Bill Belichick hired a coordinator who had never run a full NFL season on his own. That decision cost the North Carolina Tar Heels dearly last year. According to Tar Heel Blog, the program brought in Gio Lopez, a quarterback who thrives as a runner, but then forced him into a pocket-passing role. The result was a wasted season that could have been a championship run with the right leadership.
The Wrong Scheme for the Right Player
Gio Lopez is not a traditional passer. He is a runner who waits to see where the space opens up. At South Alabama, he gained 50 yards on his longest run and moved the chains 40 times out of 101 attempts. According to Tar Heel Blog, Lopez achieved six rushes exceeding 20 yards within 101 attempts. The issue was not his talent but the system around him. Belichick admitted the team did not run player-led practices because the playbook was too new. This left a runner with no room to operate.
Why Petrino Changes the Math
Bobby Petrino would have built an offense that fits Lopez’s actual strengths. He would have let the quarterback run after the first read instead of forcing three downfield checks. The writer at Tar Heel Blog argues that removing Freddie Kitchens was an upgrade, but adding Petrino would have been a massive win. Kitchens had only been a full-time coordinator twice, both times as an interim. He failed as a head coach in Cleveland. Petrino knows how to win with mobile quarterbacks. The math suggests a different outcome if the play calls matched the player.
Four Wins on the Table
The question remains how many games this change would have flipped. Tar Heel Blog suggests that Petrino could have turned a losing season into a winning one. The vision and space Lopez needs were missing from the game plan. Three reads after the snap left no room for Lopez to exploit. A coach who understands this would have kept the defense guessing. The potential for four extra wins sits right there in the stats. It is a simple fix that the coaching staff missed entirely.
Sources: Tar Heel Blog (SBN UNC)
