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Liberty Flames football

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Liberty Flames football
2024 Liberty Flames football team
First season1973; 51 years ago
Athletic directorIan McCaw
Head coachJamey Chadwell
2nd season, 21–4 (.840)
StadiumWilliams Stadium
(capacity: 25,000)
Field surfaceFieldTurf
LocationLynchburg, Virginia
NCAA divisionDivision I FBS
ConferenceConference USA
All-time record307–258–4 (.543)
Bowl record3–2 (.600)
Conference titles9
RivalriesCoastal Carolina (rivalry)
ColorsRed, white, and blue[1]
     
Fight songFan the Flames!
MascotSparky
Marching bandThe Spirit of the Mountain
WebsiteLiberty.edu

The Liberty Flames football program represents Liberty University, a private Christian university located in Lynchburg, Virginia, in college football. The Flames compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of Conference USA. The program, which previously competed in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), announced it would start a transition to the top level of NCAA football in July 2017. The Flames became a provisional FBS member in 2018, and became a full FBS member with bowl eligibility in 2019.[2] In 2020, Liberty entered the rankings in the AP Poll at 25 for the first time in program history.[3]

In 2021, Liberty University announced the Flames would become full members of Conference USA effective for the 2023 football season. [4]

History

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See also: List of Liberty Flames football seasons
Liberty Flames football in 2007

In 1971, Jerry Falwell and Elmer L. Towns established a private Christian school in Lynchburg Baptist College. Falwell stated a plan to “have our athletic program comparable to USC, to Notre Dame, to Alabama, to anybody in time,”, with the football team beginning play in 1973. They played in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics until 1980 before moving onto NCAA Division II for seven years. They played in Division I-AA from 1988 to 2017. Fred Banks was the first Liberty player to be drafted in the NFL in 1985. The Flames had their practice facility on Treasure Island near Riverside Park until the flood of November 6, 1985, which devastated the facility. They moved their football operations to campus and, in 1989, to the newly constructed Williams Stadium there. [5]

Danny Rocco era (2006–2011)

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In 2007, the Flames captured their first Big South Conference Football championship with a 31–0 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Flames capped off their second year under head coach Danny Rocco with an 8–3 record and an unblemished 4–0 Big South record to claim the title.[6][7]

Liberty ran its unbeaten Big South streak to 11-straight games, finishing back-to-back conference championship seasons with a 30–10 victory over Gardner-Webb. The Flames finished with a 10–2 record on the year and finished the conference slate unbeaten at 5–0. The Flames to become the first team in Big South history to win five conference games in a season and joined Gardner-Webb as the only two teams to post consecutive unbeaten seasons. Liberty finished ranked 15th in the FCS Coaches Poll and 14th in the Sports Network Poll.[8][9][10]

Undefeated in Big South play for 2009, the Flames just needed to capture a win over Stony Brook in the season finale to secure a 3rd straight Big South Conference Championship. Stony Brook who had only lost one game in Big South play (a 30–27 overtime loss to Charleston Southern the previous week) for 2009 could claim half of the Big South Championship with a win over Liberty. The Seawolves won the game 36–33 to share the 2009 Big South Championship with the Flames.[11]

Liberty again became conference co-champions again in 2010. Coastal beat Liberty for the first time since 2006 then the Flames bounced back the next week to secure a win over Stony Brook and a share of the conference championship (three-way tie with Coastal Carolina and Stony Brook).

After the 2011 season, Rocco left Liberty for the head coaching job at Richmond.

Turner Gill era (2012–2018)

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Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third time in 2012. After starting off 2–0 in conference play, Liberty traveled to Coastal Carolina, where they lost to the Chanticleers 36–12, bringing their overall record to 3–5. Liberty would then play then ninth ranked Stony Brook, beating them 28–14, also extending their at home conference win streak which dates back to 2006. In order to win a share at the Big South title, they would have to beat the Virginia Military Institute Keydets. Liberty won the game 33–14, and won a share of the title along with Stony Brook and Coastal Carolina with a record of 6–5 (5–1 in conference play).

The 2013 Flames shared the conference championship for a second consecutive year in 2013. Liberty opened up conference play at home against Coastal Carolina, where they let a 19-point lead slip away in the second half as the Chanticleers rallied to win in double overtime, 55–52. The Flames would rebound with a shutout victory at Gardner-Webb to mark the first shutout in Turner Gill's eight seasons as a head coach. After victories at home over VMI and Presbyterian, the Flames captured a share of the Big South title with a 56–14 victory at Charleston Southern who has previously beaten Coastal Carolina. Liberty shared the title with Coastal Carolina, each with identical 4–1 conference marks, though Coastal Carolina received the automatic bid to the FCS playoffs.

Liberty became the conference co-champion for the third consecutive year in 2014. Liberty started Big South Conference play against Gardner-Webb with a 34–0 shutout victory. After three consecutive conference victories, the Flames fell at home to Charleston Southern, 38–36. The loss to Charleston Southern would be Liberty's only loss in Big South play. The Flames rebounded with a 15–14 win over rival Coastal Carolina (ranked No. 1 in the FCS polls at the time), and Liberty clinched a share of the Big South Conference championship. Liberty also earned its first ever FCS playoff berth in school history. Liberty defeated James Madison in the first round of the playoffs, 26–21, before losing to Villanova in the second round, 29–22.

Liberty earned a conference co-championship again in 2016, marking their eighth conference championship. They finished the season 6–5, 4–1 in Big South play to share the conference championship with Charleston Southern. Despite the conference title, the Flames were not invited to the FCS playoffs.

Citing the need to care for his wife, Gill announced his retirement from coaching after the 2018 season.[12]

Hugh Freeze era (2019–2022)

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Seventeen months after resigning from Ole Miss Rebels football, Hugh Freeze was named as Liberty's ninth head coach on December 7, 2018.[13] For the 2019 season, the Liberty Flames would finish 8–5. They would make and win their first bowl game as an FBS program.[14] In 2020, after a 6–0 start, Liberty made it in the AP Top 25 Poll for the first time in their program history, making it at No. 25.[3] Liberty would go on to finish 10–1 in 2020 and finish the season ranked 17th in the AP Top 25 Poll.[15] Freeze departed Liberty on November 28, 2022, to be the head coach at Auburn University after a few weeks of negotiations, discussions, and rumors.[16]

Jamey Chadwell era (2022–present)

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In Jamey Chadwell's first season as the Flames' head coach, he led Liberty to an undefeated regular season and a Conference USA Championship over New Mexico State in Liberty's first season in Conference USA.[17] Following the Championship win, Liberty got the Group of Five New Year's Six Bowl Bid. On January 1, 2024, the Flames lost 45-6 to the Oregon Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl, their first major bowl appearance in school history.[18]

Conference affiliations

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Conference championships

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Liberty has won nine conference championships: eight in the Big South Conference (two outright and six shared) and one in Conference USA.

Season Conference Coach Overall record Conference record
2007 Big South Conference Danny Rocco 8–3 4–0
2008 10–2 5–0
2009† 8–3 5–1
2010† 8–3 5–1
2012† Turner Gill 6–5 5–1
2013† 8–4 4–1
2014† 9–5 4–1
2016† 6–5 4–1
2023 Conference USA Jamey Chadwell 13–1 8–0

† Co-championship

Rivalries

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Coastal Carolina

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Main article: Coastal Carolina–Liberty football rivalry

Liberty maintains a football rivalry with Coastal Carolina which began in 2003. The teams played every year from 2003 to 2016 and met in the 2020 Cure Bowl. The Flames have more wins in the rivalry, having won 8 out of 15 games.[20]

Bowl games

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Liberty has participated in five bowl games since joining FBS in 2018, going 3–2.

Season Coach Bowl Opponent Result
2019 Hugh Freeze Cure Bowl Georgia Southern W 23–16
2020 Hugh Freeze Cure Bowl Coastal Carolina W 37–34 OT
2021 Hugh Freeze LendingTree Bowl Eastern Michigan W 56–20
2022 Josh Aldridge Boca Raton Bowl Toledo L 19–21
2023 Jamey Chadwell Fiesta Bowl † Oregon L 6–45
2024 Jamey Chadwell Bahamas Bowl Buffalo TBD

† New Year's Six bowl game

Playoff appearances

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Liberty made one appearance in the I-AA/FCS playoffs between 1989 and 2017, going 1–1.

Year Round Opponent Result
2014 First Round
Second Round		 James Madison
Villanova		 W 26–21
L 22–29

Head coaches

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Liberty has had ten head coaches in program history, not including interim coaches.[21][22]

No. Tenure Coach Record Pct.
1 1973 Lee Royer 3–3 .500
2 1974–1976 John Cartwright 14–13–1 .518
3 1977–1983 Tom Dowling 33–38–2 .466
4 1984–1988 Morgan Hout 20–29–1 .410
5 1989–1999 Sam Rutigliano 67–53 .558
6 2000–2005 Ken Karcher 21–46 .313
7 2006–2011 Danny Rocco 47–20 .701
8 2012–2018 Turner Gill 47–35 .573
9 2019–2022 Hugh Freeze 34–15 .694
10 2023–present Jamey Chadwell 21-3 .875

Facilities

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Liberty plays its home games at Williams Stadium which has a capacity of 25,000.

Retired numbers

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Liberty has retired five jerseys in school history. The first was Jerry Falwell, who had founded the university in 1971. As such, a "71" jersey was hung over the press box suite, with the number being retired across all Liberty sports teams. The most recent jersey retired was Rashad Jennings in 2020.[23][24]

No. Player Position Years at Liberty
23 Rashad Jennings RB 2006–2008
71 Jerry Falwell - -
83 Kelvin Edwards WR 1982–1985
86 Eric Green TE 1985–1989
HC Sam Rutigliano Head coach 1989–2000

Notable former players

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Future non-conference opponents

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Announced schedules as of August 8, 2024.[25]

2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 2034
Maine at James Madison at Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech Virginia Tech at James Madison James Madison at James Madison James Madison
at Bowling Green Ball State at Coastal Carolina VMI East Tennessee State Ball State Appalachian State Old Dominion
James Madison UConn Coastal Carolina at East Carolina at Coastal Carolina at Ball State
at Old Dominion Coastal Carolina

References

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  1. ^ "Brand Colors" (PDF). Liberty University Branding Guide. Retrieved January 1, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Sordelett, Damien (February 16, 2017). "LU to be FBS bowl eligible starting in 2019". The News & Advance. Archived from the original on June 2, 2017. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
  3. ^ a b Sordelett, Damien (November 1, 2020). "Liberty cracks AP Top 25 poll for first time". newsadvance.com.
  4. ^ "Liberty Moving to Conference USA for 2023-24 Season".
  5. ^ "Flames Rising: How Liberty Football's humble beginnings have led to national success, Fiesta Bowl selection".
  6. ^ "Football – News – LibertyFlames.com". Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  7. ^ "Liberty vs. Gardner-Webb - Game Recap - November 17, 2007 - ESPN". ESPN.com.[dead link‍]
  8. ^ "Football – News". Liberty Flames. November 24, 2008. Archived from the original on October 1, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  9. ^ [1] Archived September 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ The Sports Network. "Football Championship Subdivision". The Sports Network. Archived from the original on May 3, 2011. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  11. ^ "BigSouthSports.com—Official Web Site of the Big South Conference". Bigsouthsports.com. Retrieved September 15, 2010.
  12. ^ "Liberty football coach Turner Gill abruptly retires". December 3, 2018.
  13. ^ Caron, Emily (December 7, 2018). "Liberty Hires Hugh Freeze". SI.com.
  14. ^ Couch, Jacob (December 23, 2019). "Liberty becomes third team in college football history to win bowl game in first season of eligibility". The Liberty Champion. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  15. ^ "AP Top 25 Poll". AP NEWS. Retrieved January 15, 2021.
  16. ^ "Auburn hires Freeze, 'the best fit,' as next coach". ESPN.com. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  17. ^ "Kaidon Salter leads unbeaten No. 20 Liberty past New Mexico State 49-35 for C-USA title". AP News. December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  18. ^ "Undefeated Liberty, ranked No. 18, faces No. 18 Oregon in Fiesta Bowl, losing 45-6". USA TODAY. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  19. ^ "C-USA picks Liberty among four new additions". November 5, 2021.
  20. ^ "Winsipedia - Coastal Carolina Chanticleers vs. Liberty Flames football series history". Winsipedia. Retrieved July 2, 2024.
  21. ^ "Coaching Records" (PDF).
  22. ^ "Auburn hires Hugh Freeze as coach: Ex-Liberty, Ole Miss boss gets second chance in return to SEC". CBSSports.com. November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  23. ^ "LU to Retire Jerseys for Rutigliano and Green".
  24. ^ "Liberty to retire Rashad Jennings' #23 jersey at FIU Game Sept. 26".
  25. ^ "Liberty Flames Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
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