One of the most talented football players to ever play for Liberty, Malik Willis is expected to be a first round draft pick in next month’s NFL Draft. If he is, Willis will become the second Liberty player ever selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, joining Eric Green who was taken 21st overall in the 1990 Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Behind Willis, the Flames have elevated their football program to another level that seemed many years away when the program transitioned from the FCS ranks to the FBS just a few years ago. The 6’1″, 225 pound athlete and native of Atlanta, Georgia, finished his time at Liberty with a 17-6 record as a starting quarterback. This past season, Willis completed 207 of 339 passes for 2,857 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also led the Flames in rushing with 878 yards and 13 touchdowns on 197 carries.
As for Liberty and head coach Hugh Freeze, they have enjoyed watching Willis rise from an afterthought at Auburn to one of the most sought after quarterbacks in the NFL Draft, but, now, the Flames must turn the page and begin life without Malik Willis. As difficult as that will be, it’s something that inspires Freeze.
“I say all that to say this, I’m probably weird, I know I’m weird in a lot of ways probably, but one of the things that motivates me all the time is, as happy as we are for Malik and everything, I want us to prove that we can do it with somebody else too,” Freeze said on the opening day of spring practice on March 4. “That motivates me.”
Quarterback is the most important position on a football team, and the Flames have several candidates to take over for Willis behind center this fall. Johnathan Bennett was Willis’ backup in 2021, appearing in 8 games as he completed 15 of 33 passes for 299 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Liberty also has two very talented redshirt-freshmen in Nate Hampton and Kaidon Salter who are challenging for the starting job. Freeze also brought in former Baylor quarterback Charlie Brewer who has high level starting experience.
It’s not just quarterback where Liberty is looking to replace an outgoing starter. The Flames lose valuable contributors from last season’s team at nearly every position group. Running back Joshua Mack, tight ends Johnny Huntley and Trevor Hobbs, offensive linemen Tristan Schultz, Damian Bounds, and Thomas Sargeant, wide receivers DJ Stubbs and Kevin Shaa, defensive linemen Elijah James and Ralfs Rusins, linebackers Storey Jackson and Rashaad Harding, and defensive backs Benjamin Alexander, Skyler Thomas, Cedric Stone, and Duron Lowe.
Liberty is ranked by ESPN 121st out of 131 FBS teams in terms of returning production, returning just 51% of the team’s production from 2021. Many of those players helped lead the program from the FCS to the FBS and to three straight bowl wins. They have helped change the expectations surrounding the Liberty football team.
“We are 3-0 in bowl games in 3 years so the standard has kind of been set,” said Freeze. “Until you get in a conference, the objective is become bowl eligible and be competitive in the games that are on our schedule. Next year’s schedule is by far the hardest that we’ve had. At the end of it all, to play to put another banner up in the Indoor that we’ve won another bowl game. That would be the objective. So, the mindset has certainly changed from year one. I didn’t think it was possible we could go to a bowl game after spring ball, I really didn’t, and certainly didn’t at the start of the year when I was in a hospital bed and I didn’t think we were playing really well. The mindset definitely has changed.”
Now, Freeze and the Liberty football team will have to do it with new pieces. Malik Willis is no longer on the team. Neither are all those other names that provided so much for this team over the past several years. It’s a new team and the bar has been raised.
“That probably is the biggest motivation I have for spring practice is trying to prepare ourselves to prove that it doesn’t matter what year it is and who it is, and obviously next year’s schedule is different and we can’t control all of that,” Freeze continued. “I get really excited about who is the next man up at spots.”
