Liberty Building Depth at LB With “Program Guys”

When Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze arrived on the Mountain, he had his work cut out for him in building up the roster to be competitive with the top Group of Five programs in the country. One of the positions that needed the most assistance was at linebacker.

Defensive Coordinator Scott Symons, who coached the linebackers the last two seasons, turned to the transfer portal to help bolster the level of talent and depth at linebacker. Over the past few seasons, Liberty brought in grad transfers Anthony Butler, Rashaad Harding, and Storey Jackson to bolster the linebacker position. Each of them had very productive seasons, but they only had one year in the program before their eligibility expired.

Entering the 2022 season, Symons has left and Josh Aldridge has been promoted to Co-DC and is moving from the defensive line to coach the linebackers. He will have to do so without the team’s top two tacklers from a season ago, the aforementioned Jackson and Harding. Jackson led the team last year with 102 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 7 sacks. Harding had 80 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. Despite those losses, Aldridge is confident in what his room has entering the fall.

“I think we’ve built some depth of some program guys, guys who have been here,” Aldridge said of his linebacker room. “Anthony Butler was here for one year. Storey Jackson was here for one year. Rashaad was here for one year. Every guy that is playing linebacker now is guys who have been in our program with the exception of Mike (Smith, Jr.). You’ve got guys who know the system, that have been in the weight room with Dom. I think your linebacker, in a lot of ways, can be the quarterback of your defense if you choose for it to be. I’m really excited about the guys who have been in our program.”

Ahmad Walker will be counted on to step into a large role, to help offset the loss of Jackson and Harding. As a true freshman last year, Walker started in three of the 11 games that he played in. He finished the year with 37 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks. He is missing spring practice with scheduled offseason surgery, but Walker will likely start into a starting spot this fall.

“Ahmad Walker, you could view him as a starter,” said Aldridge. “He started several games. I think him returning, that’s quite a bit of experience. He was only a freshman though, typically you see a big jump year one to year two, looking to see that out of him.”

Tyren Dupree is another familiar name at linebacker. He played in all 13 games last season, finishing with 31 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. He is a veteran who has been around the program for several years and provides a lot of experience for the Flames at the position. Aakil Washington could also earn a starting spot at linebacker after moving from defensive end and bandit, a spot that he will still earn snaps at this fall, in addition to his time at linebacker.

“Tyren Dupree has played a ton of snaps here,” Aldridge continued. “Between Ahmad and Tyren, you have two guys who have played a lot of snaps here. Aakil Washington hasn’t played linebacker but has a tremendous amount of leadership qualities, and I think he’s going to do well there.”

Jerome Jolly, Jr. is entering his third year in the program. He has been primarily a special teams player early in his career, which began at safety, but he could grow into a role for the team this fall.

“Jerome Jolly, I think this is the year where I think he has changed his body enough where he can hold up in there,” said Aldridge. “I think he’s going to have a pretty stinking good role for us at Will-backer.”

The only newcomer who could be counted on to play in game one is Mike Smith, Jr. A JUCO transfer, Smith averaged 10 tackles per game last year. He began his JUCO career at safety and, due to COVID, played three seasons at that level before transitioning to Liberty this spring.

“You’ve got much more experience from a Junior College player than you normally do,” Aldridge said of Smith. “Normally, JUCO guys are a little behind the eight-ball when they get here in the spring learning football, the verbiage. Mike has played so much football, and he’s played multiple positions. He’s transitioned a lot better than most Junior College players I’ve coached just because he was there so long. He’s seen a lot of football. He is a football player. He’s a great athlete, don’t get me wrong, but he’s a better football player than he is an athlete. His transition has been really good.”

Aldridge is hoping to be able to rotate his linebackers in and out much more freely than the Flames were able to do so the past couple of years. Rather than having players play 70–75% of the snaps, or more, he’s hoping the linebackers will have their reps much more evenly distribute among the top 5-6 players.

“You’ve got 5-6 guys that we feel pretty good about, and that’s how many we will probably play with,” said Aldridge. “This spring is about getting those guys developed and getting them a lot of reps. The only way they are going to get better is if they go out there and screw it up some.”