A Sea Of Red

Starting this thread early so that you can post your pre-portal and post-portal comments. To say the 2 weeks from Jan 2-16 is critical is an understatement.

Oh yeah, the transfer portal at Liberty might as well have a revolving door with HCJC’s name engraved on it. Players aren’t entering the portal anymore—they’re being politely escorted. Blink and you miss another commitment tweet turning into a “thankful for the opportunity” graphic.

It’s honestly impressive. HCJC is running players off faster than you can imagine—faster than fans can learn jersey numbers. At this point, the roster is more of a suggestion than a lineup. Liberty football has become the first program where “next man up” really means “next man already packing.”

But hey, it’s all part of the plan, right? Culture! Accountability! Nothing builds stability quite like half the locker room looking for a new zip code by December.

If you want it even sharper—or more tongue-in-cheek—say the word and I’ll turn the sarcasm up another notch.

Dalegarz1 wrote: ↑December 29th, 2025, 6:24 pm Starting this thread early so that you can post your pre-portal and post-portal comments. To say the 2 weeks from Jan 2-16 is critical is an understatement.

It’s a crazy time we live in. Iowa St only has 17 returning players next year. Ole Miss basically turned over their entire roster and look where they are. Teams are now built year to year via the portal. It’s a tad unnerving to see all the transfers out etc but this is the College Athletics World we live in.
Chadwell knows his seat is warm and will be hot with a repeat performance next year. This will be very interesting to watch develop. We won’t know the results till the Fall

Oh, HCJC really needs to prove they can actually coach, recruit, and manage egos—because if not, next year isn’t just going to be worse than last season… it’ll be a full-on sequel nobody asked for.

Talent alone won’t save it. Neither will speeches, slogans, or pretending chemistry magically appears in August. If HCJC can’t juggle all three, buckle up—rock bottom might still have a basement.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports ... 09990007/#

This is embarrassing on the schools part.

Why is that embarrassing? We do tend to have a very legalistic crowd at LU, but the article says Klenakis, who at the time was his position coach under HCHF embraced him, which is what he should have done. It doesn't speak ill of HCJC and co. It may something about the overall culture of the school and that some views needs changing.

If we have to hold up signs that says God Loves You instead if telling the other team they suck at games then surely we can embrace our own athletes who have kids out of wedlock and are taking responsibility for them.

I saw that we offered Landen Clark (QB) from Elon. He’s a dual threat QB, but his numbers last year against CAA competition were similar to Vasko’s time at CCU. 56% completion, 2,300yds passing (191/game), 18 TD /8 INT. If this is our top target for QB, I don’t think we’re going to be getting an upgrade.

It seems as though this staff’s MO is to stay the course with “their formula”. I’m not optimistic right now. The season has been over for over a month and we’ve lost 4 coaches and the only named replacement is an internal promotion. We still don’t have an OC or DC and the portal is now open. What is happening on the mountain?

Oh I hate to be the bearer of totally unverified, absolutely rock-solid armchair intel, but word around the concourse coaching circle last night was JUICY.

So there I am at the basketball game, minding my own business, when suddenly HCJC was spotted and the whispers start flowing like NIL checks: LU already hired a coordinator. Yep. Done deal. Sealed. Delivered. Apparently it’s so secret that only half the arena knows and the other half is “hearing things.” Classic.

And THEN—because no Liberty rumor is complete without a little cloak-and-dagger—supposedly there was a secret meeting last night. HCJC, a few other not so very important football minds, probably gathered in a dimly lit room somewhere off campus smoking cigars and drinking bourbon. Phones off. Doors locked. Whiteboard out. Lots of nodding. Zero leaks.

Now, do I have proof? Of course not. But this is LU Armchair Coaching™, where:
• Basketball games double as press conferences
• Rumors move faster than official announcements
• And HCJC is always either two steps ahead or wildly behind, depending on who you ask

So take it for what it’s worth—but if a coordinator announcement drops “out of nowhere” in the next few days, just remember: the armchairs knew first.

Jacurri Brown (QB) is an intriguing transfer prospect. A legitimate dual threat player who originally went to Miami as a 4 star athlete. He has visits scheduled at Missouri State, Rice, Tulsa and FIU.

LU Armchair coach wrote:Oh I hate to be the bearer of totally unverified, absolutely rock-solid armchair intel, but word around the concourse coaching circle last night was JUICY.

So there I am at the basketball game, minding my own business, when suddenly HCJC was spotted and the whispers start flowing like NIL checks: LU already hired a coordinator. Yep. Done deal. Sealed. Delivered. Apparently it’s so secret that only half the arena knows and the other half is “hearing things.” Classic.

And THEN—because no Liberty rumor is complete without a little cloak-and-dagger—supposedly there was a secret meeting last night. HCJC, a few other not so very important football minds, probably gathered in a dimly lit room somewhere off campus smoking cigars and drinking bourbon. Phones off. Doors locked. Whiteboard out. Lots of nodding. Zero leaks.

Now, do I have proof? Of course not. But this is LU Armchair Coaching™, where:
• Basketball games double as press conferences
• Rumors move faster than official announcements
• And HCJC is always either two steps ahead or wildly behind, depending on who you ask

So take it for what it’s worth—but if a coordinator announcement drops “out of nowhere” in the next few days, just remember: the armchairs knew first.

The ONLY reason I’m taking this somewhat seriously is that my family literally walked out of the arena behind the Chadwells and HCJC held the door open for my family like a true southern gentleman would. Hopefully you’re right and there’s a solid hire that will be announced.

ballah09 wrote: ↑January 1st, 2026, 2:16 pm https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports ... 09990007/#

This is embarrassing on the schools part.

Can you expand on that? I must be missing something

Humble_Opinion wrote: ↑January 2nd, 2026, 3:19 pm I saw that we offered Landen Clark (QB) from Elon. He’s a dual threat QB, but his numbers last year against CAA competition were similar to Vasko’s time at CCU. 56% completion, 2,300yds passing (191/game), 18 TD /8 INT. If this is our top target for QB, I don’t think we’re going to be getting an upgrade.

It seems as though this staff’s MO is to stay the course with “their formula”. I’m not optimistic right now. The season has been over for over a month and we’ve lost 4 coaches and the only named replacement is an internal promotion. We still don’t have an OC or DC and the portal is now open. What is happening on the mountain?

I watched him play a few times this year since I live nearby. He has some interesting visits coming up but did not see anything special that stood out about his play.

Donte Lee to Texas tech. From what I’ve read he’s just going to be a rotation piece for them. For as long as there are no rules that program is going to be one of the best in the country.

From this LU armchair coach — LIL Flame — yeah, I’m sure Lee just magically becomes a Big 12 rotation guy, because numbers clearly never depend on quarterback play or scheme. If Liberty had anything close to Willis running the offense, his stats probably would’ve popped instead of being dragged down by inconsistency. And let’s be honest, this wasn’t exactly a strong conference, which only makes the QB play look even worse. But sure, let’s ignore all that context.

Losing Lee hurts more than people want to admit up on the Mountain, where proven production doesn’t exactly grow on trees. Life is like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get — and right now it feels like we grabbed the mystery piece. So I’ll ask again: who’s steering this ship? Because from the outside, it looks less like smooth sailing and more like drifting at the bottom of the ocean.

LU Armchair coach wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 10:12 am From this LU armchair coach — LIL Flame — yeah, I’m sure Lee just magically becomes a Big 12 rotation guy, because numbers clearly never depend on quarterback play or scheme. If Liberty had anything close to Willis running the offense, his stats probably would’ve popped instead of being dragged down by inconsistency. And let’s be honest, this wasn’t exactly a strong conference, which only makes the QB play look even worse. But sure, let’s ignore all that context.

Losing Lee hurts more than people want to admit up on the Mountain, where proven production doesn’t exactly grow on trees. Life is like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get — and right now it feels like we grabbed the mystery piece. So I’ll ask again: who’s steering this ship? Because from the outside, it looks less like smooth sailing and more like drifting at the bottom of the ocean.

It’s pretty normal for top guys at G5s to play second fiddle at P4s. It’s no secret how big the talent difference can get especially when comparing CUSA teams to CFP teams. CJ Daniel’s put up way bigger numbers with us than Lee and was the number 3 receiver at LSU and Miami the last two seasons.

Everyone else in CUSA is losing their top guys too. We should have no issues backfilling with better players than Kennesaw St. if you recall Lee and Dickens were also brought in through the portal under Chadwell.

LIL Flame, I do recall — Lee and Dickens were both brought in through the portal under Chadwell. Those were impact guys for a middling C-USA team I support, and now they’re gone. You also mentioned CJ Daniels… funny enough, he just made the biggest play for Miami a couple days ago, and HCJC didn’t bring him in either — yet he suddenly left after HCJC arrived. Coincidence? Maybe. But when you start connecting the dots, it really raises questions about talent evaluation, retention, and who’s actually steering this program.

These guys are getting paid way more than we can and should offer. That’s all it comes down to. As long as we are bringing in more talent than our G5 peers that’s what we should be comparing ourselves against. I also keep up with Illinois football, they just dropped $2+ million on a G5 QB and they aren’t even CFP contenders. There’s plenty we can criticize Chadwell for and player retention isn’t it.

Chad Campbell's payroll is insane in Lubbock. As long as he is burning cash out in West Texas they will be getting headscratching transfers left & right.

Ill flame wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 1:08 pm These guys are getting paid way more than we can and should offer. That’s all it comes down to. As long as we are bringing in more talent than our G5 peers that’s what we should be comparing ourselves against. I also keep up with Illinois football, they just dropped $2+ million on a G5 QB and they aren’t even CFP contenders. There’s plenty we can criticize Chadwell for and player retention isn’t it.

LIL Flame, you’re right — and judging by the C-USA teams we’re supposedly competing with, it sure feels like we’re not just behind the 8-ball… we’re looking for the cue stick too.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 2:40 pm Chad Campbell's payroll is insane in Lubbock. As long as he is burning cash out in West Texas they will be getting headscratching transfers left & right.

I saw reports that they are paying the QB they just signed $5 million and I believe it. It’s nice to see more programs outside the B1G/SEC establishing themselves as natty contenders.

While others are dooming I’m liking how things are shaping up in the portal so far.

Elijah McKenzie (CB) has proven himself at lower levels and worst case scenario should be a solid backup.

Both OL commits have P4 playing time and are bigger than our current starters. I saw on Reddit Penn st fans assumed Alex Birchmeier was going to be starting for them next year until he hit the portal so naturally there’s some confusion how he ended up here. Seems like we got a steal there.

Makai Jackson (WR) put up bigger numbers for App state than Donte Lee put up this year so he should be a top guy for us. Can’t fault him for not getting much playing time for a team that made Alabama look like a FCS school.

A lot more to add especially on defense and at QB but if this keeps up we’ll be bringing in better players than we’re losing in the portal.

The commits on OL appear nice on paper. The WR from App St/Indiana looks like a good addition. The big questions for me are QB and DL. We need bigger interior linemen and a more consistent pass rush. I saw we offered a 300lb guy from Mo St and he’s coming on an OV soon…we also offered a 320lb interior DL from Portland St. I’d like to see at least two 300lb+ guys added and another DE with experience.

I’m also glad at least some sort of change was announced re: the new DC. I’ll be interested to hear what happens to Magee though.

Agreed.

Unfortunately, I think the trenches will be especially prone to yearly portal turnover for G5 programs. We've already seen that with the near-entire departures of the starting OL/DL the past two years. That said, it's been a very solid start to this class.

Don't mistake me for wishing to push HCJC aside for the Hugh Freeze days of old, but Freeze was always very vocal about building the defense around an elite DL and he invested as such on the recruiting trail. Monstrous interior run-stuffers are a (very expensive) commodity, but I'd like to see the team get better in the pass rush - especially at edge. The past twoish years have felt like a reolviving door of watching young edges with potential endure a frustrating learning curve, start to find their footing by the year's end, and then portal out.

Humble_Opinion wrote: ↑January 5th, 2026, 9:50 pm The commits on OL appear nice on paper. The WR from App St/Indiana looks like a good addition. The big questions for me are QB and DL. We need bigger interior linemen and a more consistent pass rush. I saw we offered a 300lb guy from Mo St and he’s coming on an OV soon…we also offered a 320lb interior DL from Portland St. I’d like to see at least two 300lb+ guys added and another DE with experience.

I’m also glad at least some sort of change was announced re: the new DC. I’ll be interested to hear what happens to Magee though.

TBF, especially at this level, “Paper” is the only way to look at Portal players. I’d rather have them look good on paper at this point then looking at them and scratching my head
I think the D side of the ball will start to sort out with the new hire

Yeah I agree, paper is better than nothing. Although I think the lesson I'm beginning to learn from Cignetti's success, is that proven experience on the field at any level in college is better than hype/recruiting rankings associated with a P4 transfer that hasn't played much. That 2024 IU team pulled A LOT from JMU out of the portal, and they won 11 games only losing to the #1 and #3 teams in the country that year? There are still several of those JMU players on his roster that are bigtime contributors. There's a lot more than just that driving IU's success. He's finding players that possess the intangibles of what it takes to succeed on the field better than anyone else right now.

I also made the "paper" comment because I've seen some LU folks on X hyping up some of these adds. While I'm thinking they're pretty good, we are still only one month removed from finishing 4-8. It's going to take a lot more for me to move on from that and truly be excited personally speaking.