The transfer portal officially opens on Monday as players across the country in college football will begin officially entering their name into the portal. Liberty has already seen some names enter and are expected to see even more.
The portal opens Dec. 9 and remains open for 20 days, ending on Dec. 28. There is then a spring window which begins April 16 and lasts 10 days, ending April 25. Like all other teams, Liberty will be navigating the portal with final eye on having the total roster at the roster limit of 105 players, including both scholarship and walk-on players.
The Flames signed 14 high school prospects as part of last week’s National Signing Day and have now turned their attention to JUCO transfers and players that will be in the portal.
One position Liberty will be very aggressive on is at quarterback where the Flames are looking for a new starting quarterback after Kaidon Salter has entered the portal following his two seasons as the team’s starter. Ryan Burger and Jayden Bradford remain, both with multiple years of eligibility remaining, but Chadwell says he wants to bring in at least one, maybe two, transfer quarterbacks to add competition to the position.
“I think we have to just because you don’t have anybody really on your roster now that has played a lot,” Chadwell said of going after a quarterback in the portal. “You would like to have somebody that has played some to come in for competition. We are actively pursuing that. We’ll go after one for sure, hopefully somebody that has played, has some experience, and can come in and battle our guys that are here. I think we’ve got some good guys that are here already, but injuries and different things, you can’t have enough.”
Running back is another position that will be looked at in the portal. Liberty led the nation in rushing in 2023 and ranked second nationally this past season, but the Flames lose Quinton Cooley, Billy Lucas, and James Jointer from that room. The coaching staff has been actively adding talent to the running back group the past two years, with Vaughn Blue, Victor Venn, and Caden Williams all set to return. The team will add in true freshmen Jaylon Coleman and Malachi Fannin-Render. Having an elder statesman in the room could certainly help with experience at the position.
At offensive line, Liberty will have to find replacements for starters Xavior Gray and Jordan White as well as reserve linemen who played significantly in 2024 in Jordan Hall and JP Flores.
The Flames would like to upgrade the talent of their receivers, especially with veterans at the position as that was a weakness on the team this past season. Corner is another position of need in the portal.
