Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze met with the media on a video conference call following Liberty’s second preseason training camp practice. He touched on various subjects about his football team as well as the current state of the 2020 football season. Here is everything he said beginning with an opening statement.
“I loved every minute of practice today. I loved the energy. I loved the way our kids were running around, flying around.To have no pads on it was a little physical for me, but just really thought it was an excellent practice for practice 2. Excited about what I see, I like the way our team looks and certainly we have a long way to go but to come out here after having no spring practice. Having a chance to see your kids really for the first time I really can’t say I’m disappointed. I really like what I see, excited about working with them. They are fun to coach right now.”
With the uncertainty of the 2020 football season, how is the group?
“We are very transparent with our kids. Every day before practice I have a team meeting and we try to come up with some way to help them understand that what we do have is an opportunity today. An opportunity to get better today. Unfortunately, none of us are in control of what the final outcome will be on the season. Certainly I would be deceiving you and myself if I sat here and said the uncertainty doesn’t cause…I think everybody just really wants to know what’s going to happen. I’m sure our kids are no different. They read social media. If you’re asking me if our kids want to play, you bet your bottom dollar. We want to play. We want to coach. As we’ve gone through the ups and downs of this COVID-19 and everything that comes with it – whether it be a positive test or a quarantine of a young man that had contract tracing with a positive test – I’ve been really so impressed with our medical staff and the way we’ve gone about it. To have our team together out there, this virus you can catch it a whole lot of different ways obviously, I’m not convinced that our football kids are at any more risk from playing football. There’s part of me also that understands that’s just a small piece of this pie that administrators have to think about. There’s a lot of dynamics that go into pulling off a college football game. I try to put myself in everybody’s shoes, but if you’re asking me if our kids and coaches want to play and coach, absolutely 100%.”
How has the testing been going?
“We’ve been very blessed with that. We don’t comment a lot on what our kids go through just out of protection for them, but we’ve been very, very blessed. Our medical team, that we’ve leaned on for advice and for protocols, we’ve been very, very conservative. If there was any chance that someone was in the contract tracing, we certainly put them in quarantine pretty quickly to try and protect them. We’ve been fortunate that the few tests that we’ve had that were positive, our kids were not, I don’t want to make light of it, but they were not extremely sick in any manner. We’ve been very blessed, and right now, we seem to be doing really, really well. We’re not even having someone that needs to get tested for symptoms in the last week or so, it’s been a blessing.”
With your health scare last year, have you had to take any extra precautions?
“My wife has that same mindset that I don’t take enough precautions and she’s afraid of, obviously with the staph that got in my blood stream it could cause a weaker immune system, at least that’s what she’s told me. I’ve been very careful. I’m around the same people, I try to keep my distance from people. I wear a mask, I don’t go anywhere but the golf course, my home, my work, my church, and maybe a gas station to get gas and I wear a mask in there when I go. I’m not a big worrier, but I do listen to my wife now and she usually has great wisdom. I try to take as many precautions as I can without going to the extreme of living in some type of fear.”
What do you think of the P5 players starting the We Want to Play movement and wanting to form a players union?
“They deserve a voice in what goes on. I love to see them band together with the desire to play. That’s the type of kids we enjoy to coach. The young men don’t know everything that goes into those discussions that college presidents have to have, the responsibilities they have in making those decisions, and those are the ones that are very difficult. I’m totally supportive of the fact of our players wanting to play. As far as forming a players union, there’s a lot of dynamics that come with that, that I’m sure at this point I don’t need to respond to because I just would have to study it some.”
Elaborate on your statement of loving practice today.
“Our kids are hungry to practice and play. They are ready to put the pads on. Obviously, ready for some clarity on exactly what this season may or may not look like. I think from every indication I got, our kids heeded our warning with trying to protect our team this weekend and making smart decisions as to where and who you’re around and the precautions we need to take in order to have a chance to have a football season. I could see it in our eyes this morning that they had bounced back and were ready, had great energy all throughout practice.”
How pleased are you with the depth you’ve been able to build on your defensive line?
“I’ve got to give a lot of credit to coach Aldridge and the defensive staff who have identified the type of body and player we want for that position. There is no doubt, it looks drastically different now than when I arrived and it’s very pleasing. I think we’ve got some young kids that are going to be very talented and add some depth to us and then you’ve got some of the older guys who have been around that makes for a good combination. I feel like that could be one of the strengths of our team.”
Does the loss of Devonte Lloyd hurt your depth there?
“I think our depth is good on the defensive line. That’s one position you want to have plenty of bodies at because it’s hard to win football games without enough defensive linemen. It’s never good that you lose a body out of that scholarship number, but I still feel good about our depth.”
Have you had a chance to talk to Jessie Lemonier recently?
“It’s been probably a month or so. Josh (Aldridge) may have talked to him, but he was here for a decent amount of all the summer. I saw him almost daily because he was usually here when I arrived getting ready to work. We had a lot of conversations then, but it’s been a few weeks.”
How do you replace a Frankie Hickson?
“Replacing Frankie and Buckshot and AGG is going to be very difficult. Frankie was so dependable, so tough, took care of the football as well as any back I’ve ever coached. That’s hard to replace. I do feel good about our running back room. I think we’ve got depth there. I think J Mack is ready to take on the leadership of that, and Peytton Pickett will step into his role, and then we’ve got some younger guys with Troy and Shedro and Frank that give you a little wiggle room in that room. I feel good about the depth, but you lose a Frankie Hickson that’s hard to replace.”
Do you think the depth at RB is better this year than last?
“I think, if the ball security is what it was last year, I think our depth is going to be better this year.”
Have you watched Last Chance U?
“You’re going to laugh at me, I have never seen a single episode of any of them so I have no clue. I don’t even know who’s on it this year or what school it is at. I know year one they were at a Mississippi school because obviously I was coaching there, but I’ve never watched it. I’m not the one to ask about that show. Sorry, I would give you an opinion if I had one, I just don’t know anything about it.”
Do you think you will lean on the running game more this year with Buckshot being gone?
“It’s a little early for me to tell, just to see how accurate we’re going to be in the passing game. We’re going to continue to run our RPO offense which gives the quarterback the option of a run play or pass play post snap. It’s too early for me to say, but I do feel confident and I think our offensive line and running backs will produce a sound running game.”
Have you had a chance to reach out to Jerry Falwell, Jr. since he took a leave?
“I love Jerry, I love his family. I have spoken to him twice actually. We’re just all praying and pulling for him to go through the storm that he’s currently walking in. Expect him to do that and be stronger because of it. All of our prayers are with him.”
How did Chris Ferguson look today with the 1’s?
“I thought he looked good. He provided great competition today. I haven’t watched the film yet, but I think he will maybe grade out a little better than the others did today. It was good to see.”
How is your LB depth?
“It’s too early to tell. We lack depth there, but that’s not going to change anytime soon it doesn’t appear. We’ve got to get the ones ready that we have. We’ve got to get those young kids like Malik Caper and some of those guys ready to play. I’m excited about the progress I’ve seen in (Aaron) Pierre and (Tyron) Staples, but we are still a little thin there that one more recruiting class would really help.”
How are your safeties looking right now?
“We know what Scruggs can do and we depend on him to be one of the more solid players on that side of the football. Then, you’ve got to Treadwell and Haskins and Ben, those new guys ready to play. Of course Ben has been here, I’m really excited in what I’ve seen from Haskins and Treadwell. We need them to play. We need them to add that depth to us to give us that really solid two deep and then bring along the Micah Glaize’s of the world and those other safeties. Probably could use one more or two more bodies there to give you the numbers you want.”
How is Tim Kidd-Glass looking?
“That’s a name I forgot in talking about the safeties, but he’s very, very sharp football IQ, communicates well with the other guys on the secondary. Excited about what I’ve seen from him, haven’t put the pads on yet of course but really been pleased.”
What makes Javon Scruggs stand out?
“First thing that pops to my mind is his swagger. He’s a confident dude, really believes he can make every play that comes his way, and he’s a solid tackler that can get people on the ground in space. He’s really confident and he’s mature, those are qualities that really make him somebody that we can depend on. We think he can play all three safeties. He’s very valuable to us.”
