[jinxy]

Lots of work left. Need a starting caliber lb after we had 1 flip. May need another with Robinson now in the portal as well. Another wr maybe 2 depending on Daniel's and probably another Guard and possibly even a qb with both Mooney and JB departing. Back to defense we need 2 corners a safety and another edge type guy.

[jinxy]

Don't think we hosted anyone last week. I know Chadwell was speaking at a conference. Assuming we're putting all the chips in this weekend. Need to lock a few down and get them here just to have quality depth for spring.

[ECC29]

Lots of work left. Need a starting caliber lb after we had 1 flip. May need another with Robinson now in the portal as well. Another wr maybe 2 depending on Daniel's and probably another Guard and possibly even a qb with both Mooney and JB departing. Back to defense we need 2 corners a safety and another edge type guy.

We know the secondary was frustrating to watch at times but we need to pressure the opposing QB. We need good DL, Edge, & LB to press the QB. LU did not do enough of those this season. LU has enough athleticism in the secondary that if they actually make the QB rush his throw, they can be very successful in defense.

[Humble_Opinion]

Defense is a game of layers and the first layer in the DL. I am not sure why we're losing Kendy to potentially just another G5. Is there a backstory there? Having this kid from Wake come in is potentially going to help. We still have Jennings from UNC right? I don't think he played much last year though. Carroll comes back along with Bush and Bazile. Hopefully, after some additional time with Coach Scott over the next 6 months, those guys progress even more. The best defense we ever had though was 2 years ago, when we were able to dominate the front vs. most teams w/ Johnson, Charles and Osagiede. That defense was legit. The turnover last year hurt, but I think we slightly overperformed on Defense if you ask me, primarily because of the takeaways in the secondary. We just have to get better all-around on that side of the ball though if we want to be able to maintain our status as one of, if not the top G5.

One other thing, does anyone feel like our recruiting has taken a step up? There seemed to be some hope that with us having the type of season we had that it would pay dividends in that arena. I'm seeing lots of noise about who JMU is adding in the portal right now, with transfers from P5 squads across the board, but on our end, it seems mostly limited to other G5s / JUCO still. Maybe it's just me... just curious how others feel?

[ECC29]

I think LU is trying to recruit P5 players. However, JMU and LU are two different schools. LU is a Christian school that not every player “fit” in that environment. Those top players may prefer the environment of JMU versus LU. This has to be the top reason. LU football is relatively a P5 program according to many recruits that visited LU plus the success LU showed this year. So why not LU, it’s the Christian environment. My thought at least.

[AATL]

I do think the whole "P5 transfer" thing is a bit over-glamourized. I don't mean to overgeneralize; Lord knows Liberty has had some P5 transfers (particularly at QB) who did wonders for the program. There are also plenty of cases where an athlete is transferring "down" because they didn't develop or didn't have the tools necessary to see the field at the P5 level.

I know the P5 offers look flashier, but there are plenty of good reasons (late bloomer physically, underrecruited, started football late, didn't have the money to attend camps) for stellar football players to start out at the FCS or G5 level. Quite a few major contributors here came from that mold: Kobe Singleton, Dennis Osagiede, and Caleb Snead were all FCS guys. Dae Dae, Bentley Hanshaw, X Gadlin, Brandon Bishop, and Xavior Gray were all G5 guys.

The HS recruiting this staff has done so far has been excellent -- dare I say a step forward from Freeze. The FCS/JUCO/G5 portal targets look like solid plug-and-play options to fill gaps while the depth develops. I'm not stressed about recruiting and am looking forward to seeing how '24 rounds out.

[BlueBlood]

Also, remember that non-bowl teams have the most time to do portal work, then teams that had early bowl games, then finally the teams that had late bowl games. LU has had less time to scour the portal and set up visits than most other teams have had. Under the current setup, on-field success comes with some portal-recruiting disadvantages.

[Ill flame]

One other thing, does anyone feel like our recruiting has taken a step up? There seemed to be some hope that with us having the type of season we had that it would pay dividends in that arena. I'm seeing lots of noise about who JMU is adding in the portal right now, with transfers from P5 squads across the board, but on our end, it seems mostly limited to other G5s / JUCO still. Maybe it's just me... just curious how others feel?

I wouldn't focus too much on what other teams are doing. JMU was in the same boat we were in a year ago. A big chunk of their roster has followed their coach to the P5 and now instead of backfilling with G5 or FCS upperclassmen that can contribute right away their new coach is adding P5 underclassmen that will likely need a year or two to develop. We really didn't add a ton of upperclassmen through the portal last year because chadwell knew he didn't need to win big right away. Now that he won 13 games in year 1 and is expected to do that nearly every year that changes the recruiting strategy a little bit. I like the adds we have so far but we're not done yet.

[jinxy]

Likely to see the recruiting bump come in June with the next round of Hs kids. The portal recruiting has been hit and miss. They did very well on the OL and RB and almost completely whiffed on D other than Bishop last year.

Think we’ve done ok so far but not a huge bump portal wise.

[jmclaughlin]

The portal chatter has gone quiet. Someone tease the group with some spicy rumors of Bama players headed our way...
I will hang up and listen

[A Sea of Red]

It will heat up significantly this weekend...

[Cider Jim]

It will heat up significantly this weekend...

The weekend before classes start on Monday!

[Humble_Opinion]

It will heat up significantly this weekend...

If you dangle some tidbits behind the paywall, you might just force my wallet to open.

[A Sea of Red]

Not even tidbits but the entire list of visitors:

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-to-we ... s-weekend/

[jmclaughlin]

Not even tidbits but the entire list of visitors:

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-to-we ... s-weekend/

Tasty...some surprise visits

[Humble_Opinion]

I saw on twitter that one of the DBs we offered (Javarius Sims?) committed to Ark St this week, but he just announced that he decommitted and re-opened his recruitment.

[OldJockJurisDoc]

Not even tidbits but the entire list of visitors:

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-to-we ... s-weekend/

I need my free membership for dominating all you lightweights in the bowl contest

[Ill flame]

Not even tidbits but the entire list of visitors:

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-to-we ... s-weekend/

I need my free membership for dominating all you lightweights in the bowl contest

What's this about a bowl contest?

[Humble_Opinion]

Not even tidbits but the entire list of visitors:

https://www.aseaofred.com/liberty-to-we ... s-weekend/

I made good on what I said - club member now

[jmclaughlin]

The Vaughn kid out of Wisconsin (LB) may wind up being the biggest get in the portal. Had some big offers coming out of HS and I am sure he has been coached up in his time at UW. LB has been a need the last 2 seasons and our D needs the lift in the second line.

[jmclaughlin]

On3 had him as the #22 LB in the country out of HS and as a 4*

[Ill flame]

I'm not counting on him being a significant contributor right away considering he only played in one game at Wisconsin but this pickup adds some much needed depth behind jolly and Carter.

[jinxy]

Taylor Jackson ecu transfer will almost surely be a starter. Whidby and Moore give you young talent. Vaughan helps to spread out the age of the group a bit. Still think we’re looking for another upper classmen at lb. We’ve tried to get another 2 or 3 times.

[Ill flame]

Honestly I'm not sure we need another LB in this class, especially not an upperclassmen. We have three starter quality LBs (jackson, jolly, carter) for two starting jobs. Behind them we have brown (SR), freeman (JR), Vaughan (SO), Whidby (FR) and Moore (FR) competing for that last backup spot. I assume the freshmen will redshirt. Linebacker is looking to be our strongest position group on defense next season.

[flamehunter]

Doesn't hurt to fill the cupboard. Spring practice and portal season usually results in some losses we may not have seen coming.