Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze has frequently mentioned over the past year the need to increase the depth and veteran leadership at the linebacker position. The Flames lose its two starters at the position in Solomon Ajayi and Brandon Tillmon, and just recently Remington Green announced he was entering the transfer portal.
Those three combined to play in 102 games in their Liberty careers, and they leave behind a very inexperienced unit that has just 77 games played at Liberty among a group of 13 linebackers on the roster. That inexperience leaves Coach Freeze a little unsure about what he has at that position.
“I’m not confident, but I’m optimistic, if that makes any sense,” Freeze said when asked about his linebackers entering spring ball. “I’m not confident. I’m optimistic. I just don’t know yet.”
Linebacker was a priority position in recruiting, but so far Liberty has only been able to bring in one scholarship linebacker in Charlotte grad transfer Anthony Butler. The Flames do have two scholarship spots remaining in the class, and Freeze is hopeful he will be able to find another grad transfer or transfer linebacker that can come in and immediately provide some experience and depth.
Butler has a wealth of experience at Charlotte as he’s played in 36 games and made 16 starts for the 49ers, amassing 146 career tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, and 4 QB hurries. But he hasn’t played since early September 2019 and he arrived on campus in Lynchburg in January out of shape, Freeze said. It will take him some time to get back into playing condition, but once he does Liberty will need him to provide experience and depth.
Amarii Jenkins is the most experienced player in a Liberty uniform. He played all 13 games last season while totaling 27 tackles, 2 TFLs, and 1 sack. Waylen Cozad entered the program a year ago as a JUCO transfer and saw playing time in 11 games. Tyren Dupree also had some good experience in 2019, playing in 12 games and finishing with 29 tackles and 2 sacks.
“Dupree played a really good bowl game,” Freeze said. “That’s what I have to go off of, and he looks good right now. Most of their bodies look good right now, they’re changing their bodies.”
Malik Caper and Aubrey Williams are two freshmen who redshirted in 2019 after playing in a couple of games each. In 2020, they will both be relied upon to make an impact.
“We need Caper, Aubrey Williams, and some of these young kids that will strike you, we need them,” said Freeze. “It’s time to mature. It’s time to get ready to play and make the most out of your 15 spring practices. They won’t have to worry about reps in that room. We just got to find out who can play.”
Defensive coordinator Scott Symons has moved from safeties coach to coach of the linebackers following Kyle Pope’s departure to Memphis. Symons coached the linebackers at Memphis in 2018 before joining Liberty.
“I think Scott moving to that room is going to help be more demanding on them,” Freeze said. “They need to up their standard a little bit in how they pursue greatness.”
