In the summer of 2019, Malik Willis had a decision to make. Once he lost the starting quarterback job at Auburn to Bo Nix in the spring, the talented quarterback had entered the transfer portal. There were two main schools he was choosing from – Troy and Liberty, sources indicated to ASOR at the time.
It’s understandable that Willis would strongly consider Troy. Chip Lindsey, the head coach for the Troy Trojans, was Auburn’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. When Lindsey arrived at Auburn, Willis was a freshman on the team. Willis was a backup quarterback for the Tigers those two seasons and current Troy running backs coach Cole Weeks worked with Auburn’s quarterbacks as a graduate assistant those same two seasons before joining the Trojans.
“Malik is an awesome kid,” Troy head coach Chip Lindsey said this week. “I’ve know him from some previous stops. Very talented, athletic, can make every throw. It looks like he has improved tremendously after the last couple years. Just a wonderful person, obviously very talented. At that time, he was very young as a freshman, had really only played, I think, one year of quarterback in high school. He was still developing, but you could see the talent that he had and knew that he was going to be a really good player down the road. (We) tried to have some conversations with him about coming to Troy, it just didn’t work out at the time.”
A 3-star dual-threat prospect out of high school, Willis was the Tigers’ backup QB during his true freshman and sophomore seasons. The 6’1”, 195 pound native of Roswell High School and Atlanta, Georgia, Willis played in 15 games at Auburn, throwing for 69 yards and 1 touchdown while also rushing for 309 yards and 2 touchdowns.
He entered the transfer portal in May 2019 after losing the competition to replace Jarrett Stidham as Auburn’s starting quarterback to redshirt freshman Joey Gatewood and true freshman Bo Nix, a job eventually won by Nix. Willis was once thought to be Stidham’s heir apparent. He didn’t start playing quarterback until his senior season in high school, a season where he passed for 2,562 yards, rushed for 1,033 yards, and had 37 total touchdowns while leading Roswell to a Class 7A state runner-up finish.
The two schools have had different routes over the previous two seasons. Both Troy and Liberty were seeking a new head coach following the 2018 campaign. The Flames were looking for a replacement in Turner Gill, eventually nabbing Hugh Freeze to guide the program at the start of the FBS era. The Trojans had to replace Neal Brown who left to become West Virginia’s head coach after four seasons at Troy, the final three of which finished with 10+ wins. Troy would turn to the Auburn offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey.
Both head coaches, who took similar paths through the high school ranks and making their name as great offensive minds, set out to find a quarterback to guide their team. They both flirted with Malik Willis. Freeze won that matchup.
After transferring to Liberty, Willis finished 2020 as the No. 1 rushing quarterback in the country, leading all FBS quarterbacks with 944 rushing yards and 14 rushing touchdowns. He set a school record in both statistical categories for a quarterback with those totals. Willis led the Flames in total offense, passing yards, and passing touchdowns in 2020 while finishing the year No. 7 in the country in rushing touchdowns and No. 16 in rushing yards.
Willis helped lead Liberty to a 10-1 record in the shortened 2020 season, ending the year with a dramatic bowl victory over Coastal Carolina. He also helped lead Liberty to a pair of wins over ACC foes in Syracuse and in-state opponent Virginia Tech. The two wins made Liberty the first non-Power 5 team to post a pair of wins over ACC schools in the same season since Houston in 2015. Liberty finished the 2020 campaign ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll and No. 18 in the Amway Coaches Poll, the highest ever ranking for the Flames as an FBS program.
Meanwhile, Troy and Lindsey have had consecutive losing seasons, finishing 5-7 in 2019 and 5-6 in 2020. The Trojans were picked to finish last in the five-team East Division of the Sun Belt where Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State are the preseason favorites entering this season. They had a strong opening game win week one over Southern, 55-3.
Liberty and Willis opened the season this past Saturday night with a 48-7 romp of Campbell. Willis completed 15 of 23 passes for 217 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 55 yards and another score. Now, Willis heads to Troy looking to guide Liberty to a 2-0 start to the season for a second straight year while having the what if questions run through his head.
“I’m always pulling for him, obviously except for this Saturday,” Lindsey said. “He’s just a fantastic person, and they’ve got a great family. I know my kids are big fans of Malik every day except this Saturday.”
So far, it looks like the long shot Heisman Trophy candidate and potential first round NFL Draft pick made the right decision to choose Freeze and the Flames. On Saturday night in Alabama, Liberty and Freeze will be extra appreciative that Willis will be suiting up for the Flames while Troy and Lindsey will do their best to keep the dynamic Willis in check, something that has been nearly impossible for opposing defenses to do during his time at Liberty.
