Liberty switching to afternoon practices

Typically, Liberty football practices in the morning throughout the year. That was the case for the first several practices of training camp this year, but the team has now transitioned to afternoon practices.

The Flames will spend the next couple of weeks practicing in the afternoon prior to classes starting later in the month. This adjustment allows the team the opportunity to get used to playing in the heat and also getting used to playing later in the day, as the team will on game days throughout the season.

“As of right now on our schedule, we don’t have a game before six o’clock until November,” said head coach Jamey Chadwell. “We’re a morning practice team all year long, just trying to get our guys used to that during that time frame a little bit.”

Wide Receiver update

We are going to begin our training camp position previews in the coming days, but, in the meantime, a quick update on the wide receiver position where the Flames are looking to replace several key departures including Noah Frith, CJ Daniels, and Aaron Bedgood.

Treon Sibley is the top returner at the position. Other than him, it’s mainly newcomers that are fighting for playing time. Chadwell highlighted Purdue transfer Elijah Canion and NC State transfer Juju Gray as players that have shown flashes.

“I think there’s consistency that needs to happen there,” said Chadwell. “Most of them just got here in the summer, so their knowledge offensively is not where other people’s is, and they’ve got to make that up. You still see they’re thinking a little bit, but from a from an athletic standpoint, they’ve been able to make some plays out there. There’s got to be consistency from them.”

“Our guys that are returning have not missed a step that were either here in the spring or with us last year,” he continued. “They’ve done a nice job of helping those newer people take steps, but we need to be consistent.”

Depth on defense

The Flames have added some depth on defense and the competition is at a high level. Coach Chadwell mentioned both the linebacker and safety position as two groups that have a lot of competition and depth competing for playing time.

“Linebacker, there’s probably six guys that have a chance to play at some point there,” he said. “I think they can play and have some type of role on the team. In the secondary, from a safety position, we got a lot of guys there that have the ability to play in this league. I think the key is going to be there, just who’s consistent, but I think there’s a lot of depth there and a lot of competition.”

Still looking for an answer at kicker

This has become a reoccurring theme for Liberty the past few years. The Flames continue looking for a consistent, proven option at kicker. This trend has continued into this year’s training camp so far.

“We had a really good day (Monday),” said Chadwell. “We had a field goal competition, and I don’t think we missed one. Now the day before, we didn’t know what an upright looked like. So, there needs to be some more consistency.”

Nick Brown has been the primary kicker for the team the last couple of years. In 2023, he made 5 of his 10 field goal attempts with a long of 41 while connecting on 65 of his 66 extra points. Brayden Beck has also had his opportunities. In 2021, he made 4 of 5 field goals with a long of 43, but he has been primarily relegated to a bench role the past couple of seasons.

Colin Karhu is another name to watch. He transferred to Liberty from North Greenville during the offseason. In 3 years there, Karhu made 32 of 41 field goals including 14 of 18 in 2023 with a long of 54. He also made all 25 of his extra points last season.

“We’ve got a battle there, three or four guys and somebody needs to take a hold of it and just have consistent days,” Chadwell stated. “Hopefully, over the next 20 practices, we’ll have somebody we can say this is our guy, that we can count on, and go out there, not gonna make them all, but we just know that when he goes out there, you know, there’s a good chance that he’s gonna be consistent in what we need him to do.”