With Hugh Freeze at Auburn as he has taken over as the head coach of the Tigers, Liberty has been preparing for the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl against Toledo with a change in the coaching staff.
Co-Defensive Coordinator Josh Aldridge has been named the Interim Head Coach as he leads the team’s preparation for the bowl game. New head coach Jamey Chadwell will be in South Florida for the game, but he has not been taking part in the game planning nor will he be coaching the team in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Several Liberty assistants have left the program to join Freeze at Auburn already, making way for some off the field coaches to step into a position coach role for bowl prep. Here’s how the Liberty coaching staff will look for the Boca Raton Bowl:
Acting Head Coach: Josh Aldridge
Quarterbacks: Jesse Stone
Wide Receivers: Maurice Harris
Running Backs: Bruce Johnson
Offensive Line: Chris Klenakis
Tight Ends: Zach Crisler
Defensive Line: Josh Aldridge
Linebackers: Jordan Cantrell
Cornerbacks: Darius Eubanks
Safeties: Jack Curtis
Defensive Assistant: Robert Bala (secondary)
Special Teams: Tanner Burns
Graduate assistant Malik Slater will also assist Aldridge with the defensive line.
In addition to being the acting head coach, Aldridge also moves his position coach duties from linebackers to defensive line, a position he coached at Liberty his first three seasons on the Mountain. Harris, Johnson, Klenakis, Eubanks, Curtis, and Burns remain in their positions that they held during the regular season.
Stone, Crisler, Cantrell, and Bala switch from being in an off the field capacity as analysts to being position coaches for the bowl game.
Head coach Hugh Freeze and quarterbacks coach Kent Austin were the primary play callers on the offensive side of the ball, but both of them are now at Auburn. Aldridge refused to state who will call the plays for the offense at the bowl game saying, “We will see when we show up.” Maurice Harris was co-offensive coordinator with Austin prior to the coaching change, and Chris Klenakis has some coordinator experience, as well.
“Really excited for those guys, what a great opportunity to coach a Division I football game at a young age like that,” Aldridge said. “Really excited for them.”
