When Jamey Chadwell was hired as Liberty’s head coach prior to the 2023 season, he needed to determine who was going to be his signal caller that fall. After a quarterback battle that lasted into training camp, Chadwell and his staff singled in on Kaidon Salter. The Tennessee transfer would go on to start the first 25 games under Chadwell, posting a record of 21-4. Now, with Salter having transferred to Colorado, Chadwell is back looking his next starter.
Liberty has two quarterbacks on the roster that return from last season in Ryan Burger and Jayden Bradford. Serving as Salter’s backup last year, Burger completed 8 of 19 passes for 88 yards while rushing 17 times for 70 yards and a touchdown in limited playing time. As a true freshman, Bradford didn’t see the field as he redshirted.
Chadwell and the Flames were aggressive in seeking quarterbacks in the transfer portal in December, bringing in Ethan Vasko and Michael Merdinger.
“Both of them are very intelligent,” Chadwell said of the two transfers. “As far as in the meetings and picking up the offense, they both have done a great job so far picking that up. Now, they’re translating it to practice, but, as far as being able to show you what they need to do and doing it on the board and understanding what we’re trying to do, they both have got a good knowledge.”
Those two are joined this spring by incoming true freshman Ethan Houck from Brunswick, Maryland. Houck is a highly rated prospect who comes into Liberty as the highest rated quarterback to ever sign with the Flames out of high school.
Ryan Burger and Jayden Bradford are both missing the spring due to injury, as Burger hasn’t been cleared yet from a concussion he suffered in the Bahamas Bowl game against Buffalo and Bradford had surgery on his wrist that was injured during the season. Their absence is allowing the three newcomers to get a lot of reps and long looks from the coaching staff during the spring practice periods. Chadwell said he intends on giving all three of them a fairly even number of reps during the spring.
Liberty’s coaching staff already had a relationship with both transfers Vasko and Merdinger before they entered the transfer portal. While at Coastal Carolina, the staff recruited Vasko when he was in high school. He ended up signing with Kansas before transferring to Coastal Carolina and now Liberty. This staff recruited him all three times he was available including in the spring of 2023 shortly after they came to Liberty when he ended up transferring to Coastal. Liberty also recruited Merdinger heavily out of high school with him even taking an official visit to campus in Lynchburg before he ultimately signed with North Carolina and spent his true freshman season in 2024.
Vasko is originally from Chesapeake, Virginia where he attended Oscar Smith High School. He started all 12 games for Coastal in 2024, throwing 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions with a 55% completion percentage while throwing for over 2,000 yards. In his most recent performance, Vasko completed 13 of 17 passes for 200 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on 13 rushing attempts. The regular season finale performance at Georgia State helped lift the Chanticleers to the win and bowl eligibility. During his two seasons at Coastal, Vasko played in 20 games. He completed 224 of his 393 passes for 2,889 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. A mobile quarterback, Vasko rushed the ball 170 times for 815 yards and 7 scores.
Merdinger was 9 of 12 passing for 86 yards and an interception in his only appearance at North Carolina which came in the Fenway Bowl, a 27-14 loss for the Tar Heels to UConn. He was North Carolina’s third string quarterback for most of the 2024 season under then head coach Mack Brown. He is from Fort Lauderdale and Cardinal Gibbons where he was a three-star prospect and the 34th best quarterback in his recruiting class as he threw for 2,850 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior. Merdinger was born in Tel Aviv, Israel and moved to the US when he was 8. He is believed to be the first Israeli-born athlete to play in the FBS.
Houck was a three-star rated prospect, was the highest rated quarterback to sign with a Group of Five program this past recruiting class. A mid-year enrollee, he is rated by 247Sports as the fourth highest rated recruit in program history after passing for 2,156 passing yards wtih 42 total touchdowns during his senior year.
Liberty Co-Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks Coach Willy Korn said that the Flames will not be making a decision on their starter at quarterback this spring, but that the battle will go into fall camp. This allows both Burger and Bradford the opportunity to still compete for the job despite missing the spring while also letting the three getting reps during the spring be more relaxed knowing they have numerous opportunities to showcase their ability.
“Obviously, that’s the most important position that we’ve got to try to figure out who the starter is there,” Chadwell said of the quarterback room. “Bringing in the guys with the talent level they have, but also just really with how they care about teammates. They care about being a good quarterback, they care about being a good teammate, and you can see that in the short amount of time that they’ve been here. Guys see how hard they work and see what’s important to them, and it’s been good to see.”
