Liberty football held its first practice of the season Wednesday, with its season opener exactly one month out.
LU’s inaugural practice provided an initial glimpse of this year’s team. The Flames, who are coming off a 13-1 season and CUSA Championship, kick off this season against Campbell on Aug. 31.
Read and watch everything coach Jamey Chadwell had to say after the opening practice of training camp…
OPENING COMMENT
“We had a really good summer as far as we implemented 50 new players join us between spring and the summer. So, a lot of time spent together whether that was going off campus and doing things or we had a lot of on campus stuff that we were able to do together, whether that was playing kickball and doing some things of that nature just to try and spend more time together off the field to get to know each other.”
“Anytime you bring in that many new people there’s always a challenge of incorporating them with the current group, but I feel like our current group did a fantastic job. Our strength coaches did an outstanding job all summer putting them in position to, obviously, train them but also allow them to connect and get to know each other on a deeper level. That’s our biggest challenge this summer is doing that, but I like where we’re at now as far as coming through it in the summer.”
“I do think from a talent standpoint, we brought in some talented guys that can compete with the guys that are returning. I like our group of freshmen that came in. As far as what we will see in the summer. Now, obviously it gets real. You get to start with a football, but I like our attitude, and I like our mindset with the people that joined us through that timeframe. They bought into what we are doing, and they are Flames. We are looking forward to today and seeing how we can continue to build this team.”
HOW MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE DO YOU FEEL GOING INTO FALL CAMP THIS YEAR THAN LAST?
“Well, yeah, I think the comfort level comes from everybody that is here wants to be here. I think that’s a big deal. They know the expectations and they know the standards. Last year, we were learning them and they were learning us. It was like you were walking on glass a little bit sometimes to try and avoid. This year, I feel like you can run at it. Now, there’s still new guys, but they know the standard now because the other guys know what it is and they talk about it to them.”
“Way more comfortable for us, our coaches. Obviously, expectations are high. Last year they were high internally but maybe outside they weren’t. Now, we have the outside expectations. It always makes it a little bit more challenging. The key is you can’t let it get away from you.”
HOW DO YOU QUANTIFY SUCCESS IN FALL CAMP?
“I think the main thing, one, you always want to come through fall camp looking at it successfully, one, hopefully injury free. Two, the identity that you want to be about in all three phases, do you feel confident that you have secured that identity by the way you practice, by the mindset. Three, we’ve got to come out of the next three weeks with a hunger that we’re going after something, we are pursuing something. If we can do that then I feel like we will have a team that is set up to have a chance to have some success.”
WHERE YOU AT FROM A HEALTH STANDPOINT ENTERING CAMP?
“I think Ronald (Moore) is the only one. We’ve got some guys that are not full go. They will be able to do certain individuals and things like that. They had some offseason surgeries, things like that. Elijah Hopkins had an offseason shoulder surgery. He will be able to do certain things, but he is not a full go yet. He is one. Besides Ron, those are the guys that we feel good, everybody else is good to go as far as being able to practice. It might not be full yet but hopefully they will get to that point the next couple of weeks.”
HOW ABOUT WRs REESE SMITH AND VICTOR JONES?
“Reese is taking it at a slow pace. He will see him doing some individual. Victor will not be. Victor still has a ways to go, had a setback. He will be not doing hardly anything. Reese will be spoon-fed a little bit until we can feel good about where he’s at.”
WHICH POSITION GROUPS DO YOU FEEL HAVE THE MOST QUESTION MARKS AT THIS POINT?
“I think receiver-wise. You brought in some new guys, lost some good players. We’ve got some guys that are returning that are playing. There’s a question as far as who is going to step up. I think we’ve got some people who can, they just haven’t done it for us yet. I think that’s a big question mark.”
“Then, I think offensive line as far as who is going to be that 5 to 6 to 7 that are going to play. Losing 3 starters there and some guys behind them that have not really played a lot. They need to take the next step. Those are the two offensively you feel like, alright, who’s going to step up?”
“I think defensively, to me, the biggest question mark is probably who is going to step up at corner. We lost a lot of production from that area. I like who we’ve brought in. There’s a lot of competition, but they haven’t really done anything for us. Who will step up over the next 2-3 weeks that we can count on? There’s a lot of people but who can we actually count on is the biggest question.”
DEFENSIVELY, LAST YEAR YOU LIVED ON TURNOVERS, CAN THIS DEFENSE REALISTICALLY EXPECT THAT LEVEL OF PRODUCTION WITH TURNOVERS?
“You know what, I hope. We were very opportunistic. Typically, if you study, any time you have that high of turnovers, usually it comes down a little bit. That’s just the nature of the game. But we have emphasized, all offseason, the opportunity to take the ball away. One thing about last year, we had those 21 interceptions but hardly had any fumbles. The big emphasis that we’ve had this offseason is more tackling and stripping the ball. We might not get 21 interceptions, but can we add some fumbles in there to offset that. We do have to have a swarm mindset there. I do like the group on that side of the ball. I think there’s a lot of competition. What I mean by that, a lot of guys that can play and can do some things. They’ve got to do it consistently; I think is the biggest question mark. I do think you will see us play this year a lot of different people. Last year we didn’t have hardly anybody except the main ones. I do think you will see a lot of different people play this year from a depth stand point.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE DEPTH ON THE FRONT 7?
“I think just from a, again, a lot of people haven’t done it here, but from what we observed during spring, what we observed during summer, I think there’s a lot of people that will have an opportunity to play. Now, is that you get 40 plays, and you get 40 plays? No, but I do think you will see more of a true rotation where a lot of people can play. I do think from a depth standpoint, guys we feel that can play and be productive. I think there will be some more people that can get that opportunity.”
WHAT’S THE WORD FOR THIS SEASON?
“Pursue, pursue is our word for the season.”
WITH THE EXPANSION OF THE CFP TO 12 TEAMS, HOW BIG IS THIS OPPORTUNITY NOW FOR YOUR TEAM THIS SEASON?
“I think, one, it’s awesome to have that opportunity. You have 12 teams that get the chance to play for a national championship. So, if you are one of those 12, that is a special deal. On the other hand, as a coach, I don’t like that outside influence to where you’ve got to do this and that to get there. I don’t want our guys to focus on that. I think that brings a challenge because you are one of the, whatever, at least in preseason. I want our guys to be pursuing the right things. If we are pursuing only that, then we are going to not accomplish it because we are going to lose sight of what it takes to get there. I do love, not only ourself, but any other team that’s at our level if they have a good year, they have a chance to be one of the 12 teams. That’s pretty cool.”
LAST YEAR, THIS TEAM REALLY ENJOYED WINNING AND CELEBRATED WINNING, IS THAT PART OF THE PROCESS FOR YOU GUYS TO HELP TAKE IT WEEK BY WEEK?
“I think our whole program is built off of that. Everybody gets mad at us for celebrating, but it’s more about who we are as far as it’s hard to win. I’ve been on the good side of that and I’ve been on the bad side of that, it’s hard to win. These guys, we ask a lot of them all year long to have the opportunity to go out and play. So, we want to make sure they are focused on Liberty and what we need to do to be our best. That’s our whole premise of everything. Every week is about being the best Liberty on that Saturday or on that Wednesday or that Tuesday. Can we be the best version of ourself? If we are, we’re going to celebrate it as much as we can because it’s hard to do. That helps us focus on what we can control because we can’t control if we go undefeated and somebody else thinks this team is better than us. But we can control every time we’re out there. Hopefully, this group will buy into that as much as the last one did. I think that’s the challenge, now there is more expectation. Last year, meh…this year, why didn’t you win by 20? That’s coming. Or this or that. What’s wrong with you? We’ve got to do a good job of not focusing on those things and staying in our lane.”
WHAT HAS YOUR MESSAGE BEEN TO KAIDON SALTER THIS OFFSEASON ENTERING THIS UPCOMING SEASON?
“I think the main thing for him is continue to grow in the quarterback era. He’s obviously a leader of the football team. We know the talent and what he was able to show last year when he got his opportunity. Now can he hone in on some things, little things, intangible stuff that will help him take the next step. And who’s he bringing with him? He’s got to be locked in. He’s going to get all these different accolades, all these different people saying things about him. Can he not worry about that and focus on his team and help bring them with him? As a quarterback, if you can raise the level of the people around you then you have something special. He has the ability to do that because people will follow him. He’s made some good strides in that through spring, as far as just being complete. What I mean by that is obviously being able to do the things on the field, but also can he get people to follow him and do things off of it. I like where he’s at now and hopefully through this next three weeks as it gets tougher, those leadership qualities will continue to rise, and the guys can say this is a guy I can follow.”
WHEN YOU HAVE A SUCCESSFUL SEASON, DO YOU ENTER CAMP ON A HEIGHTENED AWARENESS OF MAKING SURE GUYS HAVE THE EDGE AND INTENSITY THEY NEED?
“Yes, absolutely. You have to. Anytime you have a good season, no matter what that is quantified as, the next year is going to be tougher. I think your practice has to be harder. I think the details you are focusing on; you have to make sure you are on those things. Anytime you relax as a coach, they take your personality on. So, I think that’s the biggest challenge is not resting on what you’ve done and not looking backwards. I think that’s an easy thing to do. One of the things we’ve talked about a lot this year is this season is like a horse race, if you watch the Kentucky Derby per se, they always go through and they are walking the horses up to the paddock, the start line, they go through who the jockeys are, how many times they’ve won the derby, and this guy has trained horses, they talk about all these great things, but who wins is the one who is the fastest that day. Our focus has been more about, hey, we’ve got to run the fastest race every time we get the opportunity. It doesn’t matter that you did this or your jockey is this or you’ve won this. That’s a hard challenge as a coaching staff because most young people if you have success think if you just do the same thing it will happen again. That doesn’t happen. We’ve got to have a really tough training camp here to put our mindset in who we want to be to handle this journey that we’re going on.”
CJ BAZILE, CUSA PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR, WHAT HAVE YOU SEEN IN HIM THAT MAKES YOU THINK HE WILL MAKE THAT JUMP?
“That was a little surprising, honestly, not because we didn’t think he was that good of a player, but I didn’t realize everybody else recognized him. One thing about CJ that I think the team will tell you and all the coaches will tell you, he goes hard all the time. There’s no relaxing in him. If you are supposed to run through the line, he’s going to run through the line, and run through the next line, and run through the next line. He’s one of those guys that just loves to keep going, he loves to keep playing. That mindset that he has, I think helps him because he is relentless in what he pursues. He plays extremely hard, doesn’t say a lot. If you’ve ever talked to him it’s just, ‘Yes, ma’am; no, ma’am; yes, sir; no, sir.’ That’s all he says, or ‘Yes, coach.’ I think that’s what people love about him. If you watch his video you see he plays with that effort. We do expect him to make a great jump this year. I’m not saying I expect him to live up to that, I hope he does, but I do think he has that ability and that mindset to make that happen.”
