A Sea Of Red

While all of us are grateful for the job HF did in elevating our program, I’m sure that many of you would like to see specific changes or improvements from a coaching standpoint from our new head coach. Bring the discussion here-I value your opinions and insights.

I really don't have many complaints about the way freeze ran the program. I thought he was well spoken, hired solid assistants, recruited well and was a good play caller. The only legitimate gripe I have was his tendency to go for it on 4th and long on his own half of the field. special teams was a weakness his entire time here. If chadwell can fix that one minor issue I will be happy.

Bring back the Retro green uniforms. Although I did like the powder blues

Ill flame wrote: ↑December 26th, 2022, 9:27 pm I really don't have many complaints about the way freeze ran the program. I thought he was well spoken, hired solid assistants, recruited well and was a good play caller. The only legitimate gripe I have was his tendency to go for it on 4th and long on his own half of the field. special teams was a weakness his entire time here. If chadwell can fix that one minor issue I will be happy.

Freeze did an excellent job, ...............until his final 3 games. Those 3 games took some luster off his time at Liberty. As someone joked, his headset must have been connected to Auburn.

CBS Sports gave our hire an "A," and Auburn's hire only earned an "A-." Plus, our new coach had a better winning record over the past 3 years than did our previous coach.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... kovSfVf7bA

I've mentioned this before but I think HF struggled with quick play calling decisions particularly on 4th down. I don't have any statistics so, admittedly, this opinion is anecdotal.

One thing I would like to focus on is having a clear larger vision for the football program.

This may be controversial, but I don't think Freeze sold a big vision like Doc did. Ultimately he helped accomplish parts of that vision: winning bowls and beating BYU, etc.

Saying we want to be one of the top G5s is one of the high level things he'd say. Well, to be honest, being one of the top G5s is not that impressive anymore with the P5 expansions. Freeze was in a tough spot being a new Indy FBS team because targets aren't as defined.

Moving forward I think we need to target being THE top G5 and a perennial playoff team. We will need to crush C-USA, not just win. Sell that vision!

Overall, I thought freeze did a great job. I had some disagreements with some of his play calling and who and when to play, as any fan does. I had the biggest problem with his scheduling philosophy. Admittedly, I don't know much about Chadwell. Obviously, he was successful at Chuck South and at the 9-miles-from-the-Beach Chickens. So far I've been very impressed with him and think he was probably the best coach available for us.

But as of right now and if I could choose, I'd rather have kept Freeze. Maybe its the known vs the unknown for me. Fortunately, I think Chadwell and Freeze will both be very successful in their new jobs. Chadwell, will be building upon a firm foundation here, just as he did at Beach Chickenland after Moglia. Here are a few of the things that I hope Chadwell does that are a reversal of Freeze decisions:
1. Bring back the eagle on the red matte lid and put the regular "LU" back on the white one. I wouldn't mind if the flag LU decal was permanent on the white lids either.
2. Get new red uniforms to match the whites and blues. At least new red pants.
3. Nix the UNC blues that supposedly are coming.
4. Try to get McCaw to change some of the upcoming schedules to add at least 1 P5 through 2027.
5. Beyond 2027, advocate trying to schedule at least 2 P5's in our non-con schedule. To include BYU.
6. Bring back Chadwellburg, and help start some new traditions.

Obviously, 4 & 5 re the most important.

Kricket wrote: ↑December 27th, 2022, 12:01 pm One thing I would like to focus on is having a clear larger vision for the football program.

This may be controversial, but I don't think Freeze sold a big vision like Doc did. Ultimately he helped accomplish parts of that vision: winning bowls and beating BYU, etc.

Saying we want to be one of the top G5s is one of the high level things he'd say. Well, to be honest, being one of the top G5s is not that impressive anymore with the P5 expansions. Freeze was in a tough spot being a new Indy FBS team because targets aren't as defined.

Moving forward I think we need to target being THE top G5 and a perennial playoff team. We will need to crush C-USA, not just win. Sell that vision!

I agree wholeheartedly. I appreciated Chadwell saying that the CFP was his goal.

My perception of chadwell based on the last few years is that he's better at avoiding the embarrassing upset than freeze was at Liberty. I'm not sure if it's a depth thing or just a motivational thing but that'll be very important if we want to make it to a CFP in C-USA. With that being said I'm not sure there's another coach in the country I would have rather had if we ever made a CFP than hugh freeze. The guy just loves big moments. Both have proven to be great coaches but they each clearly have their strengths and weaknesses. I'm excited for this next era of flames football.

Without looking, I’d assume that Liberty had harder schedules the last 3 years than Coastal had though. So Freeze had to contend with multiple P5s in that same span than Chadwell did. I’m excited about Chadwell just a thought I had within this discussion.

Liberty22 wrote: ↑December 27th, 2022, 4:30 pm Without looking, I’d assume that Liberty had harder schedules the last 3 years than Coastal had though. So Freeze had to contend with multiple P5s in that same span than Chadwell did. I’m excited about Chadwell just a thought I had within this discussion.

SOS based on FPI the last 3 years.

2022:
CCU- 125
LU- 114

2021:
CCU- 130 (last)
LU- 106

2020:
CCU- 78
LU- 95

So yes we've generally had a (slightly) tougher SOS but despite that they've had a better strength of record all three seasons.

Ill flame wrote: ↑December 27th, 2022, 5:24 pm

Liberty22 wrote: ↑December 27th, 2022, 4:30 pm Without looking, I’d assume that Liberty had harder schedules the last 3 years than Coastal had though. So Freeze had to contend with multiple P5s in that same span than Chadwell did. I’m excited about Chadwell just a thought I had within this discussion.

SOS based on FPI the last 3 years.

2022:
CCU- 125
LU- 114

2021:
CCU- 130 (last)
LU- 106

2020:
CCU- 78
LU- 95

So yes we've generally had a (slightly) tougher SOS but despite that they've had a better strength of record all three seasons.

Great stuff Ill, thanks for sharing that!

Hopefully 4th and 9 from our 40 and going for it is in the wind. Army, Louisiana and, so on.
take the points with field goals if we are in the game imho.

I would think Freeze should be the better recruiter for Liberty but I may be wrong as the chickens have some strong athletes .... we will find out.

As for reach into building a staff I would guess Freeze had a deeper pool so I really hope Chadwell can bring in some strong guys that will stay for 3 or four years. I would love more consistency with our assistants but guys are building careers and we may be a stepping stone for some. I like our two coaching additions so far.

I like everything Freeze did to get us off the ground so he served us well. Now, as HCJC said: the tough part is now upon us to keep winning. #Risewithus! Now I need a new bobblehead.

I could not be less impressed with Coastals Defense. In this same situation LU’s defense showed up and represented

I think Coach Freeze did a great job but I do agree with the not having a big vision thing. The program was never as important to him as promoting his own brand. At the same time, he was great at keeping his/our name out there and was great with the media/social media. Coach Chadwell starting out is VERY QUIET. It is a big change especially as everyone else seems to be making moves. Hopefully he was just being respectful to his former team. He has obviously been successful doing things his way so as he better articulates his vision I expect to get behind him. At the moment it feels like we lost much more than we gained. Sell the vision, Coach! We want to get behind you and row in the same direction!

Chadwell has posted on Twitter only 2 times since taking over. Once about Coastal... I'd say we're leaving some things to be desired on the promotion side.