The 2023 football season is the 50th season in program history for Liberty University, and it is one that has raised the level of play to unprecedented heights.
The Flames have quickly become the fastest rising program in the entire country. The football team has risen from a FCS program with one playoff appearance at that level to one that is turning heads at the national level.
This season, Liberty football is currently 13-0, winners of Conference USA, and will play in the VRBO Fiesta Bowl on January 1st against Oregon.
“The vision was cast 50+ years ago by Dr. Falwell to play football at this level,” Liberty Athletic Director Ian McCaw said in a press conference Sunday discussing the Flames’ season and Fiesta Bowl appearance. “There have been a lot of people who have been instrumental in building the program over the years – coaches, administrators, players, and staff. He talked about competing at the highest level, it doesn’t get any higher than playing in the Fiesta Bowl, which is one of America’s great bowl games, playing a team the quality of the University of Oregon.”
Despite having never played on the level that the Flames will play on in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day against an opponent as good as Oregon, Liberty is not a one-hit wonder.
The Flames have won at least six games every season since 2006, one of just nine Division I programs who have also accomplished that feat. Liberty made the move to the FBS level, becoming bowl eligible in 2019 as an Independent. Since that time, the Flames have advanced to a bowl game in all five seasons, posting a 3-1 record in bowl games thus far.
Under the direction of former head coach Hugh Freeze, Liberty quickly became relevant at the FBS level. In addition to the bowl games, Liberty also picked up numerous wins over Power Five programs over the past few years, including wins over Arkansas, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, and BYU. The Flames have been ranked in the Top 25 polls in three of the past four seasons, including this year.
“We’ve been nationally ranked three of the last four years,” McCaw emphasized. “We’ve had a series of wins over Power Five teams. We’ve beaten Arkansas, BYU, Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Baylor. We’ve had a lot of great milestones for this program, but the validation of getting to a New Year’s Six game is at a different level. I think that’s something that is really going to put our program on a national stage. We are excited about that. We want to put our best foot forward on January 1st.”
Earlier this season, Liberty moved into the College Football Playoff Top 25 poll for the first time in program history. This allowed the Flames to be in the conversation as the highest ranked Group of Five Conference Champion should the team take care of business.
The team did just that, finishing the year at 13-0 following a win over New Mexico State in the 2023 CUSA Championship Game. That, coupled with a loss by Tulane in the AAC Championship, helped propel Liberty forward to being the highest ranked G5 team and earning the automatic bid to a New Year’s Six bowl.
“Having really the Group of Five championship, being 13-0, the highest rated Group of Five champion, it’s another marker for this program that has just grown by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years,” said McCaw. “We couldn’t be more excited about where we are right now.”
The exposure the Flames will receive from the Fiesta Bowl appearance is something the program has never experienced. More eyeballs will be on Liberty not only January 1st but for the next few weeks leading into the game than this program has ever seen. It will provide a platform for the Flames to build off moving forward and to continue to raise this program to even higher levels.
“For our program’s standpoint, as you take over a program, you are trying to get your brand national, so people recognize you for something,” said Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell. “To be able to go 13-0, win our conference the first year, this is our 5th year of FBS football. To be able in our first year but the 5th year of FBS here to be able to have the opportunity to be in the Fiesta Bowl, I mean that’s huge from a brand recognition, that’s huge to get our message out what we’re about, and also from a recruiting stand point. Everybody on January 1 will be watching the Fiesta Bowl and we’ve got more eyes on us. Regardless of what happens in the game, that’s a big deal.”
The rise this program has made over its 50 year history is incredible. That rise went into high gear under the direction of AD Ian McCaw. He helped propel the Flames forward into the FBS and has provided all the resources the program has needed to reach this level, including two very good head coach hires. It has been a special run for the Flames and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight.
“We talk about being the fastest rising program in America for our entire athletic program but certainly football,” McCaw said. “(When I got here) we were playing in the Big South against Gardner-Webb and Presbyterian, and now we’re getting ready to go to a New Year’s Six Bowl game and play Oregon. That is a pretty rapid transformation of a football program. No one has risen as quickly over that period of time. We are thankful, very blessed.”
