After a lengthy hiatus, the ever popular MAILBAG returns and we hope to make it more frequent in the coming weeks and months! Continue to send any questions you may have over to us and we will be happy to answer them in our next feature. You can send them to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, e-mail, or as a comment on the site.

Let’s get right to it.

Future football schedules are completed through the 2024 season and both 2025 and 2026 are pretty close to completion as well. Right now, the only game scheduled with BYU is when they visit Williams Stadium in 2022, and certainly Liberty would be open to more games. I’m sure adding to the series has been discussed. Army is on the schedule in 2021, 2025, and 2026. That would be 4 games in 9 years which is probably a pretty good indicator of how frequently the Flames and Black Knights will face. Games against UConn are currently scheduled for 2020, 2022, and 2023. As a new Independent, it’s likely they will be a regular fixture on Liberty’s football schedule.

The million dollar question. In a perfect world, Liberty would move all of its sports to the AAC within the next 5-10 years, but we don’t live in a perfect world. It’s hard to believe the AAC, or any other conference we would be willing to accept an invitation from, would take Liberty, with all the baggage associated with LU, without the Flames making significant strides on the field and court. We’re headed in the right direction, as evidenced by men’s basketball success over the past few seasons and football’s Cure Bowl win, but we’re just starting to scratch the surface of what would attract a conference invitation. Liberty has plenty of room to grow in its current setup of the ASUN and Independence, and needs to continue to work towards becoming one of the best non-Power Five teams in the country. Do that and conference affiliation will work itself out.

Dead on arrival. For those not familiar, ASUN Commissioner Ted Gumbart announced the league would be exploring a large expansion plan which would include creating a new conference, the United Athletic Conference. It seemed a far-fetched idea and it never gained any traction.

The current capacity is 25,000. There aren’t any current plans that have been finalized to expand seating capacity, and with the Flames averaging 18,272 fans in attendance last season that isn’t likely to change any time soon. Currently, there are renovations being made to Carter Tower at Williams Stadium. Two new suites will be added to the 5th floor while existing suites on the 4th floor will receive makeovers. The tower currently holds 18 individual suites on the floor as well as the 71 Club and Presidential and Athletic Director suites on the 5th floor. The renovations on the 4th floor will include enclosing the seating area. Additionally, four suites are planned to be added to the third floor Club Pavilion area prior to the 2021 season. The third floor of the tower will add new Luxury Indoor Club Seats, a 44-seat area which will overlook the field and offers an executive seat, counter space, and a shared TV tablet inside the Club Pavilion.

First of all, none of us can read the mind of another person. So, I have no idea what Jerry Falwell, Jr. plans to do or might do in regards to his position as President at LU. But, based on what his personality and actions to this point, I see no way he resigns. I also don’t believe he will be forced out unless something happens that is too big to sweep under the rug.

As for the second question, has anything changed with him…It’s too early to tell. We’re only a few weeks separated from Asia Todd, Kei’Trel Clark, and Tayvion Land transferring. I believe the meeting with Rashad Jennings and several other black influencers at Liberty could go a long ways towards helping. The biggest ramifications will be felt in recruiting, and we will likely never know how many prospects Liberty missed out on. I do think that if people President Falwell respects and trusts, let him know how some of his actions are negatively affecting recruiting, then he will take actions towards righting those wrongs. And maybe that’s already taken place.

In case you missed it, we discussed the football helmet shield mask coming to college football this fall earlier this week. I haven’t heard anything specifically, but, considering there is a 2020 football season which we will discuss below, I would imagine Liberty has something similar if not the exact mask we reported on earlier.

All 2020 athletic events are certainly in jeopardy at the moment. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting us here in the United States in March, things have changed very quickly. Currently, plans are for full capacity at all Liberty athletic events. With the way things are currently headed though, I don’t think that will happen. If there are games, I do think there will be fans, but I don’t envision there being more than 50% capacity allowed, if that much.

The Ivy League has canceled all sporting events until at least January. The Big 10 will play a 10-game, conference only schedule. The ACC and PAC-12 are reportedly going conference only as well. I still believe there will be college football played in 2020, but what that season will look like is still very much in question and the likelihood of a full 12-game schedule has drastically declined in just the past 48 hours. We’ve talked about it before, but we could see Liberty look to scheduling the FBS Independents twice to get a quasi-conference schedule filled out.

Our best example of what could happen for college football student-athletes is by looking at what the NCAA did for spring semester student-athletes who virtually had their entire seasons wiped out this past spring. The NCAA has granted all seniors the option to return in 2021 to complete their eligibility, but did not allow an extra year of eligibility for the non-seniors. This would most likely be the plan for football if the season is canceled.