Bill Belichick has his work cut out for him during his first college football season as head coach at North Carolina. The Tar Heels had to rebuild the majority of their roster during the offseason and that starts with the most important position on the field, quarterback.
Our first look at the signal-callers in Chapel Hill during spring ball does not reflect well on the immediate future of the program.
Let’s be very clear here. One 35-second video from one drill during one practice will not determine the success of UNC during the 2025 college football season. All of the guys featured in the video could become certified studs. This time of year allows for players to work out the kinks. They will get better in time.
But with that being said, I was/am astonished to see just how badly some of these guys were missing their target from no more than 10 feet out. It was, uh, rough.
A look at #UNC’s QB going through throwing drills… pic.twitter.com/yJc7ySArLX
— Grant Hughes (@GrantHughesNC) March 5, 2025
As things currently stand, Bryce Baker, Ryan Browne and Max Johnson seem to be the frontrunners for the starting job. The three-way battle could be narrowed down to two or increase to four depending on how things go over the next few weeks.
Baker is a four-star freshman who initially committed to Mack Brown. He chose to stick with Belichick and became the first official commit of the new era.
Browne, a former three-star prospect, began his career at Purdue. He completed 55 of 92 pass attempts (59.8%) for 636 yards and four touchdowns with four interceptions in two seasons. He also ran the ball 71 times for 240 yards.
Johnson is the wildcard, which is kind of a hilarious thing to say about a rising sixth-year senior who began his career in 2020. The 23-year-old suffered a season-ending leg injury in the third quarter of the season-opener last August. A timeline for his full return is unclear but he is on the right track.
He’s still limited, but he’s definitely getting better. We’ll take it day by day, but nobody’s put in more work than he has. We’ll see where that takes him, but he’s definitely making progress […]
It’s just a day by day process. If he has one good day, then he can do more the next day… If it doesn’t move along quite as quickly, we’ll slow it down until he can progress.
— Bill Belichick
Johnson wore a sleeve on his right leg and remained stationary during practice on Wednesday. Baker worked with the offensive line during sled drills and stood behind the center to simulate a game situation.
Bryce Baker working with the O-line during sled drills. Other QBs are doing footwork. pic.twitter.com/d2kFhN0GhG
— Michael Koh is on Bluesky (@michaelkohwchl) March 5, 2025
Meanwhile, Brown and the other quarterbacks worked on their footwork. Take from that what you will.
Bill Belichick is unwilling to even consider a potential starting quarterback at this point in the season, though it seems like Bryce Baker and Ryan Browne are way out in front of D.J. Mazzone, Andres Miyares Jr. and Hudson Willharm. Max Johnson could also get into the mix by fall camp. North Carolina could also choose to add another signal-caller through the transfer portal in April. To be determined.
Right now we’re focused on players that are here. And then whatever happens with the players coming in and portal players, we’ll deal with all that later.
— Bill Belichick
UNC will begin the 2025 college football season with a home game against TCU on Sept. 1. The quarterback situation is clearly up in the air. Clearly…