Football Transfer Portal Thoughts & Notes

Again, I don't delve into Football too much because Jon at ASOR does such a great job covering the program.  I just try to fill in on the recruiting and spring and fall scrimmages to help provide some color to those areas.  That being said the portal has been such a hot topic that I wanted to write a little bit about it's implications and how it's played out & the new coaching staff.  

First regarding the portal.  Any time you have a coaching change your roster is going to take a hit.  Liberty had a very very talented and deep defensive roster this past year in an age that most programs really struggle to stop people.  Then factor in the SMU connection with former Liberty DC Scott Symons and DB coach Rickey Hunley plus the Freeze and staff factor at Auburn as well and it made for a tough situation.  Let's be honest, there wasn't a whole lot of our players that Freeze can take to Auburn.  It's more the disruption of the recruiting cycle and the rapport with the current players and the coaches like JA & Garret that he took with him along with the other half of our old defensive staff.  

Driving Forces behind the transfer market 

-Grad transfers have always been valuable but that value has exploded with the new rule that you have to honor the remaining years of financial aid that any transfer has that was passed August 31, 2022.  The Flames were able to pick up some high ceiling guys like Mo Freeman and Reshaud Pernell who had 4 or more years eligibility left.  Now, many schools are going to think twice about taking players with that many remaining years.  If the player quits in year 2 it still counts against your 85 man scholarship limit until their eligibility is exhausted.  That's what makes the grad transfer so valuable because programs don't have to worry about that at at all.  It was open season for many programs on our guys who had undoubtedly already been reached out to before entering the portal.  

-One time transfer rule.  Once you've transferred once you have to sit out a year which counts against your eligibility (it can be a redshirt year) if you transfer again.  

-NIL continues to be the Wild West across the nation.  I don't think most folks thought the G5 level and mid major levels would be involved in NIL at this level but that's turned out not to be the case.  Obviously Football and MBB are getting the biggest of deals but there are multiple baseball SEC programs in the 7 figure NIL ranges.  Collectives have popped up around the country and even some that qualify as a 501C3 that makes contributions tax deductible.  The first question that many recruits ask now is "what NIL opportunities do I have at school _______.  

-Coach Chadwell & Co brought in a nice round of visitors this weekend and I'm sure will secure several commitments but the roster will still be short of where the new staff would like it to be.  Don't freak out yet.  Remember Liberty added valuable pieces like Dennnis Osagadiede, Preston Hodge, Dre Butler, Maurice Freeman and Jay Hardy and Kaidon Salter the year before late in the spring/summer. 

-Many quality high school players are still available as well.  More than usual because of the transfer portal.  I'm sure the new staff will hone in a few more before the February early signing period.  

Coaching Staff Notes & Thoughts

I was fortunate enough to get to meet Coach Chadwell in a meet and greet at the bowl game and I can tell you it really seems like this is a destination job for him much like many of our other great coaches.  Look, we all wanted to play the game with HCHF but we knew it was temporary.  All parties benefitted other than the crash and burn at the very end but the fact is there's no good way to leave in this environment with the early signing day, bowl season & everything else in this truncated period.  This is not to bash HCHF at all but note the difference between he and HCJC.  Freeze was everywhere doing interviews and tweeting (or somebody tweeting for him :) all over the internet post hire.  Chadwell barely tweeted and didn't even appear on the Flames Central Pod until last week, almost a full month after his hire.  Not because he was out playing golf but because he was out working, quietly and efficiently.  That's not to say HCHF way of doing things is wrong but I do think there are a lot of differences that we can see already.  

Defensively - Keeping Jack Curtis & Robert Bala was huge.  I know everyone wanted to keep JA and he had undoubtedly been our best recruiter but it is what it is.  Curtis knows how to scheme up a defense and Bala is a rising star.  He was the DC at Southern Utah before coming here and brought Kobe Singleton with him.  Multiple sources told me Freeze really wanted Bala as an analyst.  I observed Bala at the bowl game and he has a great bond with the players and will be a big time recruiter.  

*Speaking of defense, how stacked was this last year's roster.  Megginson, Rocket & Walker all at SMU, Butler to Michigan State & Mike Smith to Baylor plus DO & Durrell Johnson will be draft picks.  Plus the stable is still full of young studs like Kendy Charles, the "rev" and many others.  

Recruiters - I know Tony Washington was a big time recruiter for Coastal and at WVU this past year.  The moment the hire was announced I thought we had a great shot to get him on board because Neal Brown is undoubtedly a lame duck coach at WVU and Liberty has much more in the way of resources than Coastal did to give him a raise.  I have heard the same on Krantz as well and he's already helped reel in one commitment from Roderick.  A friend of mine who played baseball at Coastal told me the whole offensive staff recruits like crazy.  I don't think we will see any drop off.   In fact I think these guys out recruited us on the HS kids the last few years.  Freeze's crew did very very well in the portal but building through HS is long term answer while supplementing short term roster needs with the portal.    

QB Coach - Many wanted to keep Kent Austin and I would have agreed before last season.  The bottom line is our QB play was pretty darned bad last year other than BYU.  Further, Malik didn't really improve from 2020 to 2021 mechanically and fundamentally.  He's just such a great athlete that he can do things that DC's can't stop.  I think we upgraded with Corn there and he's a younger guy that I think will connect better with the players in that room.  Austin did give a great interview.  Felt like maybe he should be an engineer or doctor instead of a football coach.  It will be interesting to watch the QB room this year.  Our young QB's really struggled with Freeze's RPO based system which is a more simple system than the current staff.  

Overall Philosophy - Look, Coach Chadwell has never had the type of facilities and resources that he will have at Liberty.  I believe I heard LU had nearly double the number of staffers that CCU did this past year.  That's a lot.  Coastal did what they could but their resources can never touch Liberty nor do they have a student section and home atmosphere like the Flames have to offer.  When I think of Coastal recently I think of a dynamic offense that challenges the defense at all levels and a nasty DL.  The rest of the defense wasn't all that great and it's mostly likely why we see Curtis & Bala sticking around.  Elevate Bala, retain Curtis and bring on coach Waites along with Krantz and you still have a pretty darn good defensive staff.  

Here's some interesting nuggets from On3 transfer rankings below.  Keep in mind these rankings aren't near perfect but On3 does a better job than the other sites in my opinion, particularly at the G5 level. 

QB 

Trey Lowe : 60th Ranked QB in the portal.  Of 122 total QB's ranked in the portal.  

RB

Dae Dae Hunter - Was the 13th ranked RB - (132 total ranked RB's)

Quentin Cooley - 59th ranked RB

James Jointer - 74th ranked RB 

WR

Reese Smith - 181st ranked WR

Errol Rogers - 216th ranked WR (Jaivian Lofton # 214) 254 Total Ranked WR's 

Safety

Jason Maitre - 10th ranked Safety - Verballed to LU before flipping to Wisconsin

Rocket Rahimi - 26th ranked Safety

RJ Roderick - 37th ranked Safety and recent LU commit.  

CB

Chris Megginson - 49th ranked CB

DL 

Dre Butler - 51st ranked DL

Marquise Brunson - 114th ranked DL  (139 total ranked DL)

 IOL 

Will Buchannan - 81st ranked OL committed to UT Chatnooga. 

Jordan White - 40th ranked OL committed to LU today.  (117 total ranked IOL)

*Liberty had several more guys on campus per ASOR this weekend that would rank favorably, mostly on defense. 

Takeaways - Chadwell didn't get his staff together on campus until last Monday and they delivered a huge portal weekend to stack on top of the highest rated early signing class (according to On3) in LU history.  Looks like a fantastic start.  

Couldn't ask for a much better start in my opinion.  

Brent

#Risewithus