North Carolina’s quarterback question appears to have an answer.
Per ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Billy Edwards Jr. is expected to start for UNC in the season opener against TCU in Dublin, giving the Tar Heels the veteran option they spent the offseason assembling.
That would put Edwards, a sixth-year quarterback, in line to take the first snap for a room that was completely reshaped after last season. UNC brought in two Power 4 transfers in Edwards and Miles O’Neill, added Travis Burgess, an Elite 11 quarterback out of high school, and kept returning backup Au’Tori Newkirk in the mix. When camp opened, all four were said to be competing for the job, and Bill Belichick said he did not have a timeline for naming a winner.
Edwards brings the most college experience of the group by a wide margin. He has one season of starting experience at Maryland in 2024, plus two years worth of 38 attempts in backup duty as an underclassman. His Maryland season had a few real moments, including a last-second win over USC and a close game against Indiana in Curt Cignetti’s first year there, but the numbers were ordinary: 65% completions, 2881 yards, 15 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
He also enters the year managing a knee injury suffered in Wisconsin’s season opener last year. Edwards chose not to have it surgically repaired, and reports around the program said it was clearly affecting him in spring camp before improving more recently.
Thamel’s reporting indicates the race was mainly between Edwards and O’Neill, which would leave O’Neill as the likely backup. Burgess, though, reportedly made a strong push and was forcing the older quarterbacks to keep answering. Even with Edwards seemingly getting the nod, his hold on the job could be tested quickly, especially with what Thamel described as “one of the toughest early-season schedules in all of college football.”
In Other News...
UNC Quarterback Decision Just Changed The Tar Heels' Week 1 Outlook
North Carolina has settled its quarterback situation for Week 1, and it comes with a little more certainty than the early buzz suggested. The Tar Heels announced that a sixth-year transfer will start against TCU, ending a competition that had appeared to tilt toward Miles O'Neill during the opening stretch of camp. Instead, the Wisconsin transfer won the job and now gets the first crack at leading the offense when the season opens.
O'Neill is still very much part of the conversation, though, and that matters for a team trying to smooth out the transition at the game's most important position. He is expected to be the backup and remains in the mix for playing time if the starter gets benched, so this is not necessarily a closed file so much as a first answer. For North Carolina, the bigger takeaway is that the Tar Heels can now start shaping Week 1 around a defined quarterback plan instead of a battle that had lingered into the final stretch. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Malone Is Sending UNC Fans A Tough Early Message
Michael Malone is stepping into Chapel Hill with the kind of message fans often hear when a new era begins, but do not always want to absorb: the work comes first, and the results have to grow from it. As he gets ready for his debut season at North Carolina, Malone is pushing a long-term approach built around daily improvement rather than treating a championship as something that should arrive on schedule. That matters at a program that has already lived through a rough stretch, including a first-round tournament exit that helped bring about the coaching change.
There is reason for optimism, though, because Malone also brings a track record of recruiting success and is expected to help UNC stack talent in the 2027 class. The bigger question is how quickly all of that can be turned into a team that looks like a title contender again. For Tar Heels fans, the early message is less about instant gratification and more about patience, even as the pieces for a stronger future begin to come together. [Read more 🡒]
UNCs Offseason Additions Still Havent Silenced This Doubt
ESPNs latest Bracketology update gave North Carolina a little less room to breathe, slotting the Tar Heels as an 8-seed after they had been projected as a 7-seed two months ago. It is a small drop on paper, but it fits the uneasy tone around a team that has tried to bolster its roster in the offseason while still searching for the kind of confidence that comes with being viewed as a more secure tournament bet.
UNC did add Angelo Brizzi, Cameron Fens and Sayon Keita, giving the roster a different look heading into the season and some reason for optimism. Even so, the broader conversation has not fully moved off the same question: whether those additions are enough to quiet doubts about where the Tar Heels sit in the bracket and how tough their path could be if they wind up in a loaded region. [Read more 🡒]