Jamey Chadwell named 10th head coach in Flames football history

After four seasons of heightened success under Hugh Freeze, a new leader has been named on the Mountain. Athletic Director Ian McCaw announced the hire of Jamey Chadwell as the head coach of the Liberty Flames on Dec. 4, less than one week after Freeze’s departure. Chadwell expressed his gratitude to the university and aspirations for the program in a press conference.

Less than one week after the departure of Hugh Freeze, Liberty Athletics Director Ian McCaw officially named Jamey Chadwell as the 10th man to take the title of head coach for the Liberty Flames football team. 

It had been six years since Chadwell came to Lynchburg to discuss a potential head coaching opportunity, one that was given to Turner Gill instead. Regardless, the desire to one day captain the Liberty Flames persisted.

“I’m very privileged to be here and to be the head coach,” Chadwell said. “It’s something that I dreamed about a long time ago, actually. I was telling (Ian McCaw), in 2016, we came up here, and I had a nice day. I thought there might be an opportunity one day to be the head coach here. Little did I know, going on seven seasons later, that I would be here. It’s surreal.”

On Dec. 4, Chadwell and Liberty agreed to a seven-year deal that averages more than $4 million per year, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel. 

The 45-year-old native of Caryville, Tennessee, takes the reins of Liberty’s program after spending the past four seasons as the head coach for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers. Chadwell finished his first season at Coastal with a 5-7 record, before ending his final three seasons 31-6. 

His 2020 season was his best with CCU, as he led his group to an 11-0 regular season in which they found themselves at No. 12 in the College Football Playoffs rankings — a Sun Belt Conference record. This unbeaten season was spoiled by the Flames, who overcame the Chanticleers 37-34 in the Cure Bowl. 

Chadwell held a meeting with the Coastal Carolina players early Sunday morning to deliver the news that he was leaving for Liberty before gathering with his new team later that day at 2 p.m. 

“What we were able to do over those three years, I’m still emotional about it because you don’t just turn it off,” Chadwell said. “It’s hard to leave them. It’s going to take a special opportunity, but this was a special place. I felt like it was the right one.”

After the departure of former Flames Coach Freeze, McCaw’s new hire had to be a swift one. While Chadwell had been linked to other openings at Georgia Tech and South Florida, the opportunity presented to him was too good to pass up. 

“All of this came together the last few days,” Chadwell explained. “There were some opportunities the last two or three weeks that you’ve been discussing. When you start narrowing it down and thinking about it and as you pray through what could potentially be your next step, it started happening the last few days, and (we) got everything sort of finalized at some point yesterday.”

Prior to his time with Coastal Carolina, Chadwell received coaching experience at Charleston Southern, Delta State and North Greenville. He compiled a 35-14 record and two FCS playoff appearances as the head coach of Charleston Southern, going 3-1 against the Liberty Flames in that period.

Aside from coaching talent, Chadwell is also a man of outspoken faith, something that McCaw consistently emphasized as a necessity throughout the coaching search. 

“I’m not only a believer, I’m a follower of Jesus Christ,” Chadwell said. “When you get an opportunity to impact people at the most prestigious institution of higher learning for a Christian background which is Liberty University, you don’t pass that up. I believe God has ordained this opportunity.”

While the football program has seen extreme turnover in the past week, the Flames must turn their gaze to South Florida as they prepare to participate in the 2022 Boca Raton Bowl. Liberty will look to stretch its bowl record to 4-0 as it faces the 8-5 Toledo Rockets on Dec. 20. The Flames are 0-3 all-time against Toledo, losing the head-to-head matchups in 1994, 2003 and 2007. 

Josh Aldridge, who was named interim head coach after Freeze’s departure, will lead the Flames into the fire against the Rockets. 

“There really isn’t a blueprint for how to handle a transition like this, and Josh (Aldridge) has done a fantastic job relating to the players, keeping recruiting going and managing this transitional period,” McCaw said. “I’m really proud of him and really excited for him. I really hope our team plays hard and helps him go 1-0 in bowl games.”

Toledo enters the matchup fresh off a MAC Championship victory, in which they defeated Ohio 17-7. This is the second consecutive bowl game in which Liberty will meet a team from the MAC. 

The Rockets ended the 2022 regular season averaging nearly 406 yards of total offense per game. Quarterback Dequan Finn completed the year with 2,127 yards and 22 touchdowns, mapping out a challenge for a Flames defense that gave up 428 yards in their regular season finale against New Mexico State. 

“I think (our players) are going to be really excited to play an opponent that just won their conference championship,” Aldridge said. “I think natural competitiveness will kick in, and I think the ability to have time to get healthy and all those things and kind of wrap their mind around what’s going on around them here will allow them to kind of refocus and get ready for this big game.”

The Boca Raton Bowl will be televised Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN, and tickets are currently on sale.

Cory is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion. Follow her on Twitter