By Jerry Ratcliffe

Virginia quarterback Chandler Morris debunked a story that came out a few weeks ago that he was rejected by North Carolina when he decided to transfer out of North Texas.

According to Bruce Feldman, Stewart Mandel and Brendan Marks of “The Athletic,” Morris was interested in playing for Belichick at UNC, but the Tar Heels’ general manager Michael Lombardi turned Morris down.

In that Athletic story, “Lombardi was already making the decisions when it came to overhauling UNC’s roster. He didn’t want Morris, who was about 6-feet, 190 pounds, and did not have the strongest arm. Purdue’s Ryan Brown, a 6-4, 210-pounder who had started two games for a 2-10 Boilers team, better fit the mold he and Belichick were seeking. Lombardi didn’t hold back letting UNC’s personnel staffers, a mix of holdovers and new hires, know why.

“You just don’t understand what it takes to play in the National Football League,” Lombardi told staffers, according to a person briefed on the conversation, who, like more than 20 people interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity about their experiences of private conversations and decision-making within the program.”

During game-week interviews with Belichick and Morris, both refuted the report.

“I don’t really know what the source on that was,” Belichick said when asked about the Morris story. “We didn’t have any contact with Chandler Morris. You know, we spoke to his agent. I mean, I really don’t know what the source of that was. His agent didn’t know anything about it, we didn’t know anything about it. So, it sounds like just making up stories.”

Morris didn’t have a clue about the report either when asked Tuesday if he talked to Carolina when he was in the portal.

“I didn’t personally, so I’ve never spoken to [Lombardi]. So I don’t know what all that was about,” Morris said. “Yeah, that was interesting, but that was news to me.”

Morris said he thought that teammate Noah Josey may have brought it to his attention.

“It was bye week and [Josey] sent it to me,” Morris added. “I don’t have Twitter or anything, so I thought that was interesting.”

UNC went on to sign South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez to a reported two-year, $4 million NIL deal. Lopez has struggled this season, as have the Tar Heels, who are 2-4, 0-2 in the ACC.

Morris has been spectacular as No. 16 Virginia’s starting quarterback, passing for 1,607 yards and rushing for 191. He has completed 68.7 percent of his 211 pass attempts for 11 touchdowns, and has rushed for 4 scores.