Wake Forest aims to find ‘best version’ of Gio Lopez after disappointing UNC stint
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Gio Lopez remembers his first time meeting his Wake Forest teammates.
It was a chilly January morning in Winston-Salem. The sun was hours from cresting over the horizon, but head coach Jake Dickert was already blasting music from the McCreary Football Complex.
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Players were passing the time before the 6 a.m. meeting by playing one-on-one basketball in the team room.
Dickert was lacing up his sneakers right along with them.
“It just brings you in, it makes you want to be comfortable fast,” Lopez said during Wake Forest’s ACC Kickoff availability. “It feels like family.”
In his first season at Wake Forest, Lopez is embracing a familiar offensive scheme and a fresh start for a team he believes is on the doorstep of an ACC title.
Lopez arrived in Winston-Salem in January, joining a Demon Deacons squad fresh off a nine-win campaign, their best year since a record 11-win season in 2021.
Dickert said he recruited Lopez because he’s comfortable operating Wake Forest’s offense.
“I’ve been impressed with Gio’s ability, not just on the field, but his willingness to come onto our football field and lead from the front,” Dickert said.
Having a previous bond with Wake Forest offensive coordinator Rob Ezell, the team’s playcaller, helps, too.
Ezell was Lopez’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at South Alabama, where he played for two seasons in 2023 and 2024. Ezell was integral in recruiting him out of James Clemens High School in Madison, Alabama.
“I just think (Ezell) knows me, he’s bought into me, learned me,” Lopez said. “He does a great job getting the best out of everybody.”
Dickert called Lopez one of the most experienced quarterbacks in the nation. The signal caller’s success at South Alabama was one of the primary reasons Dickert picked Ezell to be his offensive coordinator.
He’s confident he can unlock Lopez’s full potential.
“I believe in the best version of Gio Lopez, period,” Dickert said. “And we can recreate that.”
Lopez’s career started in strong fashion at South Alabama.
He was named the 68 Ventures Bowl MVP in his first career start at South Alabama, the first bowl victory in program history.
Lopez went on to start every game for the Jaguars in 2024, finishing with 2,557 yards and 18 touchdowns.
Then Bill Belichick came calling. Lopez had the chance to start for a revamped Tar Heels squad led by one of the greatest football minds to grace the sport.
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It was a season mired by on-field disappointment and off-field drama. UNC’s offense ranked 120th in the nation and barely eclipsed 19 points per game.
His time with the Tar Heels seemed to be doomed from the start.
Lopez was pulled during the third quarter of the Tar Heels’ season opener against TCU because of a back injury he suffered in a car accident a few days earlier.
A knee injury forced a couple other early exits. Despite making 10 starts, his production was nearly cut in half.
After one season at UNC, he hopped in the transfer portal for the second time in a year. Lopez has expressed his qualms with Belichick’s militant locker room culture.
But he wouldn’t change a thing.
“I learned a lot from them,” Lopez said. “Ebbs and flows happened, and I didn’t get to perform how I wanted, but the opportunity to play there was awesome.”
Lopez said there’s no bad blood between him and UNC. When he saw Belichick during ACC Kickoff week, he said he gave him a “big old hug.”
“If I was back in spring 2025 I would’ve done it again,” Lopez said. “Playing for coach Belichick was an opportunity that not a lot of people would have passed up.”
But there are parts of his game he couldn’t utilize in Chapel Hill.
Lopez was a dual-threat quarterback at South Alabama, running for 435 yards and seven touchdowns during his 2024 starting season.
His rushing production plunged to just 133 yards at North Carolina.
“I know coach Ezell is going to put me in more running situations and let me be an athlete, so I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Dickert is hoping Lopez can help push Wake Forest to compete in a crowded ACC Championship field.
He’ll be bolstered by a defense returning eight starters and returning wide receivers Carlos Hernandez and Jack Foley.
After a disappointing 2025 campaign, Lopez said he’s happy to be in a position he’s comfortable in – and most importantly – having fun again.
“It’s been awesome to be in that building,” he said, “to work out with all the guys that just love football.”
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