For a second straight season Liberty had an intense quarterback battle in the spring and through training camp.
Last year, under head coach Hugh Freeze, it was Charlie Brewer who was named the starter heading into week one. He was injured in the first quarter of the season opener at Southern Miss, and the Flames turned first to Johnathan Bennett and then to redshirt-freshman Kaidon Salter.
It was on Salter’s back that Liberty was able to pull out the victory against Southern Miss in four overtimes and then nearly upset Top 25 Wake Forest on the road a couple weeks later. Unfortunately, Salter suffered a groin injury requiring him to miss much of the season before returning for the stretch run. By then, Bennett had won games over BYU and Arkansas and Salter never got back to his pre-injury form.
Under new head coach Jamey Chadwell, Salter and Bennett were joined by Southern Miss transfer Trey Lowe in the competition. By all accounts, the battle was very close, particularly between Salter and Bennett, deep into training camp.
Following Fan Appreciation Day in mid-August, the Flames were moving towards finishing training camp and move towards game prep for the season opener against Bowling Green. Less than 10 days before the opener, Coach Chadwell and staff informed the quarterbacks and the rest of the team that it would be Salter who would be called on as the team’s starter.
“At the end of the day we are trying to win a conference championship,” Chadwell said of his decision to go with Salter. “We thought, if we could continue to develop him and he continues to build that confidence, that he gives us that chance to do that. That was our mindset with that. We knew he was going to make some mistakes and some things, but what we want to do is to build confidence in (him).”
Salter obviously has talent and an incredibly high ceiling. He showed that last year during his time on the field. As a redshirt-freshman, the former Tennessee transfer played in 8 games and completed 58.4% of his 149 passes for 1,088 yards, and 8 touchdowns. The dual threat quarterback rushed 69 times for 285 yards and 2 additional scores.
Coach Freeze frequently mentioned Salter’s inconsistent play and not knowing the full playbook as what was limiting him in his development last season. That seems to have changed since the end of the 2022 season as Coach Chadwell mentioned his commitment to learning to be in the playbook and get the most out of his abilities is what helped push Salter to the top of the chain of command at quarterback.
“I don’t know how much he prepared to be the best,” Chadwell said of Salter. “He has a lot of talent, but I don’t know how much he put in to really wanting to be the best quarterback. Through the spring, he started learning that it takes a lot of preparation to be the guy. From the end of spring practice through fall camp, he was our number one guy as far as watching video. That’s where it turned at. He really started preparing and getting better there.”
Salter echoed those thoughts and said he committed to the process during the offseason.
“I just had to lock in more on football,” said Salter. “I was letting some outside things get to me. I just needed to handle my business, watch film and stuff. Now, it’s just strictly football. Going out there, watching extra film, meeting with the coaches, knowing that I gotta do it every play, executing so we can go out and win games.”
The revolving door at quarterback last year also affected not just Salter’s confidence but all of the quarterbacks in the room. Having more than a week knowing he was the starter has helped instill confidence in him and letting him focus on doing his job the best that he can.
“Going out there knowing that I’m starting the first game, it was very big for me,” he said following the first game, a win for the Flames over Bowling Green. “Just to go out there and show everybody what Liberty has coming at the quarterback position. Just want to go out there and do what we do and play Liberty football that we know we can play.”
Chadwell and his staff have also been very adamant about instilling confidence in Salter, as well. The coaching staff met with him and have let him know that they are riding with him this season through the ups and downs that may come. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder and worry about if he’s going to get pulled from the game for making a mistake.
“He has a habit of looking over his shoulder and oh man, bad play, world’s ending, whatever,” Chadwell explained. “We told him up front, you’re the guy. I’m not looking to yank you out, we’re going to fight through it with you. He’s took a hold of that. There’s going to be still a learning curve with him, but really liked how he stayed composed (in the opener).”
In the season opener, Salter completed 11 of 20 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed the ball 19 times for 82 yards. Most importantly though, he didn’t turn the ball over.
“I thought that was the key – he didn’t turn it over, he took care of the football, he carried it a little loose sometimes, we gotta fix that,” Chadwell said. “I thought he managed pretty well. There are some things that we can do better, he can do better, that we missed that probably would have helped us in some situations there.”
It obviously wasn’t a perfect performance. There were reads he missed, some small details he needs to improve on, but, all in all, it was a very good outing for Salter. This might not have been his first career start at the college level, but it was his first start in this new, spread triple option offensive attack that Chadwell and his staff bring to the table.
“For the first time, at least in our offense and the things we’re asking him to do, very proud of the way he competed,” said Chadwell. “He took care of the ball, he handled his business, he didn’t get down on himself when he didn’t make the plays that he needed to. I thought he made pretty smart decisions. We can build off that.”
Looking ahead to this week’s game against New Mexico State where both teams will make their Conference USA debuts, the Flames are hoping that Salter won’t have to run the ball 19 times like he did in week one. Many of those rush attempts were based on what the Bowling Green defense was giving Salter and the Liberty offense. There were some designed quarterback runs and that will still be a part of the game plan moving forward due to Salter’s athleticism.
“We know that next game we gotta come out and be even better,” Salter said following the team’s win over the Falcons in week one. “We can always do better on some things. I know I missed a few reads out there that I could have done better on. We just got to come out execute and be even more prepared.”
As Liberty gets deeper into the 2023 season, the offensive game plan will get deeper and more involved than what the Flames showed in week one. Salter’s abilities can be highlighted in this system as it gives him the opportunity to get out on the edge and make the defense decide whether to defend him or the running back.
Salter says he feels much more comfortable in the offense now than he did in the spring, crediting most of his growth to the extra time spent in the playbook.
“I started out slow in the spring with the offense, but film helped me get there and extra reps,” Salter said. “I got that in the back of my head now, most of the whole offense. I just go out there and execute and play the game.”
As he continues to get more and more comfortable in the offense, we will continue to see Salter make strides on the field. Another area that he will continue to improve on is his leadership ability. Coach Chadwell provided an example from training camp when Kaidon spoke out in a team meeting about ensuring his teammates get to class on time as classes were starting for the fall semester. That’s just one small example of how he has grown since early in his career.
“I’m not saying he didn’t care about football, but what it takes to be a high level quarterback,” Chadwell explained. “He has the talent to be that, but it’s got to be more than that. You’ve got to have the guys in the locker room saying that’s our guy. Now, I don’t know if that was the case, but he’s been really tremendous.”
Let’s not forget the level of talent Salter has. He is a former four-star recruit out of Cedar Hill High School in Texas, ranked as a top 10 quarterback in the country for his class. His offer list included Arkansas, Ole Miss, Auburn, UCLA, Georgia Tech, Baylor, Michigan State, and Syracuse before he ultimately signed with Tennessee where he began his college career.
Salter finished his high school career with over 5,500 passing yards and 52 touchdowns to go along with over 1,600 rushing yards and an additional 26 touchdowns. As a senior, he threw for 2,571 yards and ran for 1,075 yards with 45 total touchdowns. After leading Cedar Hill to the state title game as a senior, Salter was named the 2020 Dallas Morning News Offensive Player of the Year and the 2020 Sports Illustrated Texas High School Football Quarterback of the Year.
“He may have taken the biggest step from the end of the spring until now in that category of taking care of the football and understanding what his assignment is,” said Liberty Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach Willy Korn. “That’s a big credit to him putting the time in. I think he knows how talented he is. I think everybody on the team knows how talented he is. Tremendous amount of growth in terms of putting the time in and developing there.”
He has the potential to help lead this Liberty offense and Liberty team to heights never before seen on the Mountain. He must take it one step at a time and not attempt to rush the process. Salter has put in the work during the offseason, and he is beginning to see the fruits of that labor on the field.
“I’m getting back to my groove, like back in high school,” Salter said. “Just going and out and having fun playing ball, can’t go out there and try to look over your shoulder every play. Going out there and having fun, not worried about mistakes, just playing Liberty football.”
