(Note: Below is video of Quiron Johnson’s full interview following Friday’s practice)

CHAPEL HILL – High school star ratings generally don’t matter once football players arrive on their respective college campuses. It quickly is all about development and performance. Those who can and are move forward, those who aren’t lag behind.

In essence, it’s all about opportunity, which is how Quiron Johnson viewed things when he accepted a preferred walk-on offer by North Carolina’s previous coaching staff in 2017. It was an opportunity, and he took it.

Nearly five years later, Johnson is on scholarship and one of the more important offensive linemen for a team that was one of the best offensively in the nation last season and could be even more potent this fall. UNC also has a chance at breaking through nationally, and the guy Johnson snaps the ball to in practice is one of the leading candidates for the Heisman Trophy.

That’s a mouthful.

“First of all, it’s amazing,” Johnson said, when asked about his process in getting to this point. “I thank all the coaches I’ve had to get me into this position from the old coaching staff to now. All of them, they gave me the tools, they taught me what to do.”

Now, 5-star and 4-star kids do arrive with expectations from the staff. There’s a reason they were highly prioritized during their recruitment. But any player that stands out will get noticed, and in the end, this is a performance-based environment, so if you can play the staff will put you on the field.

“Little by little - my freshman year I didn’t play much – I started getting reps, I started building trust with everybody, (and) I started honing in on my skills to get better to where I’m at today,” Johnson said.

Johnson was UNC’s second offensive lineman off the bench a year ago, of course depending on the need. He can play guard or center, and by the time Carolina’s season concluded, Johnson had played 268 offensive snaps, plus he was on some special teams.

This month, he has worked with the first team at center as senior Brian Anderson gets back into form after missing time with an injury. It is conceivable Johnson starts the season-opener at Virginia Tech on Sept. 3.

Ironically, it was against the Hokies when Johnson realized he could play at this level. He remembers the moment well.

“It was probably my redshirt freshman year,” Johnson said. “We were playing (Virginia Tech) and it was a white out night, and (then offensive line) Coach (Chris Kapilovic) Kap was like, ‘Q, get ready, you’re about to go in.’

“And it was a game-winning drive to win the game, and I was like, ‘What,’ and he threw me in. At that moment I did really good, and I was like, ‘Maybe I can do this with the rest of the guys I was playing with.’”

Carolina lost that game in 2018 after the Hokies scored a touchdown with 19 seconds remaining, but it was still a sweet experience for the 6-foot-2, 325-pounder from Reidsville, NC.

“It was great,” he said. “My momma was there, my little brother was there. I had a couple of friends at the game. They were screaming, they were going crazy… It was a great experience.”

Yet, that reward almost didn’t happen.

Johnson needed convincing from his high school coach, Jimmy Teague. He saw in Johnson what few kids from the area possessed. But Johnson still wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” Johnson said he thought to himself. But his coaches persisted.

“You’re good enough to go play,” Teague told Johnson.

So, Teague spoke with Johnson’s mother, Angela Johnson, and their advice was for Quiron to take the preferred walk-on offer and make the best of it.

“If you don’t play you don’t play,” he was told, “but at least get your degree.”

And since then?

“I came, worked hard, and everything started falling into place,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Now I’m here.’ I’m blessed, really.”

In January, Johnson was awarded a scholarship. So not only had he proven he could play at this level and has a college degree in his back pocket, but now he can continue his education as a scholarship athlete.

“I was in front of the team, and coach Mack (Brown) called me in there and told me he called my momma, he told her first, and then he told me,” Johnson said, wearing a satisfying grin on his face. “I told the team, everybody (came) up, they were grabbing on me, hugging me. I had people pushing me and stuff.

“It was fun.”

And so is playing football, something Johnson has done increasingly well, and now he has a vital role on one of the nation’s top offenses.

Storybook or not, Johnson’s tale at UNC is yet another example that all one needs is an opportunity. Something Johnson has made the most of in Chapel Hill.