Liberty football has made tremendous strides in growth over the past several years. The Flames made the transition and become a full FBS member prior to the 2019 season. That coincided with the hiring of Hugh Freeze as the program’s head coach.
Over the past four seasons under Freeze, Liberty was 34-15, winning at least eight games in all four seasons. This included a 10-win campaign, only the second in program history during the 2020 season. The Flames have also reached a bowl game in all four seasons, winning the first three bowl games. Liberty is scheduled to play against Toledo in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl on Dec. 20.
Liberty has been ranked inside the Associated Press Top 25 polls for 10 weeks over the past three seasons, receiving votes in an additional 11 weeks.
Now, Jamey Chadwell comes to Liberty after a successful stint as a head coach at Coastal Carolina. Chadwell guided the Chanticleers to a 31-6 record over the last three seasons, helping them to their first two bowl game appearances in school history, including a win int he 2021 Cure Bowl.
Chadwell and the Chanticleers were ranked in the top 25 polls for a total of 22 consecutive weeks during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. He looks to bring that success to Liberty and continue to push the Flames’ to a new and higher level.
“I think it’s easy to go in where they stink, they will listen to you,” Chadwell said of taking over wt a place with a tradition of success. “When you’ve had success and you’re going to do it a little different way, it’s a different road map, you’re still trying to get to the same spot but the road map may be different. It’s a little more challenging because you’ve had some success and some guys might be, not against buying into it, but they might be a little hesitant to do that because we did it this way and it worked. It’s going to take us time to build up the relationships with those players that they do know that we have their best interest. Once that happens, you see us continue to climb and build on the foundation that’s here.”
That path will start with earning the players trust. This group of players have been led by Coach Freeze for the past four seasons, many of them recruited by him. They looked up to Freeze as a father figure, and it will take time for Chadwell to begin to earn their trust and respect.
“I told the team in our meeting (Sunday), I’ve got to do everything I can every day to earn their trust, being who I am,” said Chadwell. “I’m not another coach, I’m Jamey and I’m going to be Jamey in the way that best fits me. Hopefully the players over time will see my heart, see what I have for them. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy all the time, but I think over time that they will buy in to what we’re doing and believe in that.”
In his introductory press conference at Liberty on Sunday, Chadwell set the bar for competing for conference championships as the Flames move into the Conference USA beginning next season and also contending for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff.
The CFP will expand from four teams to 12 beginning with the 2024 college football season. The six highest ranked conference champions will receive an at-large bid while the remaining six spots will go to at-large spots. There are currently 10 FBS conferences of which these six automatic bids will draw from.
“I think that’s the goal,” Chadwell said of Liberty making the expanded CFP. “That’s not going to be easy. I think that’s something you want to get to over time. You’ve got obviously continue to build, there is a good foundation here, there are good resources here. We’ve got to make sure we build a team that fits this University and will want to achieve that goal down the road. Our first goal is to be the best we can be and try to go see what we can do in Conference USA.”
For now, Chadwell is building working on his coaching staff and recruiting, but it won’t be long before he takes the field at Williams Stadium leading his new team. He’s coached there before, albeit on the opposing sidelines, and he knows the time of atmosphere to expect. That opening game is currently scheduled for Sept. 2 against Bowling Green in what will certainly be a raucous atmosphere for Liberty’s new head coach as he looks to begin leading this team to the next level.
“From the outside looking in and knowing the passion that Flames Nation has for their program, the students have for the program, it’s going to be a special time,” Chadwell said of his first game at Williams Stadium. “It’s going to be surreal, I’m sure. Obviously, that’s a long time away but it will be here in no time. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get ourselves in position.”
