We continue our position previews with a look at Liberty’s running backs.
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Tight Ends
Quarterbacks
Wide Receivers
While there may be a lot of new names on this list, don’t mistake that for thinking this room is a question mark or could even be a team weakness. The vibes throughout the summer and during the early part of camp have been extremely high on the Liberty running back room. Not only could this group be a strong point, it may turn out to be the strength of the team.
The Flames’ running backs have had a complete makeover from the 2022 season, and the coaching staff has done an incredible job of stockpiling this room with talent and several guys that have multiple years of eligibility remaining. If this group takes the strides many expect, it could be the best group of running backs in all of Conference USA and perhaps the entire Group of Five level.
“It’s a really, really deep group,” said RB Coach Newland Isaac. “Right now, we got a legitimate five guys that are battling for that position between Billy, Q, Vaughn, Vic, and James. It’s a really, really, pretty deep group…It’s probably one of the deepest groups I’ve had in my years of coaching. We got guys that can catch it on the perimeter. We got guys with speed. We got three really good guys in between the tackles. It’s a really, really good group.”
Frontrunners
B-Back 20 Quinton Cooley JR 5’7″ 210
The Flames will utilize a two-back system and feature many sets with multiple backs on the field. At the B-Back position, which is the one that features more of the bruising type back that is not afraid of mixing things up in the box, Quinton Cooley looks to be the leader.
Coming in from Wake Forest, Cooley is a veteran back that provides some leadership at the position. During his time at Wake, Cooley had 92 carries for 371 yards and four scores in two seasons. He is the most likely to be Liberty’s top running back and prototypical featured back throughout the season.
RB Coach Newland Isaac – “He is the leader of the group. We’re going to go as far as he takes us. He’s our old guy in the group. He’s going to be between the tackles. He’s your bruiser. He’s the one that if he breaks a long run, I got to know that I got to get him out of there because he’s not going to be able to do two-three (long runs) back to back.”
A/B-Back 0 Billy Lucas SO 5’11” 205
Another transfer addition to the position, Billy Lucas joined the Flames this summer from Duquesne. He has the most success in college of any player at running back for the Flames. In three years at Duquesne, Lucas rushed for 1,788 yards and 13 touchdowns including 792 yards and 5 scores in 2022. He also had 12 receptions for 103 yards and a touchdown in 2022.
Lucas can supplement and spell Cooley at the B-Back while also having the explosiveness to slide over to A-Back at times. Regardless of which position he lines up at, Lucas will be on the field plenty this fall for the Flames.
RB Coach Newland Isaac – “Billy is really, really talented. He is one that can do a little bit of both. He’s a bigger back, but we can pitch it to him and get it to him on the perimeter. Billy is really, really super talented in the box.”
Competition
A-Back 24 Vaughn Blue FR 5’11” 190
In the spring, the running back position was extremely thin due to transfers and injuries. This allowed true freshman and early enrollee Vaughn Blue to showcase his talents. He ended the spring looking like the team’s top running back and a hidden gem that the Flames had found.
Blue hasn’t slowed down. Despite Coach Chadwell wanting to redshirt him, he has proven he is too good to keep off the field. Not only will he make a huge impact at running back, he’s also one of the team’s best players on special teams, starting on all four units there. He has been struggling with ball security some during camp, Coach Isaac said.
RB Coach Newland Isaac – “He’s talented. I don’t want to put too much on him, let him get a big head, but he’s very talented. He can do a lot of stuff we haven’t seen freshmen do in this offense before. He’s going to definitely play and he’s going to be a good player for us. Vaughn can line up as a receiver, you can put him in motion, you can do stuff out of the backfield with him. He’s super, super explosive, super twitchy.”
A-Back 2 Victor Venn R-FR 5’7″ 170
Victor Venn joins the Flames from Colorado where he spent his true freshman campaign a year ago. He chose Liberty over a host of offers in the portal including Memphis and Georgia State. Rated a three-star recruit by 247Sports.com, Venn had two dozen scholarship offers out of high school. He rushed for 3,010 yards and 36 touchdowns during his prep career. Ever since arriving on campus, Venn has turned heads and drawn the attention of the Liberty coaching staff. He is arguably the fastest player on the team and is a home run hitter for the Flames out of the backfield.
RB Coach Newland Isaac – “Vic is a true speed guy. Get the ball to him on the perimeter, get out of the way, let him roll. Vic is somebody that we need to put together a package of six-seven plays that gets him touches on the perimeter. Let him make plays, whether it’s a jet sweep, whether it’s a swing screen, whether it’s pitching it to him, whatever it may be, he’s somebody that we’ve got to have a package for to use his speed.”
B-Back 3 James Jointer, Jr. R-FR 6’0″ 215
Jointer was likely the highest rated recruit out of high school of any of Liberty’s running backs. After spending a year at Arkansas, he has found his new home with the Flames. Jointer’s ceiling is incredibly high as he looks to factor in for Liberty at the B-Back position this season.
RB Coach Newland Isaac – “When I think about James, I think about a Derek Henry. He’s big. He’s downhill. He’s not going to make you miss and do a bunch of stuff, but when he’s rolling downhill he’s hard to tackle.”
