What a Gio Lopez Offense Will Look Like for Wake Forest

Wake Forest will have a new man leading the offense this season. After a year of Robby Ashford under center, redshirt junior Gio Lopez takes over as the Deacs' quarterback. Despite a rough year under Bill Belichick at North Carolina, Wake Forest brings him comfort and stability as he is reunited with his offensive coordinator from South Alabama, Rob Ezell.

Lopez was one of the three players selected to speak at ACC Media Days. He talked about an abundance of subjects, but a common theme in his answers involved being a leader that this team needs heading into the season. Here are some of the major takeaways from Gio's comments and what fans can expect from him leading the offense heading into the season.

1-0 Mentality

One thing was clear right away: despite the Deacs coming off a strong season, Gio Lopez understands that nothing is given and the team has to work for every single victory.

"I think the thought process towards that is we're underdogs, but we're not worried about the rat poison of social media, what's the expectation. We just have to show up and be 1-0. If we can do that, then we'll be perfectly fine."

Keeping the underdog mentality is key for this team coming off a strong season. Nothing is given, and having a leader of the offense who understands that and has a week-by-week mentality is huge in running a stable offense.

Comfortability with the Offense

A big thing any offensive coordinator wants is a quarterback who feels comfortable and capable in their system. This is certainly a benefit for Gio as he heavily emphasizes the comfort he has in Rob Ezell's system.

"So being able to be -- from day one, being able to communicate the offense to other guys was a big factor instead of me being so worried about learning it for myself."

At South Alabama in 2025, Gio threw for 2,559 yards, completing 66% of his passes with an average of 8.2 yards per completion. He also used his legs to run for over 400 yards, something that was largely missing from his time at North Carolina.

This team needs Gio to be an accurate quarterback. It does not need to be flashy, but it has to be reliable to give this offense a needed boost from the inconsistent quarterback play a year ago. Being able to communicate the offense to his teammates seems like a good sign.

Lead the way, 3 🫡 pic.twitter.com/JhfQRZJsqm
— Wake Forest Football (@WakeFB) July 17, 2026

Lead by Example

Everyone knows that being a starting quarterback extends beyond just the plays on the field. The QB needs to be the leader of the offense and a vocal leader in the locker room. For Gio, this is done through leading by example to gain respect amongst his teammates.

"You can't ask for respect or have a vocal voice if you're not doing the right things. So making sure I'm doing all the right things. Then with me doing that, in February and March being able to be a little more vocal because they know I'm doing the right thing."

Gio understands that for people to listen to him and give him that leadership role, he has to show up every day and let his actions do the talking. This certainly seems like an effective way to lead and will hopefully lead to increased connectivity within the offense.

Despite the struggles last season at North Carolina, Gio seems to have a great mindset and understands what he needs to do to be successful at Wake Forest. I'm expecting Gio to have a huge boost in his performance being back with his former offensive coordinator and playing with a team he feels valued by and comfortable with.

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