Liberty football has completed training camp and now turns its attention directly towards the start of 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, less than two weeks prior to the team’s first game…

Opening Comment

“I thought it was great to have some fans there, just to get out and practice in front of some other people. I thought there were some positive things that happened there. I thought there was a slow start by about everybody but I thought our defense really picked it up. Pleased with how they all fall camp. I think we’re still working through some things from an offensive standpoint, but we wanted to get out, let our guys kick a little bit in the stadium, and do some different things, and have an opportunity to see who was going to show up when there are fans there, or if they run hide when the pressure’s a little bit bigger. But I thought we got accomplished what we wanted to. We came out of it healthy, which was good.”

How would you describe the kicking competition at this point?

“I don’t know if somebody’s completely taken it yet. I do think we’ve made some progress. I think all the kickers have had moments where they did some really good stuff and you feel like, hey, there’s some confidence there. I think there’s sometimes you wish they’d make the one that you really need to make, but I think we’re close to probably naming a guy this week. Going through the rest of this week hopefully we’ll solidify who that is. It’s been a strong competition.”

Last week you mentioned that you wanted to have the depth chart somewhat in place. You mentioned kicker, what are couple other positions that you’re still evaluating?

“I think for the for the most part, it’s probably solidified. I would say offensive line is still trying to work through some things there of what that looks like. I think that’s a piece there that we’re still working on how that’s going to shake out. Is there competition still going on for how much you’re playing? Yeah, but as far as who’s probably playing, majority of those jobs have probably been set as far as say who’s earned the trust and who’s been consistent. I think across the board, majority of those have probably been set, just how much this guy’s going to get 40 plus or this guy’s getting I think that’s still to be determined. As far as who’s earned the right to be out there, most of those jobs are set.

Is that at left tackle?

“I would say just the O-line in general. I think there’s some areas there that we’ve got to improve considerably if we’re going to have the opportunity to be a good offensive team, and
that whole group needs to pick it up.”

How do you assess Kaidon in a scrimmage like Saturday, where the offensive lines of work in progress and there’s not a lot of contact, and some of his games being able to make people miss when there’s the potential for contact?

“We didn’t obviously play him that much. We were doing the other things, and, you know, he had the turnover, which we don’t like. He made a bad decision there. Just forcing the ball trying to do a little bit too much, but we obviously know what he’s capable of. Going into that game, he was going to get a couple opportunities. It was more going to be for the other guys to see how they perform, whether they were the first team or vice versa. That was really more of the plan there with him.

You said at the beginning of camp you were hoping one of your biggest goals was to get through injury free or pretty healthy. How do you feel you are health-wise?

“We’ve had some guys get bangs here and there. We’ve not had anything significant, which is a positive. On the back end, that means did we hit enough? There’s always that, you know, two guys talking to you on the shoulder. But I think as of right now, we’re as healthy as we could be. Now, we have lost some people, not necessarily season ending, but for some time. But I think we’re in a good spot so far. Obviously, we got, we got some time to go and still have some physical practice that are coming. Typically, you get a lot of the soft tissues, a lot of hamstrings that put people out. The thing we’ve battled more than anything, a lot of illnesses. When you get a group of guys together and all that stuff happens if you start getting sniffling here and coughing. We’ve had a lot of guys missing, not necessarily a bunch of days, but maybe a day here or there, and that’s been more what we’ve dealt with this this fall camp.”

What position group excites you the most right now, coming into the season?

“I really like the depth of our defensive line. I don’t think there’s a drop off. If we get guys injured, or just rotate guys, I don’t believe there’s that much of a drop off. So, I really like watching them compete. They’ve done really well this fall camp.”

What has Reese Smith’s progression been like from the first day of camp until now?

“Reese is somebody that receivers and the coaches trust. He’s gonna be where he needs to be. I think the challenge for Reese is….he’s healthy, but it’s a mental thing. Anytime you get injured, there’s that little thing. He’s obviously wearing that knee brace, not that he will wear that during the season, but he’s wearing it now just to continue to give him confidence in that knee. I think anytime that you’re working through an injury, you’re always in the mind thinking, is it going to happen again? It’s getting over that mental block. He’s still working through that. Also, because he missed so much time, then when you’re doing so much playing that knee’s going to hurt again, naturally, because you’re doing more on it than you’ve been able to in a while. So, we’re working through that, that part of it where it’s not necessarily it’s injured again, but there’s just a little pain in going through some of those injuries. We’re working through that. Thankfully, he did get a decent amount of playing time the other day, and he came out feeling good. So, I think that that gave him confidence to this week and next week, getting prepared for the game, and put him in a position where he feels good about going out there. He’s 100% healthy. He’s still getting to 100% knowing that it’s going it’s going to stay healthy.”

Feedback from your coaches after getting through a scrimmage with the helmet com systems, quarterbacks and linebackers?

“I think everybody likes that. It obviously can be a benefit from a standpoint of the way where you want to use it. Our defense really liked it because they’ve been able to do some things maybe they normally wouldn’t do because they can tell the guy real quick, hey, do this, and you can change it this or that. So, I think there’s definitely a positive with those things. We’re still working through how exactly you want to use it, and when it’s the ideal time to use it. But I think it’s been positive from all sides.”