Wednesday, December 4 is the first day Class of 2025 football prospects can make their intentions official as part of the early signing period. The Flames currently have 13 commitments in the class. Here’s an update on where things currently stand and what to expect to see on Wednesday.
VERBAL COMMITS
Liberty did most of their work on this 2025 class back in the summer, securing several verbal commits and many of those are expected to sign this week.
QB Ethan Houck is a 6’4″, 205 pound quarterback from Brunswick High School and Brunswick, Maryland. As a junior last season, he completed 91 of 141 passes for 1,503 yards and 18 touchdowns. He also rushed 74 times for 825 yards and an additional 13 scores. Houck has picked up offers from Charlotte and several FCS schools. He is a three-star rated prospect, currently rated the No. 49 QB prospect in the country by On3Sports, the second highest QB grade among prospects currently committed to Group of Five schools.
RB Jaylon Coleman is a 5’8″, 150 pound prospect from Vandebilt Catholic High School and Houma, Louisiana. He projects as a running back and could be used by the Flames in a similar role to the way Aaron Bedgood was used during the 2023 season. Coleman was rated as a four-star prospect by both ESPN and Rivals when he committed to the Flames. ESPN still rates him as a four-star while the rest of the recruiting services have Coleman as a three-star prospect. He has a long list of others including Arkansas, Florida State, Mississippi State, Missouri, Ole Miss, Oregon, Pitt, SMU, Texas A&M, UCF, FAU, Louisiana Tech, Tulane, UTSA, and several others. According to 247Sports ratings, Coleman is the third highest rated high school recruit to commit to Liberty all-time.
RB Malachi Fannin-Render is a 5’8″, 180 pound running back from LaGrange High School in LaGrange, Georgia. He committed to the Flames over numerous offers including Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, UAB, Western Kentucky, and Troy. Liberty’s coaching staff first began recruiting Fannin-Render when they were at Coastal Carolina, offering him during the 2022 season. The staff quickly offered him after coming to Liberty and now Fannin-Render will make his way to Lynchburg with them. Fannin-Render has suffered from a couple of serious injuries earlier in his high school career including a broken collarbone and torn ACL, but he has been healthy for his senior season and is enjoying plenty of success.
WR Nas Newkirk is a three-star rated wide receiver from Greensboro, North Carolina and Dudley High School. The 6’2″, 185 pound athlete has offers from Liberty, Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, James Madison, Old Dominion, USF, and others. He previously announced a top 10 of Liberty, Charlotte, Appalachian State, Duke, East Carolina, Georgia, USF, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin. In June, Newkirk took official visits to Liberty, Duke, Virginia, and Virginia Tech, which those four schools were his finalists before announcing his commitment. In last season’s 14-1 campaign for the Panthers, Newkirk finished second on the team with 1,123 receiving yards and paced Dudley with 16 receiving touchdowns. Newkirk is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 23 prospect in the state of North Carolina and No. 144 rated wide receiver in the Class of 2025. He is the highest rated wide receiver to commit to Liberty.
WR Bryce Randolph is a three-star rated wide receiver from Wiregrass Ranch High School in Zephyrhills, Florida. He’s rated as a three-star prospect by both 247Sports and On3 Sports. He has offers from Liberty, Penn State, Boston College, Pitt, Temple, Coastal Carolina, Western Kentucky, Buffalo, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State, and several others. Randolph is 5’11” and 160 pounds.
OL Brandon Edozie is a 6’6″, 275 pound offensive lineman from Woodbridge, Virginia and Forest Park High School. He has offers from Liberty, Central Michigan, Buffalo, Temple, UConn, and others.
OL Gabe Smith is a 6’5″, 330 pound interior offensive line from Alpharetta, Georgia and Cambridge High School. The three-star prospect is rated as the 87th best interior offensive lineman in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports. He has offers from Liberty, Arkansas, Duke, Miami FL, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Indiana, USF, FAU, Georgia Southern, Arkansas State, Charlotte, Memphis, and others.
DE Jeff Hairston is a 6’3″, 220 pound defensive end from Rocky Mount, Virginia and Franklin County High School. He has offers from Liberty, Marshall, James Madison, Air Force, UConn, and several others.
DL Gavin Askew is a 6’4″, 245 pound defensive line prospect from Powder Springs, Georgia and Hillgrove High School. As a junior, Askew recorded 50 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, 1 forced fumble, and one pass breakup. He has offers from UConn, East Carolina, Temple, Western Kentucky, Air Force, Army, Delaware, Ball State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Delaware, Kennesaw State, Miami Ohio, and others.
DE Sam Cohen is a 6’3″, 245 pound defensive end from Richmond, Virginia where he attends Huguenot High School. He is rated as a three-star prospect by all the national recruiting services. 247Sports lists him as the No. 20 prospect in Virginia in the Class of 2025 while Rivals ranks him as No. 26 in the state for his class and On3 has him as No. 27 in the state. Cohen has a long list of offers including Georgia, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Michigan State, Boston College, Cincinnati, Kentucky, NC State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Louisville, East Carolina, Marshall, and others. Liberty offered the talented prospect last September. With an overall rating of .8689 on 247, Cohen is one of the highest rated recruits of all time to commit.
DB Myke Gunn is a 6’3″, 180 defensive back from Auburn High School in Auburn, Alabama. He is a three-star rated prospect with offers from Liberty, West Virginia, Appalachian State, FAU, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville State, East Carolina, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, Marshall, UAB, USF, and others.
DB Uriah Points is a 5’10”, 170 pound defensive back from Grayson High School and Loganville, Georgia. He has offers from Liberty, Auburn, Indiana, West Virginia, Arizona State, Pitt, Boston College, BYU, Appalachian State, Memphis, Coastal Carolina, UConn, Georgia State, Marshall, UAB, Western Kentucky, Jacksonville State, Middle Tennessee, Delaware, and others.
DB Davion Dean was the first to announce his commitment to Liberty in this class. He is a 6’1″, 185 pound athlete from Glen St Mary, Florida and Baker County Senior High School. He has offers from Liberty, Iowa State, UCF, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Charlotte, UConn, FAU, Georgia Southern, Western Kentucky, USF, and others.
In total, this is the best group of high school prospects Liberty has ever assembled for one class. It currently consists of the third (Coleman), fourth (Houck), seventh (Cohen), eighth (Newkirk), 12th (Smith), 15th (Randolph), and 17th (Edozie) highest rated prospects to ever commit to the Flames. The class is currently ranked by On3 Sports as the 79th best in the country and first in CUSA. If that ranking holds, it will be the best signing class in school history.
OTHERS TO WATCH
DL Kam Cullins is a 6’4″, 270 pound defensive lineman from Kennesaw, Georgia and North Cobb High School. Cullins is one that the Flames have pursued in recent weeks and hope to get him in the fold as part of this class. He is rated as a three-star prospect. Cullins committed to SMU back in the summer and then flipped to his hometown Georgia Tech later in the summer. Just a few weeks ago, Cullins announced his decommitment from the Yellow Jackets. Cullins has a long list of offers including Georgia Tech, SMU, Maryland, South Carolina, Tulane, Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Western Kentucky, and others. He helped lead North Cobb to a 7-4 season and first round of the playoffs in the highest classification in Georgia, 7A, during his junior season. He was selected first-team all-region for his play on defense.
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
