On December 4, 2022, just shy of one full year ago, Jamey Chadwell was announced as the program’s new head football coach. During that introductory press conference, Coach Chadwell stated that he and his staff’s goal was to be competing for conference championships.
On Friday, Chadwell and the Flames have a chance to accomplish that feat in his first year guiding the program.
There have been numerous obstacles that stood in the way of Chadwell and Liberty from reaching this point, on the cusp of the first ever FBS conference championship in school history.
Chadwell had to assemble a staff, navigate the transfer portal, replace 50% of the roster, get the roster to buy into his philosophy, suffer through the tragic passing a teammate during training camp, and identify a starting quarterback, to name a few of the larger ones.
Behind Chadwell and the coaching staff, this team has navigated those rough waters and put together a perfect season, to this point. There is still football to be played. There are still goals left in front of this team.
“We’re not done yet,” said Liberty 6th year senior captain and starting linebacker Tyren Dupree. “I feel like our story is still being written. We are going to continue to harp on taking it one day at a time.”
That mindset has guided the Flames to several accomplishments already this season.
Liberty completed the regular season, the first as a member of Conference USA, a perfect 12-0. The Flames have set a program record for wins in a season, while also becoming the first FBS football team in the Commonwealth of Virginia to win 12 games in a single year. Liberty is also ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 25 for the first time ever, checking in at No. 24 in this week’s ranking, which leaves a path for the Flames to reach a New Year’s Six bowl game.
The 2023 season has been a special one for the Flames. Friday will allow Liberty to punctuate it with a conference title.
“It’s one that everybody is looking forward to,” Chadwell said of Friday’s game against New Mexico State. “It’s something that was out there, but now to be here and be in the moment, it is a special time. Obviously, coming off the season we’ve had, to be able to host it, that doesn’t happen often. We are thankful for that, but also it is more, as a coach, you are just thinking about getting your team ready to play their best. We are going to need to play our best if we want to have a chance to win.”
Standing in the way is 10-3 New Mexico State. Under second year head coach Jerry Kill, the Aggies are one of the hottest teams in the country. They have won eight games in a row, having not lost a game since the month of September. During their win streak, the Aggies have won games at Auburn and against the best of the rest of CUSA in Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State.
“New Mexico State is arguably playing the best football of any team in the country, that’s Power Five, FBS, anywhere,” Chadwell said. “They are playing with tremendous confidence. We are going to have to play well. I don’t know if there’s an excitement when you are trying to get ready and you are watching them. It’s more of are we doing everything we can to try and prepare to play our best. It will be a special opportunity Friday night to be able to run out knowing you are playing for a conference title.”
Also in their first year in CUSA, NMSU finished the regular season with a 7-1 mark in conference play, their only setback coming at the hands of the unbeaten Flames, 33-17, on September 9th. It was a game where Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter threw for 276 yards and scored four total touchdowns to help lead his team to the win.
“They are not the same team we played at the beginning of the year, but us also, we are not the same team that we were at the beginning of the year,” Salter said of Friday night’s battle. “We’ve got to understand that both teams are going to come out and play their best. It’s going to be who prepares the best and who wants it more at the end of the day.”
The Aggies also have a dynamic, dual-threat quarterback that they follow behind. This season, Diego Pavia has completed 199 of 325 passes for 2,727 yards, 23 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Pavia also leads the team in rushing as he’s carried the ball 153 times for 808 yards and 5 scores. He first flashed on the scene nationally with his six touchdown performance in a 49-14 win at Liberty last November.
“He’s a fantastic player,” Dupree said of Pavia. “Based on his style of play and how their whole offense is, if he is playing well, they are going to play really well.”
Kill, Pavia, and New Mexico State will enter Friday’s game as the underdog. Nobody is expecting them to come into Williams Stadium and pick up a win, much like it was last November before they dismantled the Flames and just a couple weeks ago when they went to Auburn, Alabama and dominated the SEC Tigers.
“They haven’t played here for a conference championship for a long time,” Kill said of New Mexico State and the challenge that lies in front of them. “You worry about the nerves, them going in there and playing relaxed and having fun and just playing the standard that we hold up. That’s the thing I worry about, that’s in my control, I’ve got to get them ready to play. We did it against Auburn. Nobody thought we were going to beat Auburn, our kids did. Our kids, right now, are playing hard. They’ve gained more confidence as the weeks have gone by.”
The two teams are no strangers to one another, and the Aggies are certainly no stranger to Williams Stadium. This will be the third time they have played in Liberty’s home football stadium in the last year while the Flames have faced NMSU six times over the past six years.
“There’s not going to be any surprises,” Chadwell said. “You have an understanding of what your opponent is because you’ve seen them up close and in person, as far as their personnel. I think it’s a unique deal. I like it because you get to decide a true champion.”
One team will exit Williams Stadium Friday night hoisting a trophy and will begin to get sized for championship rings. Liberty hopes it is them as they look to continue to write the book that is the 2023 football season.
“This is bigger than football,” said Salter of Friday’s showdown. “It’s bigger than just this year. This goes on for many years. Pretty sure there’s a lot more people probably way more excited than we are to be hosting this game, blessed to have this opportunity.”
This season marks the 50th year of Liberty football. The Flames are hoping to end it as the undisputed best team in program history as an undefeated Conference USA champion. A win Friday would accomplish that and also check off a couple of boxes Coach Chadwell set out for himself back on Dec. 4 when he was named Liberty’s head coach.
“We are going to continue to build this program where it’s the premier program in G5, that’s our goal,” Chadwell said in his introductory press conference. “We’re going to work hard, every day, to do that and to represent you in a manner that when you have that Liberty attire all across this country everybody is going to know about Liberty University and how special the football program is.”
