Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media on Tuesday morning as the Flames continue to prepare for the 2023 season with the season opener on Saturday against Bowling Green. You can also watch the press conference on our YouTube channel, the video is also below. We will plan on live streaming each of Coach Chadwell’s press conferences this season.
Here is everything Coach Chadwell had to say, beginning with his opening statement.
“There’s some excitement. I said there is still some anxiousness right now because we are not completely ready for the game, so as a coach I am a little anxious. Hopefully I get to where I’m nervous, that would be a good thing. That means that I feel like we’re prepared for it.”
“As a coach, you try not to look too far ahead because you are focused on your team and the things you need to do to get ready not just for the game but really the season. As we get closer here, our staff is excited about it because for the majority of us it’s the first time we ever get to run out at home, that’s something we are looking forward to.”
ARE YOU PLEASED WITH YOUR TEAM’S EFFORT?
“This is practice number two for us. I said this last week, our energy, the attitude has been really good. Yesterday was spirited which is expected. The thing we’ve got to continue to harp on and make sure our guys understand what it’s going to take from the energy and the attitude we have to play with. We have to continue to harp on those things, the discipline it takes to play at a high level consistently. I shared with them the last few days that I really like the attitude they have brought to practice.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR 1ST TEAM OFFENSE IS STARTING TO GEL?
“I think we are making progress. Obviously, when you play an opponent, you game plan for them. So, the plays might not be that much different but there are some intricacies, whether it’s a certain check or some of those things. We’ve been trying to do as much as we can there to get them as comfortable. We are way better than where we were last week, not where we want to be yet for that, but that’s why I need practice.”
DO YOU EVER FIND THAT YOU HAVE TO REEL THE GUYS BACK SOME AS THE GAME APPROACHES?
“I wish we had to reel them back but most kids aren’t that way. I do like what our attitude has been, but we could always be even more into it like coaches are. We are ready to play all the time, players don’t think that way quite as much, some do. There are certain ones you have to you know you gotta slow it down a little bit. The majority of them don’t think that way. If you feel like, as a team, that they understand what it takes to practice every day, the high level, then you can’t harp on those other things. Right now we are doing both but the last week has been good for the effort as far as that stand point.”
DO YOU FEEL LIKE YOUR OFFENSE IS AS COMFORTABLE WITH IT AS YOU HOPED IT WOULD BE?
“We’ve not installed tons of things. I think the thing as a coach that we have to fight is them just understanding the nuances of it. Like, we could do this but we can’t do it because they’re not ready for it. So, for us, I think we have to look and say what can we do not what can we do and what can our players execute. I think we have made strides and understand what we’re trying to do with it. It’s also going to be brand new for them all. There are certain things that we want to do but we just can’t. That’s what we’re trying to put together the best game plan with what our players can accomplish and play well. I like where we are headed in that direction.”
DO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAVE ANY TRADITIONS ON GAME DAY?
“You know we’ve had so many different, over the last few years, different games on different days and all those things. Afterwards, there’s certain things afterwards you do if you win, obviously if you lose you don’t want to be around me at all. I’m sure we have one, but I can’t think of any at all.”
IT’S GAME 1 FOR BOWLING GREEN, DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE A LOT OF WHAT THEY DID LAST YEAR OR IS THERE SOME ANXIOUSNESS AS FAR AS THE UNKNOWNS OF WHAT THEY MAY TRY TO DO?
“They do have a new defensive coordinator. He has been there with them. Our expectations are that they are going to be what they’ve shown since the coach has been there. I’m sure they are going to have little changes here or there, but what they’re about, that’s what they’re about. They are a physical team. They like to run the ball. They do a lot of different personnel on offense and on defense they are very aggressive. Special teams, they do a good job with a couple categories last year they were top 25 in special teams. I think they are a very aggressive mindset. We don’t expect that to change much. I think we have a good idea of who we feel they are going to be. Now, there are different players and different people doing it. Once they are here and this guy is playing this position and not this position, then that’s the things we will have to figure out on game day and how to adjust to.”
THEY AREN’T GOING TO ANNOUNCE THEIR STARTING QB, HOW MUCH OF AN ADVANTAGE IS THAT FOR THEM?
“If your quarterbacks are completely different styles, then I think it’s a huge advantage. If one guy is one way and one guy is the other, there are two different things you have to prepare for. I think it does make it a little more challenging from a standpoint of you want to try to have enough understanding of who the guy is and maybe what he’s good at and what he’s not. It does make it a little more difficult, but as a defense you are preparing, just like they are, preparing for what they’ve shown whatever last few years no matter who is playing quarterback, that’s not going to change that much. Once they find out who it is, then there are certain things that we want to try to do with him than they would with someone else and we will try to adjust to it.”
FOR YOU PREVIOUSLY, SUCCESS HAS BEEN LIMITING TURNOVERS, GET 4-5 YARDS PER CARRY, AND YOU GET AFTER THE QB, HOW GOOD DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THOSE 3 FACETS ABOUT WHERE YOUR TEAM IS NOW?
“No matter what scheme you have, if you do those things you have a chance to win. Limiting turnovers is the biggest thing that we’ve tried to focus on because if we can control the ball that means our defense is not out there as much so when they are out there that means they can get after that quarterback which is a big deal. If we can run the ball for yards a carry like that then that opens up a lot of your play action and different things and gives you a chance for explosive plays. That’s the recipe that we’ve used that we’ve been able to have some success with and that’s what we will get to here, I have no doubt. My biggest concern right now is because it is new for a lot of the guys, how we will respond when they give us a different look. We know what the go to is, can our guys execute how to do that, so taking care of the ball, some of those things. That’s been our push, that’s our emphasis that we’ve been harping on since we got here. I know our team understands that now we’ve got to go out and do that.”
ARE YOU READY FOR SATURDAY TO BE HERE SO YOU CAN JUST GET OUT THERE AND PLAY?
“No, I think we still need some days. What I mean by that is cleaning up some of the things that need to be fixed so we can go in there and feel if we go and handle our business then I feel good about coming out of there. We’re not there yet from a team-wise. I’m not saying we’re far off, but there are some things we’ve got to clean up and some situations, different things that come a long in a game that we have to have 100% confidence we can do. I know our guys will believe they can get it done. I want to ensure they execute it in practice so we can do that. Give me a couple more days.”
DO THEIR SKILL PLAYERS GIVE YOU SOME UNREST?
“I do think they’ve got some good skill guys. The challenge for us is they obviously do well on special teams as well. From a kicking game stand point, kick returners and punt returners guys they can really cause havoc from that. That is something we have to do a really good job of. I think they’ve got some guys that if you get the ball in space they can make you miss and do some things. We’re going to have to do a good job from a defensive standpoint of bending and not breaking. What I mean by that is not give up any big plays, if they earn it on us, they earn it, but the worst thing that you want as a coach is you give up an explosive play, a 70-80 yard touchdown because someone busted or something like that, that is demoralizing. If people earn on you and they can just take the ball down the field consistently, then hey we will tip our hat from that, but we don’t want to do anything to give them free stuff. They have guys, if we’re not paying attention, that can do that.”
HOW ARE YOU WITH THE INJURIES YOU MENTIONED LAST WEEK?
“I think there are some guys that have shored up health wise. There was never a doubt they would be able to play, the biggest question mark we had was what would they be able to do from an execution stand point because they’ve missed some of the timing of things and some of those. We are obviously working hard on not only trying to get that to where it needs to be. Our anticipation is that hopefully things go well the rest of the week and we should have as full a compliment of a team as we could have.”
