Wednesday, December 20 is the first day Class of 2024 football prospects can make their intentions official as part of the early signing period. The Flames currently have 19 commitments in the class. Here’s an update on where things currently stand and what to expect to see on Wednesday.
VERBAL COMMITS
Liberty and Coach Chadwell got a big win back in the summer when QB JAYDEN BRADFORD committed to the Flames. He had offers from countless Power Five schools as well as a number of household names at the G5 level. Bradford, originally from South Carolina, decided to go with the Flames and head coach Jamey Chadwell and QB Coach Willy Korn.
Over the last two years at IMG Academy, while playing with and against some of the top high school competition in the country, Bradford completed 68% of his 228 passes for 2,504 yards, 37 touchdowns, and just 2 interceptions. He also had 65 rushes for 186 yards and 2 more scores while sporting an 18-1 record as the starting quarterback. He was rated by many recruiting services as a four-star prospect earlier in the summer, but he is now a consensus three-star commit.
The Flames’ first commitment in this class came back in April from three-star running back CADEN WILLIAMS. The three-star running back was offered by the new Liberty coaching staff in January, just a couple of weeks after taking the job in Lynchburg. Williams had offers from Georgia Tech, Boston College, East Carolina, Charlotte, Western Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, and others. Williams is a 5’11”, 205 pound running back from Calhoun High School and Calhoun, Georgia. He will add his name to a very talented group of running backs at Liberty that led the nation in rushing during 2023.
Liberty has two commitments at wide receiver in JONATHAN MONTEIRO and ERIC SMITH. Monteiro is a 6’3″, 185 pound wide receiver from Westwood, Massachusetts where he attends Xaverian Brothers High School. He also had offers from Bowling Green,Old Dominion, UAB, and others. Smith, a 5’10”, 170 pound athlete from Varina High School in Virginia, picked the Flames over offers from Virginia Tech, Maryland, Coastal Carolina, UConn, James Madison, East Carolina, Marshall, Old Dominion, Charlotte, and several others. The three-star rated prospect, Smith had previously announced a top five of Liberty, Virginia Tech, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, and Old Dominion.
Four offensive linemen have committed to Liberty in the Class of 2024, including three high school prospects. BLAKE HECKMAN is an offensive tackle from Maryville, Tennessee. Heckmann is a 6’6″, 290 pound prospect whose offer list includes Liberty, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, and others. REX LAHR was an early commit for the Flames, committing in April after visiting Lynchburg for the team’s spring game. He is a 6’3″, 270 pound offensive lineman from Pickerington, Ohio where he attends Pickerington North High School. Liberty was the first to offer Lahr. IZAIAH TAYLOR is a highly rated prospect for the Flames who committed over the summer. Taylor is a 6’5″, 280 pound offensive lineman from South Gwinnett High School and Snellville, Georgia. He sports a number of offers including from Mississippi State, Miami, UCF, Georgia State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, and others.
Earlier this month, Liberty added a commitment from JUCO offensive lineman ANDREW JOHNSON. Johnson is a 6’4″, 320 pound offensive lineman who began his career at Oregon State where he redshirted in 2022. Liberty offered him in September. He currently attends San Diego Mesa College and is originally from Poway, California. Out of high school he had offers from Oregon State, Kansas, and New Mexico State.
At tight end, Liberty has commitments from ELI SISSON and CONNIE (DUCE) HEWITT. Sisson is a 6’4″, 220 pound tight end from Collierville, Tennessee. He has nearly 30 offers and a group that includes East Carolina, West Virginia, Miami (OH), Temple, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, Charlotte, Army, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Jacksonville State, Rice, Rutgers, Troy, UAB, UCF, UNLV, and others. Hewitt is a 6’4″, 255 pound tight end from Oakland High School and Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He has offers from Western Kentucky, Troy, Middle Tennessee, and several others. Hewitt has spent much of his high school career as an offensive lineman, but he looks to play tight end at the next level.
KRISTYANE GREGORY is a high school teammate of Liberty RB commit Caden Williams. Gregory is from Calhoun, Georgia and Calhoun, High School. He is a 6’4″ defensive lineman with offers from Memphis, Western Kentucky, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Troy, and others.
The Flames have also been very active seeking transfers to help strengthen the defensive line for 2024, picking up commitments from ROD DANIELS, ALVIN WILLIAMS, and ELI HALL. Daniels is a 6’2″, 260 pound defensive lineman that comes to Liberty as a JUCO transfer. He chose the Flames over offers that included Arkansas State, Georgia State, New Mexico State, and Utah State. Williams, also a JUCO transfer, committed to Liberty over several offers that includes Charlotte, UConn, Marshall, Troy, and UAB. Hall is a former four-star recruit from North Carolina that became one of the highest rated prospects to sign at Wake Forest. After two years of limited to no playing time for the Demon Deacons, Hall follows the path of former Wake Forest RB Quinton Cooley and looks to make a home at Liberty.
Liberty has a commitment from linebacker KAIDON WHIDBY. Whidby is a 6’1″, 225 pound linebacker from Jasper County High School in Monticello, Georgia. He has offers from Georgia State, Eastern Michigan, and others. After a standout senior season, Whidby is now the highest rated prospect for Liberty in this class, even surpassing the QB Bradford.
The Flames have also added a commitment from East Carolina transfer LB TEYLOR JACKSON. Jackson should compete for a starting position in 2024. Jackson had offers from a number of schools after entering the portal, including Arizona State, UCF, WKU, and UTSA. Jackson has one year of eligibility remaining. He started all 12 games for the Pirates last year, finishing with 52 tackles, 1 sack, 4 PBUs, 3 QB hurries, and a forced fumble.
The Flames have a commitment from RONALD MOORE, a talented corner from Griffin, Georgia where he attends Spalding High School. He has offers from Georgia Southern, Troy, Central Michigan, Akron, Miami (OH), Charlotte, JMU, UAB, Appalachian State, Georgia State, Old Dominion, Navy, Tulane, Middle Tennessee, Bowling Green, Western Michigan, North Dakota State, and others.
One of Moore’s good friends is DEVIN HENDERSON. Henderson committed to Liberty this summer after taking a visit to Lynchburg. Appalachian State made a hard push for him, but Henderson chose Liberty over the Mountaineers and more than 20 total offers. Henderson is a 5’10”, 175 pound athlete from Cass High School and Cartersville, Georgia.
Liberty has also added a commitment from JUCO defensive back ELDRIC GRIFFIN who is expected to play safety for the Flames but also has some experience at corner. Griffin is a 6’2″, 205 pound defensive back, likely to play safety for the Flames. He began his career at Mississippi State in 2021 where he redshirted. He has offers from Kennesaw State, Louisiana Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, FAU, New Mexico, Western Kentucky, Sam Houston, UMass, Utah State, and several FCS schools. He has already taken official visits to Utah State and Jacksonville State. In 9 games played at Tyler JUCO this season, he recorded 31 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 pass breakups.
That’s 19 commitments for the Flames heading into Wednesday’s signing period opening.
OTHERS TO WATCH
There are a few other names to keep an eye on that Liberty has a good shot at landing – Donte Lee, Jayden McDonald, and Seneca Moore. This trio has all visited Liberty in recent days and appear to be strongly considering the Flames.
Lee is a transfer wide receiver with three years of eligibility remaining. He is a 6’3″, 180 pound athlete that entered the portal from Division II Shaw University. Lee has approximately 30 offers since entering the portal in late November. His offer list included NC State, UCF, Iowa State, West Virginia, James Madison, Boston College, Old Dominion, Washington State, UTSA, Marshall, USF, Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, and several more. He took official visits to Liberty, NC State, and UConn.
McDonald entered the portal following the conclusion of the 2023 season, transferring from Sun Belt champion Troy. He led the Trojans in tackles with 75 and 9.5 TFLs in 13 games played this season. The 6’2″, 220 pound linebacker began his collegiate career at Iowa where he redshirted and did not play in 2018 before transferring to Troy. He was second on the team with 67 tackles in his first season at Troy during the 2020 campaign. In 2020, McDonald was the No. 7 rated linebacker in the entire country by ProFootballFocus, earning 67 tackles and four tackles-for-loss in 11 games.
Moore is a 6’1″, 210 pound linebacker prospect from Lakewood High School and Sumter, South Carolina where he recorded 68 tackles, 27 TFLs, and 9 sacks this past year. He has offers from Boston College, Middle Tennessee, Georgia State, Miami (OH), Charlotte, Tulane, Old Dominion, and others. On3 Sports ranks Moore as a three-star rated prospect.
Several other prospects have visited Liberty over the past couple of weeks but have yet to publicly make their decision known. This group includes Oshae Baker, Cam Wright, LT Welch, Jordan Smith, Gyriece Goodman, and Jahmar Brown.
Stay tuned to ASeaofRed.com, your #1 source for Liberty Flames recruiting info. Be sure to save our football verbal commit page for the full run down of the commits. Also, give us a follow on twitter where many times recruiting news is first broken. Just a reminder for ASOR Club members, be sure to keep tabs on the Rumor Mill this week, as always
