Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media on Tuesday as he previews Liberty’s upcoming trip to the Bahamas for the Bahamas Bowl to take on Buffalo. Check out the full video and transcript from his press conference below.
“We’ve not started our preparation for our opponent Buffalo yet. We’ve been doing a lot of a lot of fundamental, a lot of individual work, really working on our team that we believe is going to the game. Just getting a chance for those guys to improve, from an individual standpoint, from a position standpoint, some special teams, a lot of individual and then just doing some things against each other, keeping each other sharp, a lot of scrimmage just to stay in game shape.”
“I think our players have had really good attitude. The first week was challenging with all the different things going on, from opt-outs and all the different stuff. But I think we’re in a pretty good place as far as guys working to get better and excited about the opportunity we have in front of us.”
Are all the guys in the portal not playing in the bowl game? Any change there?
“Nate Hampton is the only one that’s in the portal that will play or be in the game, because we don’t have hardly any quarterbacks. He’s definitely staying and he wanted to, I mean, Nate asked permission to go in the portal, and so sitting things there the right way. So he’s part of that. Anybody else that’s in the portal will not be playing in the game. We’ve had two guys come back, Bryce Dixon went in. He’s back. Amarian Williams went in, he’s back.”
What is your philosophy of letting players that are in the portal play?
“I did not say, if you go in the portal, you can’t play. It was all their decisions. It was all their decisions. And so that was their choice.”
How unique is this time between the end of the regular season to the bowl with signing Day and the portal? What do you think the NCAA should look at doing to change this period of time?
“It’s hard because you have a lot going on. We have a later bowl game. If we had an early one, it would be harder. They’ve got to figure out somehow not to have the free agency when it is, before the bowl game. Then, you have a challenging situation like Marshall’s having. They had a great year. Champions, their coach obviously leaves, and they can’t even go over and get a reward for the guys there. So that’s not a good look at all. I don’t know the necessary answer. The courts have said that you can have free agency, and everybody’s afraid not to give them free agency. I think there’s got to be a way to limit when that can be, If I had my best guess, you got to move the season up. You got to start the season earlier in August, not wait till September, move it up, and then have your season finished by Thanksgiving. Then that way, you can have your national signing day. You can have your bowl games a little bit earlier, and then have your free agency here at the end of December, January, when it’s not affecting the majority of your bowl games. Everybody, ourself, we’re going with a shell of a team. That’s how it is. Our opponent, I don’t think they’ve had anybody opt out, anybody go in the portal. I think everybody’s affected whether you can play the game or whether you’re still going. Everybody’s lost players. That’s not the best look, I don’t believe, for college football. What the answer is, I don’t know. To me, that’s right now with the current schedule, because we’re on an academic schedule, not an NFL model. So it’s never going to work unless you change when the free agency period is. Unless you only make it one and it’s in the spring or later in December, January. You got to figure that out, because it’ll always be like this, if they keep it the same way.”
Would there be any benefit of moving spring ball to the summer or something radical?
“I don’t know if there’s a benefit because the majority of college teams are counting on a lot of younger guys. It’s not the NFL where the guys are experienced, veterans. You’re not bringing in that many newer guys in the NFL. These guys have been playing for a while, and so they can get away with that. They can do that because they played football for a long time. I don’t think you could ever do that in college. My opinion, I think you can add a May period and do something like an extended there. Personally, I think you could probably do something like that. But again, you’re on an academic calendar. How does that work? I think you need spring ball from a development standpoint, especially, as much turnover as you have. You got to see the guys that you just get. Can they get better in a short period of time because you need to play quicker than ever.”
How much of the timing of the bowl game puts the team in a spot where the bowl game is almost used as the first steps towards the 2025 season?
“It’s been challenging, but our team’s excited about playing. They want to finish the season right away. There are obviously a lot of guys returning. It’s a good opportunity for them to set a tone for next season. Anytime you go into the off season with a victory, I think that’s important. You definitely want to do that over a loss. But also, our team knows that we can finish strong and be the first group ever to have more than eight wins consecutively. That’s never happened here. Nobody’s ever won more than eight games back to back. We have the opportunity to do that. So our team’s excited about what it can do for this year’s group and the legacy they can leave, and also just helping continue to build a program going forward. Obviously, being late in the season, the bowl game being later in the year, you can’t control that. We could control it, we didn’t do it. So that’s on us. I told our team, if you want to complain about it, it’s because you lost three times. It’s on your fault. It’s my fault. We’re not gonna complain about anything. We’re excited about going and we got a lot to play for. Whoever shows up, we’re gonna play to win.”
What has your quarterback room been like since the end of the regular season?
“Burger actually has still some, he was in concussion protocol after the last game. He’s still feeling the effects of that, so he’s been only able to do individual. Nate has been getting a lot of the reps. Nate’s done a nice job as far as directing our offense and doing some good stuff. So he’s gotten there, done a good job. Jayden has been getting some quality reps. Jayden, unfortunately, is going to have to have surgery. We’re postponing that surgery till after the bowl game. He’s going to have surgery. He’s going to miss about three months because of an injury he suffered during the season. Him and Nate have been getting the reps right now. Burger’s been getting individual, not been able to clear him for team stuff yet. But those guys are excited about the opportunity they have. They’ve all three improved during the practices that we’ve had, and our team has rallied around them, to be honest with you. They’re excited about being out there. They’re good leaders. They care about their teammates, and so that’s been good for those guys to get in front of them.”
How about the running back room?
“Billy Lucas is there. He’s banged up from the season, so he’s been not getting a lot of reps, but he’s gonna play. Caden Williams is gonna get a lot of opportunities. Vaughn Blue is going to get a lot of opportunities. Those are the three that are getting quite a bit. Juju, I count him as a receiver, but Juju is obviously being a full time running back. Kyle Hanks is there. So, we’ll have four to five guys there.”
How do you feel about the conversations you’ve had in the portal?
“It’s going well. We’ve had a lot of good players visit that we think can help our program. Some you’re waiting to hear what they decide, waiting to see what they get better. You know? I mean, it’s happening right now, but people know about us. They know the opportunity here. They know the opportunity they get from an academic standpoint, from a spiritual standpoint, from a football standpoint. We’ve been able to get a lot of good players on campus, that want to be here, want to be part of what we’re doing. We’ve got to make sure we get the right ones, and not just take ones to take one. We obviously need guys. It’s been crazy. We’ve had a bunch of people visiting and trying to practice, trying to get ready for a bowl game. It’s been a hectic time. But our guys are excited. Our coaches are excited the guys we’ve gotten on campus.”
How drastically different does it feel preparing on the offensive side compared to the defensive side?
“Well, they’ve got guys that have played quite a bit moree than maybe some of the guys have from an offensive standpoint, but we’ve all taken the same approach. Because, even though, guys have said they’re coming, I can tell you right now, there might be opt outs. You don’t know, guys go home, you don’t know who calls them. So, we’re taking who’s here and working everyone up and make sure they’re better. Defensively, obviously they’re confident what they got back there. Truth be told, offense is too. Our guys know that, hey, we’re out here, we’re together. We’re gonna play hard for each other.”
Is Reese Smith expected to play and what concerns do you have when you look at Buffalo?
“Reese is still working through his ankle there. We do expect him to play because he’ll have some time to get ready. He’s not practicing with us. He’s doing a lot of return to play and so he’s still working through some things there, but the expectation is he will play in the game.”
“The thing with Buffalo, that their coach did a fantastic job. They finished 8-4, coming off a 3-9 season before. They are extremely physical on both sides of the ball. They do a lot of stuff that challenges you from a schematic standpoint. But the thing that really pops out on video if you watch them, they play really hard, and they will lay into you. You’re going to know you’re in a game. They’re a physical group. He’s got them playing. They’ve got Defensive Player of the Year, linebacker Dolac. He’s done a phenomenal job. They really improved, just the consistency they played with. If you look at the team last year to this year, they’re not the same. They are way better. Our guys know that. Our guys know that we’ve got to play well to get a win. They know we’ve lost some people, key people. So our guys were are rallying riding around each other.”
Do you expect Bentley Hanshaw to play?
“The plan is for him to. He’s He’s not practiced yet. But part of him getting the surgery was so he could come back for the bowl game. He’s said he wants to play, and he’s rehabbing to do that. He’s not practice yet, so we’ll see how it is. Maybe we get him, hopefully, for 15-20 snaps or something like that.”
