Wisconsin transfer 

Rocking a red No. 9 jersey during UNC’s opening day of spring practice in March, Edwards could be the favorite to land the starting job for Belichick’s second squad in Chapel Hill. The 6-foot-3, 228-pound graduate student is a Wisconsin transfer who played two games for the Badgers before his season was cut short because of a left knee injury.

As Belichick noted on Friday, "Billy was one of the top passers in the Big Ten a few years ago" before that injury. In 11 games as a starter for the Maryland Terrapins in 2024, Edwards was second in the Big Ten with an average of 261.9 passing yards per game. He finished with 2,881 yards, 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. 

Miles O’Neill, Texas A&M transfer 

O’Neill looks the part as a 6-foot-5, 220-pound redshirt sophomore from Massachusetts. He appeared in seven games as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M, totaling 120 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. O’Neill was a four-star recruit out of Hun High School and was named the 2023 Gatorade Player of the Year in New Jersey. 

"Miles was one of the top recruits out of the Hun school," Belichick said. ". … This is an opportunity for him with a clean slate, with nobody established here as our starting quarterback to compete with the job.”

Au’Tori Newkirk, UNC football sophomore 

The lone returner at QB for Belichick, Newkirk knows what to expect as a signal-caller at UNC despite his inexperience. He appeared in two games as a freshman, finishing the year on a high note with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Owens at N.C. State. Newkirk totaled 14 snaps in 2025, per Pro Football Focus.

Travis Burgess, UNC football freshman 

A 6-foot-4, 193-pound true freshman from Georgia, Burgess is a high-profile recruit who attended Grayson High School and participated in the prestigious Elite 11 Finals for the nation’s top high school QBs. Following a surgery in September 2025 to repair a right-knee injury, Burgess wasn’t wearing a knee brace and didn’t appear to be hindered by any issues during the 15-minute portion of spring practice open to media members on March 24.

"Travis participated in spring ball on a limited basis, but he’s had a good follow-up to the end of the spring and the summer workouts," Belichick said. "He’s doing fine."

Burgess is among the nearly 40 freshmen UNC signed in its 2026 recruiting class. As a four-star recruit with high expectations, his development will be something to monitor throughout the offseason. 

Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to rbaxley@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Does UNC football have leader in QB battle? Bill Belichick gives update