Liberty held its first practice of training camp on Friday and Hugh Freeze met with reporters following practice to discuss preparations for the season as well as provide insights on various Liberty players.
“Thrilled to be out there this morning,” Freeze said. “Not having spring ball and having a few walk-throughs this past week, we didn’t do the total allotted walk-throughs because we were taking extra precaution with the virus issues. Today, was the first day we could really go and throw and catch and run. We’re not having a typical fall camp because we anticipate our season starting September 12th, so we’re kinda spacing out everything. Truthfully, we’ve got to build up our endurance because we’ve had some kids who have been out of routine. I was really excited and pleased today, I thought our energy was great. Our kids handled it extremely well. I thought they were excited to be out there, I know the coaches were, it felt good.”
Are your players all in to play during the 2020 season?
“As of today, I think our kids are all-in. I think that it’s possible that same scenario (kids opting out) could happen at any school, yes, I do. We certainly will respect the right and the choice of all the individuals that have to make the decision that’s best for them. We will be supportive of that and we will give them advice. Our goal right now is to make the most of every day and every opportunity that we have, the safest and taking the most precautions that we can to make sure our kids and staff are healthy. But I know that’s a reality that’s occurring. Certainly, you’d be foolish to be sitting here and think that’s not happening to you. If that time comes, we will sit and have a conversation, but ultimately, like the other schools have done, you will be supportive of that kid and his family.”
How did it feel for you guys to be slotted with 3 ACC games when their schedule came out?
“It felt great. Obviously they are tough tasks for us and tall competition that we’ll have to play our best to compete in at this point in our program, but to know that they want to continue to play us when they had a lot of choices, I’m sure, I think it speaks volumes for the relationships our AD and his staff, Ian and his staff, have done in working at building relationships with those schools, other administrations. Truthfully those things go back and forth between the administrators, Ian and I talk daily about the schedule, but he does all the work on it. They deserve all the credit in building those relationships that are strong enough for them to want to keep us on there. It felt really good to know as of today, because things can change, as of today we’ve got a great schedule.”
What have you seen out of your quarterbacks so far?
“We certainly lost a lot of production in Buckshot. He’s hard to replace, but I’m really excited about the competition we have there. Just in day one today, I thought it was very competitive, I thought Malik and Chris and JB, all looked pretty, pretty good. I love competition in rooms and that’s why we brought in the ones we did, and I’m just excited to see it play out. I think we’ve got some really good options there just from one day of practice, but really excited about the competition there. We will rotate Chris and Malik with the 1’s for the first 7 practices. Malik had the 1’s today, Chris had the 2’s. Malik will take the 2’s the next practice and so forth and so on.”
How many walk-throughs did you go through and how stringent was the testing to make sure everyone was safe and healthy?
“We tested the entire team, the entire staff, I guess two weeks ago, and we will continue, I’m sure, to do that throughout the season. We felt it best, it seemed like there was a little spike going on in Lynchburg a few weeks ago, so we just kept doing our virtual meetings with our players. We’ve done a lot with our players. We could have started walk-throughs, I think, on the 13th, but we didn’t start until this week. We had some virtual meetings, and of course Dom was working with them as much as he could, but we only started walk-throughs this week. We had 4 walk-throughs before today’s practice.”
What’s your thoughts and feelings about Melanie Newman making this big moment this week with the Baltimore Orioles?
“I’m so thrilled for her. I’ve been blessed to have a lot of people cover us in schools that I’ve been at, and I thought she was so professional and had grit about her. Loved the way she did her job. I think she actually was genuine and she cared about doing a great job, and cared about the people she was doing it for. I tweeted the other night when she had her debut and just really, really proud and happy for her. It’s not surprising, I think she’s a rising star.”
How tough was it to piece together a 2020 schedule?
“Well, we’ve been very fortunate. The schedule that we had in tact prior to COVID-19, every school on there, not every, but the conferences we’ve aligned to play – ACC obviously, we were fortunate we were chose to be their plus one in all three games and that we could work out another date with Virginia Tech from the 5th, and then the conferences so Western Kentucky, Southern Miss, and (FIU), the conferences that we were aligned to play all have announced they are going to continue to play…8 plus 4…with the exception I haven’t heard from the MAC officially. It seems, as of today, that the only game we’ve lost is UConn and maybe the September 12th FCS opponent may change or something. Ian and them are working on all of that. So, we’ve been fortunate that the people we had on our schedule to begin with, most of them have just stayed committed to playing at this point.”
Keeping the 2020 schedule pretty much in tact, does that help with planning?
“Well, we planned for North Carolina A&T and Virginia Tech. I don’t know either one of those are going to happen early in the season, Virginia Tech’s later now. Now, we’ve kind of turned our attention to our team. We’re not ahead of the game now really, maybe for Western Kentucky we have a shell of a plan. Now, the focus is on us. We have some time though. I think it was a wise move for us to try to hold and opening not until September 12th, just to have a little extra time to get us ready and to kinda see what all comes with this football season.”
How has the momentum been building off the Cure Bowl win in December?
“That’s a great memory, for me. We got our rings in finally a couple weeks ago. The kids celebrated. I love the fact that they say, ‘I want another one.’ That right now is kind of the measuring stick of our season, really. Our goal is to get to a bowl game and to be competitive in the games we play in on the schedule. The memory of that personally was obviously very special. One of my favorite pictures is me and my wife and 3 daughters after that game on the field. Just the joy, it was kind of a redeeming moment for me and my wife and kids. So, that was really special for me, and then, obviously, to, whether this is right, wrong, or indifferent, in my mind it was kind of part of a fulfillment of a vision cast many years ago by Dr. Falwell, and to be able to celebrate an FBS bowl victory I think would have made him extremely proud and happy.”
How have the newcomers looked so far?
“Dom, I listen to him a lot. He’s basically doing the schedule for us and the number of periods he wants us to practice as we kind of build up. He’s got a chart on every kid and how many workouts they missed and what’s their workload need to be today, so he’s really monitored that and we lean on him heavily for that.”
“I was really excited, the receiving crew – Lofton and Daniels, Ahmad Jackson really shined today, I thought. These young kids, Quinton Reese and Deon Biggins, I love their look for new corners. Those young d-linemen are going to be special. I’ll have to watch the film to see how the o-line did. There were definitely some young kids that flashed.”
“I’d say, the number one on my mind today that flashed was Quinton Reese and Haskins. Haskins really shined too, today. I think both of those are really talented kids.”
How do you feel about your depth in the secondary?
“I think we’re a little thin still at safety and linebacker, we still got to address that in recruiting, but I think we’re improved even though we’re thin. We look different, but again we are a little thin there. We still have one official out there. I’m kind of curious to see what all happens, there’s constantly changing with conferences choosing not to play. I’m wondering if there’s going to be more transfers. We’ll keep our eyes open for that to try to add some depth.”
What position do you feel most confident with heading into camp?
“Probably say running back, that’s the simplest answer because you got J-Mack and Peytton back that are older kids that are experienced, and then you add to that Troy Henderson and Shedro Louis, you’ve got two speed guys there and Frank Boyd. I think you’ve got 5 guys that can handle it there. When you only play one of those guys for most snaps, and you have 5 that you feel confident in, it’s hard to say that’s not the…they take care of the ball, they catch the ball well, I think we’re pretty solid there. I think everywhere else…we’ve got some returning offensive linemen, got some holes we’ve got to fill. Running back, right now.”
Where do you see Brayden Monday fitting in this season?
“We’ve moved him to tight end and that’s where he will stay hopefully, I think. I anticipate him being a very good one in the future. Hopefully we will stay healthy there and we’ve got some mature guys there, I don’t know exactly what his role will be there this year, and we’ve told him that. But I do anticipate him being a very solid tight end for us throughout his career here.”
Are there any injuries that might cause someone to miss part of the season?
“The only injury I know right now that’s going to push it close to the season is C.J. Yarbrough. He had to have an operation on his foot, it was a Jones fracture, that’s been done, he’s out of his cast, he was moving around today pretty well. We will take our time and make sure he gets well from that.”
Where does Johnathan Bennett fit into the conversation at QB and how is his rehab going?
“He was good today. He’s taking all of the reps with the 3’s, I say all, most of the reps with the 3’s. We will probably slide him in there some with the 2’s also, if he continues to look like he did today. I thought all three (QBs) did good things today.”
What does getting a transfer QB like Ferguson do for you?
“To me, it’s all about competition and he provides that. He’s hungry, he’s a leader, people follow him, he’s vocal, he does everything the right way. He’s what you want in that quarterback room. He’s going to push for his shot in the right way. They have a good, healthy relationship going there that I really like. He has provided competition.”
Did Ferguson get on your radar when you were scouting Maine last year?
“Well, we became aware of him because of what we saw, but had no idea that he was going to transfer until after the season was over and he entered the transfer portal. We certainly knew he was because of what we saw on film.”
Malik and Chris are very different guys, how do they fit into your offense?
“If there’s one that takes care of the football better and he’s more accurate, his reads are better, his mental side is better, ultimately that will overweigh just a guy being better at being a dual-threat. I’ve had all kinds. I think Chris is very similar to Bo Wallace. Chris runs it well enough where you can run certain things with him. Malik’s more like Chad Kelly, he’s an athletic quarterback. So, I like having the options we have. Ultimately though, more importantly than them being able to use their feet is the way they run the offense, the understanding they have of it and their ability to take care of the football and to put us in good positions.”
Are you having full team meetings?
“Every team meeting is happening in the indoor where we are spread out. I have a microphone there, everybody is spread out, we put our masks on at that point. All the team meetings have occurred there, that’s not ideal, but it’s what we need to do. Same thing with offense and defense meetings, they will have to have them out there too and basically walk through format. All the position rooms, we’ve actually found enough space around here, had to maneuver and move some people around to stay within the 50% occupancy and 6-feet apart. For positions, we’ve got spots, some are in the indoor, some are in the weight room, some are in the player’s lounge, some are in the big team rooms, some are in the staff rooms, we just had to go by the numbers and go measure and keep everybody 6-feet apart. Positions, they all happen in their own room.”
What’s it been like having to coach with a mask on?
“I’m not a fan, don’t really care for it. We’ve got these gators, that’s what we use, but I’ve got find a hand whistle that I saw some coaches using, but typically when we are in the team settings I try to stay away from everybody and I pull my down so I can function with a whistle. Particularly, when we don’t have pads on because you’ve got to protect your team, you’ve got to shut it down pretty quick. I try to stay away and then when I start going to try to coach somebody, I pull it up. Our players are doing the same. Of course, we’ve got the shields on the helmets. When the helmets come off, the masks need to come up.”
*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics
