CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s Billy Edwards Jr. is no stranger to quarterback competitions.

Or winning them.

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Entering his sixth collegiate season, Edwards earned the No. 1 QB job for the Tar Heels, marking the third consecutive season he’s won the starting role at a different school. He was the starter at Maryland in 2024 and won the Wisconsin starting job in 2025 before a season-ending injury.

Edwards’ experience and consistency set him apart in the competition with Miles O’Neill, Au’Tori Newkirk and Travis Burgess. The Tar Heels open their season Saturday, Aug. 29 against TCU in Dublin, Ireland.

“The biggest thing for me was just putting my head down and knowing that it’s not going to be one day, it’s not going to be one snap, one play,” Edwards said. “The big word that I kind of repeated to myself was consistency. Just knowing that whether I had a good day or a bad day, it’s not going to last. You got to show up tomorrow and continue to do the same thing, continue to put your best foot forward.”

Edwards started his career at Wake Forest in 2021, but he didn’t play. He spent three seasons at Maryland, playing sparingly in 2022 and 2023 before earning the starting job in 2024. He threw for 2,881 yards and 15 touchdowns in 11 games for the Terrapins. He transferred to Wisconsin for his fifth season, but suffered an injury in the season opener, returned for one game later in the year and missed the rest of the season with a sprained knee ligament, having thrown just 16 passes.

In the transfer portal again, the 23-year-old Edwards was looking for a place that gave him “an opportunity to grow.”

“Working for a coach like [offensive coordinator] Coach [Bobby] Petrino and playing for a coach like [head] Coach [Bill] Belichick, those were obviously the two biggest factors for me,” Edwards said.

He said the coaches didn’t promise him a job. The Tar Heels brought in O’Neill, who Petrino had recruited to Texas A&M, and signed Burgess, a touted high school recruit. Edwards worked: to rehab his injured knee and to learn another offense.

Edwards has been out of a brace since spring practice, not using one during summer workouts or training camp. And he made 1,000 flashcards to drill in Petrino’s plays and concepts. His dad was a longtime high school football coach. His mom still teaches.

“I got a blend of those two,” Edwards said, copping to stealing his mom’s school supplies to best prepare.

“It’s kind of humbling when you come in the beginning and you get new terminology and you get a new playbook,” he said. “But I find it really fun. I find it really enjoyable.”

Edwards' approach to the game certainly meshed with Belichick, who has talked often about the need for his quarterback to eliminate negative plays. In last year’s 48-14 loss to TCU in Belichick’s first game, the Horned Frogs had an interception return and a fumble return for touchdowns. UNC had 15 turnovers last season, including 12 in losses.

“The only way we can go forward is by not going backwards,” said Edwards, who had nine interceptions in 2024. “Just really eliminating the negative plays, just trying to consistently put us in the best looks possible, whether it’s check runs or getting us out of a play.”

That’s where Edwards' experience helped give him the upper hand.

“He knows how to go through his reads,” linebacker Derek McDonald said. “Even in seven-on-seven in the summer, when we would just be out there, he would mess with the linebackers, try to move us off the spot a little bit. He’s played a lot of football and he’s an experienced quarterback and a lot of guys will have confidence being around him.”