We have concluded our position previews of Liberty’s defense, having already discussed the defensive line, linebackers, corners, and safeties. Be sure to go back and read those if you have not. Before we move to the offense, which we will do beginning Monday, today we will preview Liberty’s special teams.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns has the luxury of returning his entire group of specialists this season, as well as welcoming many new pieces. Kicker punter and holder Aidan Alves, long snapper Austin Mock, kick returner Shedro Louis, and punt returner Demario Douglas are all back. Competition is the name of the game for the specialists as there are four kickers currently in the mix and two punters battling it out for the starting spot.
Frontrunners
KO 90 Jason Stricker R-SO 6’1″ 190
After Alex Barbir left the team midway through the season last year, Stricker become the team’s kickoff specialist, and he fared admirably. He finished the year with 34 kickoffs and 20 of them going for a touchback with just one kicked out of bounds. He’s got that spot locked up going into the season and is also competing for the starting field goal kicker. He did not attempt a field goal last year and only attempted one extra point which he missed.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Out of any of the jobs, other than Austin Mock (at long snapper), he’s probably got that one locked up (kickoff specialist). He’s a weapon on kickoff. He did a good job when he came in for us last year, hanging the ball up-distance ratio. He can do a lot of things kick wise – kick it deep right, kick it deep left, kick it deep middle. I feel good about him in that spot. He’s also doing a good job competing in field goal.”
P/H 46 Aidan Alves R-SR 6’1″ 220
Alves settled in as Liberty’s punter and holder before suffering a broken clavicle last year. It caused him to miss some time and Max Morgan filled in while he was out. Alves had 22 punts last season with an average of 42.7 yards per punt with a long of 66, 1 touchback, and 9 downed inside the 20. He has looked strong during camp and continues to be the likely starting punter and holder entering the season.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Aidan and Max, two quality punters. Two guys that have a lot of game reps underneath them. I think Aidan is an 8th year senior or something like that. He’s doing a good job. Max is continuing to push him. It’s a day to day battle.”
LS 41 Austin Mock R-SR 6’2″ 240
Mock is quickly becoming the next in a line of great Liberty long snappers. Having his position solidified, is one less spot for Burns to have to worry about during camp, and he has even improved from where he was last season.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Austin Mock, he missed all of spring with a labrum tear. He came back this fall. He’s on a different level. His average snap tight right now is about .62. I think the college average is a .74, talking punt snaps. He’s a weapon. It’s a good problem to have when not a lot of people know who your snapper is. Usually only find out who he is when something goes bad. Luckily, knock on wood, we haven’t had that problem. He’s taken a big jump this summer which is good for us.”
KR 1 Shedro Louis JR 5’8″ 170
Shedro has proven his ability in both the kick return game and in the running back room. As a true freshman he had a kick returned for a touchdown, and in 2020 he averaged 25.3 yards per return with a long of 51. Last year, he was able to return 21 kicks for an average of 20.1 yards per return and a long of 53. Much of the past two seasons, opposing teams avoided kicking to him because of his ability. That is likely to continue this season.
PR 3 Demario Douglas R-SO 5’8″ 170
Demario Douglas became the mainstay for the Flames as a punt returner in 2020 and he provided another weapon for Coach Burns and this team. Douglas took one back to the house and it felt like he was a threat to score nearly every time he had a chance to make a return in 2020. He continued that threat last season as he averaged 6.2 yards per return on his 23 punt returns with one touchdown and a long of 72.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Obviously, Demario will be the punt returner. Shedro will be the primary kick returner. Trying to do some more things there where we have both of them back there on both (kick and punt). Last year, not a lot of teams kicked it deep to us in the kickoff. Kind of played keep away from Shedro. I have a better plan of how we can attack teams who are doing that. Demario is one of the best in college football. Finding a way to attack people week to week will be a fun thing to do.”
Competition
K 85 Brayden Beck SO 5’11” 180
Beck came in and replaced Alex Barbir midway through the season last year. He fared admirably as a true freshman with his opportunities. Beck made four of his five field goal attempts and was 34 for 37 on extra point attempts. He is one of the favorites to emerge as the starting kicker this year, but the competition is strong between the four challengers.
K Teagen Lenderink R-FR 6’1″ 175
Lenderink transferred to Liberty from North Carolina after spending one season as a reserve kicker with the Tar Heels. Liberty and Burns recruited Lenderink for much of his high school career before he ultimately decided to go to Chapel Hill. Now, he’s in Lynchburg and pushing for the starting field goal duties.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Teagen was a kid who was really committed to us out of high school, and, at the last minute, switched to North Carolina. He has been around here in years past, came to a lot of games as a sophomore. Me and him have a long two-three year relationship before he got here. I think the biggest thing he has brought is just competition. We weren’t where we wanted to be last year on field goal or really kickoff for that matter. Bringing another guy in, those guys know we’re bringing another quality kicker in to compete with them. He’s done a good job providing that competition. He’s had the least amount of time with the holder and with the snapper, so he had to play catch-up a little bit. Now he’s in the full swing. He’s had a good camp.”
K 42 Nick Brown R-FR 6’4″ 155
Brown did not have many opportunities as a true freshman as he began behind Alex Barbir. Once Barbir left, Brayden Beck beat him out for the majority of the game action. He is competing during camp to earn the job.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “For the field goal job, right now, we’ve got four kickers hitting mid-80% which is good. We just need somebody to separate themselves. It’s just finding who that guy is going to be. I think we have four good ones, which is a good problem to have. Having four kickers at the college level hitting 80% with about 32 field goals each, mixing the yardage, mixing who they’re holding, snapping. We just got to have one guy separate themselves.”
P/H 37 Max Morgan SO 6’3″ 225
Aidan Alves had solidified himself as Liberty’s punter until he went down to an injury last season. That allowed Morgan an opportunity and he did not disappoint. He averaged 42.9 yards per punt on his 25 attempts last season with a long of 62, one touchback, and seven downed inside the 20. Now, Morgan has firmly pushed himself into the mix as the team’s starting punter going into the season.
Special Teams Coordinator Tanner Burns – “Aidan and Max, two quality punters. Two guys that have a lot of game reps underneath them. I think Aidan is an 8th year senior or something like that. He’s doing a good job. Max is continuing to push him. It’s a day to day battle.”
Demario Douglas and Shedro Louis should get the vast majority of the reps at punt returner. Both of those explosive playmakers will also be the top kick returners. Other names that could get an opportunity as a kick returner include running backs Dae Dae Hunter and TJ Green.
