Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media on Tuesday as he recaps the Flames’ win over East Carolina as well as look ahead to this week’s contest against Appalachian State. Check out the full video and transcript from his press conference below.

“After going back and looking at it, thought our defense really played well all game. Put ourselves in some situations with some unfortunate turnovers and some unfortunate penalties, but I thought they played well. Then, the drive before halftime, from an offensive standpoint, I think we scored five straight drives and really started playing better at key positions, and just found ourself, found a rhythm, and so really pleased with how we finished and played.”

“You know, we’ve played twice now after midnight in the light blue uniforms, if you guys know anything about Flames, when are they the hottest? When it’s light blue. So, after midnight, we’ve been hot.”

“Our guys found a way there. Obviously it wasn’t clean. There’s some things that I’ve got to help us get cleaned up that’s put us in some bad situations. But, from an effort standpoint, from being locked in for some things, pleased with that. It’s a good win for us, obviously, a region game, an out of conference game against a conference that is well respected nationally, and that can help us if ECU can continue to hopefully win, I think that can help us.”

“We know we got another big one this week. Even though we have seven days, in theory, to turn around because we played so late. Our opponent played on Thursday night, so they got extra time for us, and so they’re going to have a great plan. So, we’ve got to really have a great week of preparation and be able to come back and build off of what we did. We can’t have one game and then go backwards. This has gotta be a checkpoint for us to be from here going forward this is how we’re going to play.”

Shawn Clark, any familiarity with him?

“Yes, Shawn, I think, four times now, maybe. ’19, ’20, ’21, ’22, this would be the fifth time. I think we’re 2-2, I can’t remember, but Shawn does a great job there. He’s got a tough job. He’s at an alma mater that he loves, and they have high expectations, and he’s done really well, but I don’t know if he’s ever met those expectations. I think he’s averaged like 8 or 9 wins a year. I mean, it’s unbelievable. Shawn does a great job there.”

“Obviously they had a setback last week, but if you know anything about them, I can give you an example. ’21 we go up there to play themm, they get beat 41-13 by Louisiana the week before. We roll in there they beat us on a last second kick. So, he’s been in situations like this, and he always finds a way to rally the team, and they end up going on a run. I know he’s confident in the players he has there and the coaches. He’s been in a situation like this, and he’s overcame it and end up winning Eastern Division championships and playing for conference championships.”

“We know, I know, our team knows, our coaches know, the team that was last Thursday is not the team we’re playing. For whatever reason, last Thursday happened for them. He always does a great job of rallying his team and galvanizing them. We’re gonna have to go play well. It’s a tough place to play. They got great fans, great environment. They care. They’ve got a good team.”

“Another big challenge for us, which I’m excited about. We need to see where we’re at. We need to see how good we can be. Honestly, I wish we were better at certain things, and we’re not. We’re getting closer. Have we’ve gotten better throughout the four game? Yes, we have, but we’re going to have to play well to go beat a team, Coach Clark and his team and the way that they play, what they’re capable of, we’re going to play really well.”

Do you have an update on Brylan Green?

“He’ll be out. It’s concussion-like symptoms. Anytime you have that, you can’t play the next week whether you’re ready to go or not, that’s just from a safety standpoint. So, he’ll be out, which is unfortunate. He’s obviously one of our better players, punt return, and he does a lot for us. But, we don’t anticipate it being longer…because you have a couple, I don’t want to say an open date, but you have a little longer to play the next one. Hopefully, if he responds well, he should be back for the FIU week.”

Who will get his reps at punt return?

“Reese Smith will probably be there. Tyson Mobley has done it. We’ve had three or four guys do it. Darius Copeland would have. We’ve had some guys that have practiced and have done it in some games before. Right now, Reese Smith would be the one to go out.”

Do you do anything differently this week to try to overcome the slow starts?

“Well, we changed it last week. We thought we had a great week of prep, and we really did. After the slow start, if you look at it, we played really well. It might not be the whole team. It might be certain positions that aren’t starting well. So, what can we do for those certain positions to help them play cleaner right away and be into it right away? We’re looking at some things. Whether it’s changing up a routine, or maybe allowing them to be more involved in some of the things that we’re going to do early, just to come out of the gate better. Because if we come out of the gate better, that’s probably not a close game.”

Is there any physical preparation that’s different given the late night into Sunday?

“We’ve done it before, a couple weeks ago. I think now the guys understand the challenge. A couple weeks ago, you do it, you’re late, and then you got a flight pack and the flight dehydration. Did you know for every hour you’ve been on a plane, you lose eight ounces of water? So if you are on a four hour plane, that’s 32 ounces worth of water. That’s a lot of water. We don’t have to worry about that. I think our guys understand the rest they need to go play well. To me, it’s the rest, it’s recovery, and it’s not necessarily the Saturday night. They slept Sunday, probably, a long time, some of them did, but it’s now. It’s the Mondays, it’s the Tuesdays, it’s going to bed at night. They gotta make sure they recover. Like coaches, we still haven’t recovered from New Mexico State, to be honest with you, because you are constantly on the go, and then we have these delays. You can’t get any rest because you’re back in here. If they’ll handle their business, I don’t think there’s a much of a change in that because they’ve done it before.”

What do you think of Kaidon Salter’s rushing numbers being down a little bit this year compared to last year?

“One, there was maybe last year some more calls for him to run. We’ve not done near as much of that this year. Two, every game somebody’s had a spy on him. They’re like don’t rush tons and have somebody waiting on him. Everybody’s done that a little bit, so that challenges you a little bit. But also, too, I think he’s making better decisions down the field as well. Last year, as he was learning the system, maybe some of the runs he got were unbelievable, but maybe there was a guy open he didn’t see, and that’s why that led me to a 50-yard rush, but it could have been a pass. I think this year, he’s way more comfortable from a system standpoint, so he’s making the throws. When he does run, people have done a good job spying and some of those things, but I think when he has, it’s been productive for some big deals. Two that stick out in my mind, New Mexico State, there’s a huge third down run that got us a first down, allowed us to go score. Then, this third and long the other day, I can’t remember exactly when, but scrambled around and made a big play for us. He’s been productive. It’s just not been nearly as much. 1,000 yards last year. Some of that’s more by design this year, it’s along season too. He’s more comfortable with some of the things we’re doing from a scheme standpoint. I think that’s limited some of those opportuniteis that maybe last year he would have had.”

Are you pleased with his response after the start he got off to last week?

“I mean, we had two turnovers in the first. He had a pick, had a fumble. We should have had a third one. For him to come back and played really, really played at a high, high level there after that. From running, from operating the offense, to getting us in the right plays. He did respond in a good way. I’ve gotta, our coaches, our offensive coaches, we gotta figure out how we can help him be his best from opening through all that. Whatever that is, whether that’s the routine on game day, whether that’s being more involved, whatever it may be, we’ve got to figure that out because when he’s on his game, he’s as good as anybody in this country. I think he showed that in some key, big moments. I think you’re finding we’re trusting each other more, receiver wise, guys making plays. We are getting to where I think, I believe, we’re capable of. We’re not there yet, but we also have to help him get off to a better start. If we can do that, I think that helps our whole offense.”

Their QB Aguilar has thrown for a lot of yards and had a lot of success, what type of challenges does he present?

“He’s really tremendous. We thought we had him coming to our other place before we took this job. So, we know him. Big arm, great athlete, confident. He throws the ball around. They got really good receivers. I think 400+ versus ECU. I think he was 300 or whatever it was last week. He’s very confident in what they do. He’s going to be able to put some throws in some windows that not many people can make. He’s a big challenge. Plus, with the run game that they’re traditionally good at, and the different skill guys they have, it’s going to be a big challenge for our defense.”

“I love how our defense is playing, how our defensive secondary is playing right now. They’re confident, but this is, arguably, going to be the best QB they’ve went up against. I know our guys are excited about that, because there’s opportunities there. We’re going to have to play well. We’re going to have to do a good job of not letting him get out of the pocket and create extra plays. I think he does a great job of that. He’s definitely capable of beating you from the pocket because he can spin it. He can throw it really well.”