JEFF BARBER’S RESIGNATION

The Athletics Director of Liberty University, Jeff Barber, resigned from his position on Thursday. This came as a huge shock to Flames Nation as there were no major signs of his looming departure. He was featured on the Redspin Podcast last week and interacted with fans on social media this week, making it look as though all was well.

In the official release, Barber said, “It has been a blessing for my family and me to have been a part of the Liberty family for the past nearly 11 years. As this new chapter of our lives begins, I wish nothing but the best for the Flames and am excited to follow the future successes of all the teams.”

For the time being, Mickey Guridy will serve as the interim athletics director.

BASKETBALL

Coach Richie McKay is putting together quite the basketball team for Liberty University. The Flames have started off the season 1-1 and most are satisfied in the one loss. VCU visited the Vines this past week in what was expected to be a blowout as they were favored by 20 points. While the Flames fought hard in the final minutes to bring the game within reach, a cold start to the 2nd half would be too much to overcome. Liberty fell 59-64.

The Flames next test will come at the hands of No. 5/6 Indiana as they travel to Bloomington for the Indiana Classic.
The game is on November 19th, at 7:00pm

FOOTBALL

Injuries and dismissals have amassed and proven to be too much for the Flames to overcome in recent weeks. They closed out the regular season Thursday night with one final match-up against rival Coastal Carolina and it was not pretty. Liberty’s lack of depth mixed in with the suspension of Coach Turner Gill clearly did a number to the team. Coastal won 42-7 and the Liberty/Coastal rival comes to a close with it all tied up 7-7.

For now, the Flames sit in limbo. Liberty’s postseason hopes ride on the Owls of Kennesaw State. Should they take down Charleston Southern Saturday, the Bucs will be out and Liberty will be in.

CAMPBELL JOINS BIG SOUTH FOOTBALL

It was announced Monday that Campbell University will join the Big South in football following the 2017 season. While they are currently apart of the Pioneer Football League, the Camels participate in the Big South with every other sport, so the move makes sense. They will also become a scholarship program with the move. This will bring the number of teams in the Big South Conference to 7, rounding out the schedule and solidifying the auto-bid to the FCS playoffs.