Liberty football completed spring practice what feels like months ago and is now navigating its way through the spring transfer portal window. As the Flames put the finishing touches on its roster for 2025, we are going to begin a new series over the next couple of weeks where we break down each position as the roster is currently constructed. Of course, Liberty is expected to make additions to several of its rooms in the spring portal, and we will keep our roster reviews updated with all the news that breaks throughout this spring portal season. With that being said, we begin today with a look at the quarterback position.

Entering his third season as head coach at Liberty, Jamey Chadwell will see someone other than Kaidon Salter make the start at quarterback when the Flames open the season August 30 against Maine. Who exactly that quarterback will be is still unknown and Chadwell likely won’t make an official announcement on who the team’s QB1 will be for Week 1 until game week, at the earliest.

At the end of spring practice, the leader in the clubhouse to be that starter is Ethan Vasko. The 6’3″, 220 pound quarterback is originally from Chesapeake, Virginia where he attended Oscar Smith High School. He began his college career at Kansas before transferring to Coastal Carolina and new head coach Tim Beck following the 2022 season.

Vasko started all 12 games for Coastal in 2024, throwing 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions with a 55% completion percentage while throwing for over 2,000 yards. In his most recent performance, Vasko completed 13 of 17 passes for 200  yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown on 13 rushing attempts. The regular season finale performance at Georgia State helped lift the Chanticleers to the win and bowl eligibility.

During his two seasons at Coastal, Vasko played in 20 games. He completed 224 of his 393 passes for 2,889 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. A mobile quarterback, Vasko rushed the ball 170 times for 815 yards and 7 scores as he brings something the other quarterbacks in the room don’t possess and that’s significant playing experience at the college level.

Ryan Burger joined the Flames a year ago through the transfer portal, coming over from Appalachian State where he began the 2023 season as App’s starting quarterback before suffering a hand injury in the first half of the first game that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Burger played in just two games while at App State, starting the 2023 opener, completing 11 of 17 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. He also played 26 snaps against Robert Morris as a true freshman in 2022.

Burger served as Salter’s backup in 2024. He got playing time in five games, most notably in the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo, where Liberty lost 26-7. Burger started that game as Salter was already in the transfer portal. He completed 4 of 12 passes for 40 yards and was sacked 3 times. He also rushed 11 times for 57 yards. Burger did miss the spring practice sessions due to a concussion suffered in the bowl game which certainly set him back in the chase to become Liberty’s starter.

Another transfer who joined Liberty prior to the start of spring practice is Michael Merdinger. Merdinger is a 6’3″, 200 pound quarterback who spent his true freshman season at North Carolina in 2024. He was 9 of 12 passing for 86 yards and an interception in his only appearance which came in the Fenway Bowl, a 27-14 loss for the Tar Heels to UConn. Merdinger was North Carolina’s third string quarterback for most of the 2024 season under then head coach Mack Brown. He was an early enrollee at UNC last January. He chose the Tar Heels over several offers out of high school including Georgia Tech, Michigan State, Texas A&M, Minnesota, and others. He is from Fort Lauderdale and Cardinal Gibbons where he was a three-star prospect and the 34th best quarterback in his recruiting class as he threw for 2,850 yards and 26 touchdowns as a senior. Merdinger is in the mix, but he is probably best served to sit behind a more experienced Vasko or Burger this fall to continue to develop.

In addition to Burger, Liberty also returns Jayden Bradford. The 6’0″, 185 pound quarterback redshirted and did not see any action during his true freshman campaign in 2024. He was a highly sought after high school quarterback, choosing the Flames over a laundry list of suitors. Bradford is originally from South Carolina where he attended Chapin High School before transferring to national powerhouse IMG Academy where he was 18-1 as the starter. Like Burger, Bradford missed the spring due to a wrist injury suffered during the 2024 season.

Liberty also welcomes in true freshman Ethan Houck from Brunswick, Maryland. Houck is a highly rated prospect who comes into Liberty as the highest rated quarterback to ever sign with the Flames out of high school. Houck, a three-star rated prospect, was the highest rated quarterback to sign with a Group of Five program this past recruiting class. A mid-year enrollee, he is rated by 247Sports as the fourth highest rated recruit in program history after passing for 2,156 passing yards with 42 total touchdowns during his senior year.