Liberty football is almost halfway through training camp as the Flames continue to prepare for the 2024 season and its season opener on August 31 against Campbell.
Read and watch everything coach Jamey Chadwell had to say during Tuesday’s press conference, about two weeks into training camp…
Opening Comment
“In the scrimmage, we did a couple different situations. We had a little two minutes, from a skele-presentation, and then we had a move the ball part of the scrimmage where we lined it up. And this is whatever situations happened, and then we ended it with a like a red zone competition, and defense ended up winning that on the last play. I thought our defense played really well on the scrimmage Saturday, as far as just they came ready to go, they were locked in, and they didn’t make a lot of mistakes played hard, did a really nice job.”
“I thought offensively, just very inconsistent. Had some opportunities to make some plays, and then whether you have penalty or a sack or maybe somebody not running the right play, right route, etc, set us back. So I thought, the defense played really well. I thought offensively, we were just really average. So, there’s areas there that we could get better, though.”
You look at the defense, linebacker and secondary, are those two of the areas where there’s most competition going on right now to earn spots?
“I would think there’s a lot of competition there. Typically, if you just look at our defense, you know, D line, you rotate a lot of guys anyway. So those guys, there’s some competition there for that, you know, that next set of rotation, but I mentioned, you know, in our first conference, that there’s six guys that have an opportunity to play at linebacker and so, every day, if you don’t come out and are ready to go you can get bumped down. Whether that’s part of the package you’re in, or maybe the position you’re in. There’s some good competition there.”
“I think in the secondary, we’ve had some injuries there, a little bit, so some guys have not been able to maybe practice much as you’d like to see. I think the biggest question there in the secondary, I think our safeties are playing pretty well. I think our corners got to be more consistent, you know? And there’s some guys there, we obviously brought in, and there just needs to be some more consistent there. But there’s good competition, really, among every position.”
At corner, has there been anyone that’s kind of stood out that’s kind of been that consistent player for you so far?
“No. Mo Williams is coming back. You think he’s a guy there that’s played a lot of ball for us, and we think he can be really good. He’s been banged up a little bit, so it’s not like he’s been full go every day, but he’s the guy that, at least in experience here, is somebody that you feel like can do that for us. Then after that, we’ve got a lot of just guys that Charles Yates, we brought in, he’s been banged up a little bit.”
“I do like Sweeney. He’s came in. He was a safety for us. We moved him to corner. I think he’s done a really nice job in the first few practices, and we’ve been pleased with. He’s still got a little ways to go there, but I think he’s found a home which has been good. From an athletic standpoint, he might be out most athletic guy on the team, and just not been able to find a spot where he can stick at consistently. Through the first several practices, I think he’s made some good strides for us.”
For the defense, do you think that it’s much improved from last year?
“I think our overall talent is improved, and I think our mindset’s improved. I think we got a chance to be better there. Obviously, we were really opportunistic last year in taking the ball away, which helped us maybe hide some of our deficiencies and just depth and some things. I do think we’ll have depth in positions where we can play some guys where last year, that was a challenge. So, I do think we can be. I’m not saying we’re there yet, but I do think we can be if those guys, one, stay hungry, two, understand what that takes every day to play at that level.”
At receiver, you said Reese Smith, you want to kind of spoon feed him a little bit. And what have you seen from him up to this point now?
“Reese has been slowly getting back into where he needs to be. Yesterday was the first time really doing maybe more than some normal stuff. But Reese is somebody that we know, we believe, we can count on. He’s gonna be where he’s supposed to be, he’s going to make the plays that need to be made. Still a little ways to go with him, as far as till he’s, I think, 100% comfortable. Anytime you come off an injury, there is always, there’s a physical challenge, but there is a mental challenge, and he’s continuing to get better there, but we know he’ll be where he needs to be by the time we get to game week.”
Offensive line, what have you seen from that position throughout camp?
“Well, I do think we have to develop some depth there. You mentioned Xavior (Gray) and Jordan (White), who played a lot of football for us. Jack Tucker played a decent amount last year, and after that, you know, we don’t have a lot of guys that played football, at least for us, you know. So there’s a push there that we’ve gotta find, you want to find seven or eight guys that you can count on up front. We don’t have that right now. I do think they’ve improved, but that’s a position there that takes some work, takes some chemistry. For those guys working together consistently. These guys, with the exception of Xavior and Jordan, they haven’t played together a lot, so every day is an opportunity for them to grow in that chemistry they need.”
“Coach Durkin always does a fantastic job from a technical standpoint, fundamentals and get guys where they’ll be. I have no doubt we’ll get there, but we’ve got a further way to go there than I like. I wish it was a little closer. What I mean by that, just guys stepping up consistently, knowing, ‘Hey, these are the 6, 7, 8 guys that I know we can feel good and rely on. We’re not there where we need to be because there’s just too much inconsistency from practice to practice. Still got a good amount of time to go to develop that, but that’s an area that we need some guys to improve considerably.”
Have you been able to pay attention much to the returners yet?
“Obviously, Brylan, did it all last year at punt returner. Juju (Gray) has an opportunity to be a good punt returner for us, as well. He can definitely be a kick returner. Kylan will be a kick returner. Darius Copeland is a guy that we can put back there to catch punts as well. And then, from another kick returner standpoint, we can put Darius back there if need be. We’ve got Vic Veen played it some last year. I’m trying to think who else we’ve had back there, who has a chance. Vaughn Blue has a chance to be a kick returner. If we’re going in right now, today, Juju would be the guy back there, and then we’ll see how things shake down.”
“But I think we I think we got a chance on that team, talking kickoff return specifically, I think we have a chance to have some with Juju’s speed, his ability there, have a chance to hopefully make some big plays on it.”
Coach, are you at the point now where you got more clarity on unsung players that are stepping up into leadership roles?
“I think from a leadership standpoint, it’s hard to, one, be unsung, because typically, your leaders are looked at guys that are playing a bunch, if that makes sense. But I do think when guys are being consistent in how they’re showing up every day with a with a mindset, with a mentality, I do think guys notice that more.”
“I’ll use Jayden Sweeney for an example. Jayden has been very consistent every day. Nobody maybe considered Jayden a leader going into camp or anything of that nature. But because he’s been consistent, he’s maybe letting young corners look at him and saying, ‘Hey, man, he’s showing up every day. There’s an example of that.'”
“But I think it’s hard to be unsung and be a leader, if that makes sense, because they’re all learning their way. We’re making progress in our overall leadership standpoint. And what I mean by that is we have our unity council, which is our leadership council. They have all been selected by their teammates, and they’re in charge of their group. They’re in charge of making sure their groups are doing what they’re supposed to do and getting better. We 11 guys who have been identified as our leaders of each group, and so hopefully they’re doing a good job. They might not be unsung, but they are leaders.”
Last week, when we spoke with Willie Korn, he mentioned that there were some physical practices, and some of them got a little bit more heated, how much of that is what you want to where they are playing physical and they’re playing with a little bit of an edge?
“This game is still a tough sport, and you have to be tough. You have to have a mentality to want to play with others to play well at it. When you’re banging on each other a lot, that happens. I’m not talking about a brawl by any means. I’m not talking about swinging a helmet like you’ve seen, maybe on video and stuff. But I’m talking more of guys because they’re tired, they’re pushing each other, there may be a little extracurricular activity. And I actually think that’s a healthy part of football, if it’s done within the confines of what you’re trying to get accomplished.”
“We’ve spent a lot of time on our guys talking about, if there is a fight, what we should do, what we shouldn’t do, and there’s always a fine line there. But you have to play this game, and you have to practice this game in a way where there’s a there’s a toughness that’s built into it. Naturally, when that happens, if you’ve been gotten banged on, especially up front, most of your fights typically start up front, because those guys are banging on each other for two hours, almost every day. They get tired of doing that. Somebody gets tired of getting pushed. Somebody gets tired of this or that, and it ends up, you know, maybe going to the extracurricular. We obviously stop it quick, but I’m also not blowing a quick whistle when it’s getting ready to happen either because I want to see how guys are going to respond.”
“Our guys understand, they know what the line is and when not to cross it, and they’ve done a good job of never crossing that in my time frame of being here.”
You have scrimmage this upcoming Saturday, what are some of those goals that you’re looking to hit Saturday, still two weeks before you suit up for a full game?
“We’ll treat that whole day as a game day. As far as just our preparation. Our first game is at six. That’s what time we’re kicking it off (Saturday). So, we’ll treat that day similar to a true game day, as far as when our pre-game meal is and all those different things. And then two, anytime you’re in front of fans for the first time, how do you guys respond to those lights? Three, you want to be healthy.”
“We’ll do some different situations within the scrimmage. It might not be a traditional scrimmage. We might do certain different things that we want to make sure we get worked. Really, just how do we come out? How do we play in front of people? Are we doing the things that we’ve been coached to do for the previous 15 practices? And are we playing hard? Are we living up to the values we believe in? After that, most of your depth chart should be settled. Still got a little time to go, but you’ve had 15 practices to really develop and settle that depth chart. So , we will have guys in places where we feel like they can help this team.”
