Liberty finalized its 2016 football signing class on Wednesday. The Flames received NLIs from 16 high school seniors and have 2 mid-year enrollees. Here are a few notes/thoughts on the class:
- Of the 18 signees, 5 came from Florida, 3 from Texas, 3 from Georgia, and 1 each from Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama, Nebraska, New Jersey, South Carolina and Minnesota.
- Rankings aren’t everything, especially at this level with a lot of kids that fly under the radar, but everyone wants to talk about stars. The Flames signed two 3-stars (QB Stephen Calvert & K Alex Probert)and four 2-stars (QB Rudiger Yearick, WRs Antonio Gandy-Golden & Lionell McConnell, & S Brandon Tillmon).
- The Flames signed 5 offensive lineman, 4 defensive backs, 2 QBs, 2 WRs, 2 defensive lineman, 1 running back, 1 linebacker, and 1 kicker.
- Coach Gill noted that 18 of 20 athletes that took an official visit ended up signing. The two that didn’t? Jalen Camp and David Harvey. Both Camp and Harvey had committed to Liberty before going to an FBS school that offered after their LU commitment. Camp ended up with Georgia Tech, while Harvey signed with Nevada.
- Brandon Tillmon will be a 2-sport star, but he is on scholarship to play football. Coach Gill reiterated he must be able to maintain his academic workload and his football responsibilities this fall before he is able to play baseball. Gill also mentioned he would discuss this with Toman periodically.
- QB was obviously a position of need this class, and Liberty hit a homerun. Calvert is a steal, and Yearick is a very intelligent young man (turned down IVY League offers) and wants to be at LU badly. Both of these guys will compete with Stephon Masha, and it wouldn’t be surprising if one of them wins the job. One thing that will be interesting to watch, is whoever doesn’t win the starting job, will they redshirt and stick around as a backup? As Coach Gill said, competition is never a bad thing.
- When asked about the running back situation, Coach Gill made special mention of Denvre Daniels being moved to RB. Daniels was a 3-star recruit that was signed a year ago and redshirted in 2015. He was originally brought in as a wide receiver, but predominantly played running back in high school. Daniels is an explosive athlete and will immediately challenge for playing time alongside Todd Macon and Frankie Hickson.
- Gill said there will be playing time for true freshmen to earn at safety, defensive line, offensive line, and quarterback.
