CHAPEL HILL — UNC football coach Bill Belichick continues to evaluate the quarterbacks with just under two weeks remaining until the Tar Heels open the season against TCU in Ireland.
Belichick isn’t ready to name a starter for Week 0 against the Horned Frogs as Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill, Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards and freshman Travis Burgess continue to compete for that spot.
Overall, Belichick said, “the team’s starting to separate a little bit” with some players getting more reps than others. But the Tar Heels haven’t settled that debate at quarterback.
“I don’t think there’s a leader in the clubhouse, but it’s been very competitive,” Belichick said on Friday, Aug. 14, inside the Kenan Football Center during his third press conference of fall camp.
“They’ve all had a lot of really good moments and a couple that they’d probably like to have back, like a lot of us do. … Certainly, overall on the team, we have guys that have made their move and are getting more playing time. There’s other guys that have to do more to earn that. But the quarterback position is very competitive.”
Media members have been allowed to watch 20 minutes each at three practices since fall camp started on July 30. In each of those viewing periods, O’Neill has taken first-team reps in drills, including Aug. 14, during the Tar Heels’ practice inside Kenan Stadium.
Asked about a timeline regarding the quarterback competition, Belichick said “there’s no deadline” in place to name QB1.
“There’s no deadline,” Belichick said. “. … We’ll evaluate those and try to figure out the best thing for the team.”
Bill Belichick describes Tom Brady’s ‘most important’ trait in discussing UNC QBs
As Belichick and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino continue to evaluate the Tar Heels’ options at quarterback, there are certain things they need to see from the potential starter.
It’s something Belichick consistently saw from seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who won six titles as quarterback of the New England Patriots. Described by Belichick as “the greatest quarterback in NFL history,” Brady was elite at limiting negative plays.
“As great as Tom was – and he was great, he made a lot of great plays – but the most important thing he did was he eliminated the bad ones,” Belichick said.
That was a struggle for UNC’s offense last season, which couldn’t shake pre-snap penalties or negative situations, contributing to a 4-8 record.
“As great as (Brady) was, the plays that stick out to me are the lack of negative ones,” Belichick said.
“Or the negative ones that he kept us out of when I made a bad call or put ‘em in a situation where this protection wasn’t very good against the blitz they were showing and he found a way to get rid of the ball or change the protection so we could block it. Eliminating negative plays is probably more important than making the spectacular ones.”
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: Bill Belichick updates UNC football QB competition as fall camp winds down