Liberty has been one of the top rushing offenses in each of the past two seasons under head coach Jamey Chadwell. The Flames achieved much of that success behind Quinton Cooley and Kaidon Salter who rushed for over 4,200 yards the past two seasons. Those two have now moved on and Liberty will be looking for someone to step up in their absence.
Vaughn Blue has the most playing experience among the running backs at Liberty for the 2025 season. The redshirt-sophomore has played in 18 games over the past two seasons, rushing 54 times for 323 yards and 1 touchdown. He was a huge part of the offense during his true freshman season in 2023 before suffering an injury that caused him to miss most of the rest of the year. This past season, Blue received plenty of playing time but did not see the same volume of work. That is certainly expected to change this fall.
After spending much of his first season at Liberty after transferring from NC State at wide receiver, Juju Gray is now a full-time running back. Limited by injuries throughout much of the year, Gray had 10 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown despite working primarily at receiver. Now, he’s spending the entire off-season at running back and we could see him slide into a similar role that we saw from Aaron Bedgood in 2023, a role the Flames missed severely.
Caden Williams redshirted in 2024 while playing in 3 games and rushing the ball 14 times for 47 yards. The coaching staff has been very high on him since he arrived on campus, and we could certainly see Williams have a much larger role on the field in 2025. Unlike Gray and even Blue who are more used on the perimeter run plays and option pitches, Williams is more of a in between the tackles runner.
The other name to watch at running back throughout the spring and into the summer is Evan Dickens. A transfer from Georgia Tech, Dickens arrives to Lynchburg this spring and is looking to make a push for a starting role. He is someone who is very familiar with this coaching staff as he committed to them when they were at Coastal Carolina. When Coach Chadwell and his staff left for Liberty, Dickens reopened his recruitment and landed at Georgia Tech. After two seasons in a reserve role with the Yellow Jackets, Dickens now links back up with that coaching staff at Liberty.
“We put a big red X through the depth chart,” said Liberty Co-Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach Newland Isaac about his room entering the spring. “There are no starters. It is a competition between Juju, Vaughn, Evan, Caden, to see who’s going to be the main two backs that are going to roll out there. The other guys will be rotational, but we’re trying to find the main two right now.”
A true freshman who joined Liberty for the spring is Malachi Fannin-Render. After putting up some very impressive stats and highlights during his senior season in high school, Fannin-Render could develop into one of Liberty’s next star running backs. Right now during the spring though, thinks are moving fast for him as he adjusts to the speed of the game.
“The ability is there. The talent is there,” Isaac said of Fannin-Render. “The game is a little bit faster for him right now. We were in a staff meeting, we were talking about him and there’s some stuff that drives me crazy and (Senior Offensive Quality Control) Malcom (Dixon) is like, ‘Just relax bro, he’s supposed to still be in Algebra class right now.’ You just have to ease him into it. It moves fast for him. You’ve just got to get him to catch up to a college pace and a college practice and what it looks like. The ability, the talent, it’s there. If he had it right now mentally, you would hear me talk about him being one of those guys that can be able to go out there and contribute. Once it slows down for him, I think he’s going to be really really, really special for us.”
It doesn’t matter how good your running backs are if you don’t have a capable offensive line. The Flames are having to remake that front group right now also, with several key pieces having departed since the end of 2024. Aaron Fenimore is a returning starter at center, and he has grown into a leadership role not just on the offensive line but for the entire team. It all starts with him up front. Harrison Hayes (right guard) and Jack Tucker (left tackle) also return after spending much of the season in 2024 as starters. DJ Geth also returns. He was a key depth piece at guard for the Flames last year as a redshirt-freshman transfer from North Carolina. Andrew Johnson could also push his way into some playing time.
Liberty turned to the transfer portal and brought in three transfers during the December period to help boost this group – Christian Williams (Florida), Erwil Anthony (Wingate), Trey Bedosky (UAB).
“The main focus there was we needed guys that can play, that have played, that have shown production, and that would fit what we’re trying to get,” said Coach Chadwell of his offensive linemen transfers. “Tackle was a big deal there. We needed to bring in some guys that played tackle in games because that’s the biggest area for us where we need some improvement and need some depth.”
Bedosky was a part time starter at UAB before transferring to Liberty. Anthony was a starter at right tackle for Division II Wingate. He is expected to compete for a starting spot for the Flames while he adjusts to the higher level of competition. Williams originally committed to Louisiana under head coach Billy Napier and then followed Napier to Florida. Napier then recommended Williams to Liberty as he was looking for a new place where he could see more playing time.
The Flames will have a much different look in 2025 in the running game, and this spring will go a long way in determining if the team can get back to the same level of production it saw the past two seasons.
