Bill Belichick is losing a pair of UNC football players to the transfer portal — including a quarterback who just arrived to the program in December.
Four months after transferring from Purdue, QB Ryan Browne is back in the portal as the Tar Heels target Gio Lopez, the South Alabama signal-caller who recently entered the portal.
UNC is also losing defensive lineman Beau Atkinson, according to multiple reports.
Atkinson recorded a team-high 7.5 sacks during the 2024 season.
Belichick has been on the field for spring practice recently as he gears up for his first season with UNC after joining the school in December, a move that sent shockwaves throughout the football world.
The 73-year-old, who left the Patriots after the 2023 season, did not get an NFL job and took on several media jobs in 2024 before jumping to the college ranks alongside his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, who is reportedly operating as his “de facto agent.”
In February, ESPN ranked North Carolina’s recruiting class 45th in the nation for this year and labeled the Tar Heels as the “biggest riser,” having added 17 incoming freshman plus two transfers.
It was considered a major win that Belichick was able to convince previous high school commit Bryce Baker, a top-200 quarterback, to stay with the program.
Last month, NFL great Larry Fitzgerald’s son Devin, also a wide receiver, said he received a scholarship offer from Belichick.