[cruzan_flame13]

I think the future is going to get very interesting for Liberty and all Group of 5 programs. A lot of major college football coaches and analysts are already saying that putting Tulane and JMU into the College Football Playoff was a mistake. If those teams get blown out in the first round, that could actually hurt Liberty in the long run, because the committee may be more reluctant to put G5 teams in moving forward

But here’s the real problem: players like Dickens — and any other high-level talent we lose — are leaving because we simply cannot match the NIL spending power of the Power 5 conferences. This is the reality for every Group of 5 school. G5 programs have essentially become developmental feeder teams for the Power conferences. Unless something changes, we’re going to see elite G5 players leave every year.

On top of that, Liberty’s poor strength of schedule makes it almost impossible to qualify for the playoffs based on resume alone. That hurts us not only in rankings, but also in recruiting the transfer portal — players want exposure and a path to the postseason.

Honestly, I think the federal government is going to have to step in at some point. We need real guardrails in NIL to level the playing field and give Group of 5 teams an equal opportunity to compete for the playoffs. Without regulation, the gap between the Power 5 and the rest of college football will only grow wider.

Because of all this, Liberty must aggressively pursue a Power conference as soon as possible — similar to what SMU did by moving into the ACC. Liberty’s facilities, budget, coaching salaries, and administrative commitment are already comparable to programs like SMU. If Liberty wants long-term competitive stability, especially in recruiting and NIL, joining a Power conference like the ACC in the future needs to be a serious strategic goal.

This, this is it. I thought being in CUSA isn't an issue for LU's future/long term? As I have been saying, college sports have changed tremendously with the way of doing things. What is casually mentioned in these threads, the way of just winning/steadily growing a program, are heavily out dated. Even looking at the previous era, one should study schools like TCU and UCF. They were spending like a power school while being situated in the group of five. Their success occurred mostly with spending (yes location and markets did help also). LU would have to literally do the same thing and it's even more of an opportunity to build a program than it was in 2008 or even 2016 for that matter. We're already seeing Memphis, Tulane, BSU and others putting in a lot of money in their programs because deep down they know that the G6 will be forgotten. Especially when the new tv deals come about years later; tv broadcasting will not be the same as we see Netflix, Apple, Amazon making 'big' moves while pushing their way to be the new faces for 'tv' deals (allegedly). So will LU spend a lot of money to even be in talks with power conference commissioners? For starters, looking on academic evaluation/prestige, LU is ranked poorly (yes those rankings really mean nothing in general but is taken as value). The school is still ranked as a R3 in the Carnegie Classification (mentioned in the Carnegie Classification thread), and most of the schools in power conferences are R1. That alone, LU would have to put millions in research and expand their graduate programs (which was part of a proposed plan for the graduate campus in the previous master plan under JLF Jr [early 2010's]). The ACC is already off the table, so the only option, if even possible, is the Big XII. That conference may be a little more linient to LU and the school have some resemblance with religious based schools like TCU, Baylor and BYU (travel partner with West Virginia anyone?...anyone? ). Academics prestigue still matters but also program prestigue (especially basketball). LU has far way to go, especially if leadership continue in the direction that they're going right now. Even schools with far less endowment and athletic spending are doing better than us.

[Tothehoopyall1]

I appreciate the insights here.. My question would be.. If we are struggling with NIL now, what would change if we moved to a P4 conference that would put us in a better position on NIL? I know being in a smaller market hurts us, but I continue to struggle with how poorly it seems we are doing with NIL, especially with the increasingly large alumni base we have. Liberty has a ton of wealthy connections associated with the university. I guess I'm a little lost on this part of NIL.

[jbock13]

Liberty is committed to always being the biggest fish in the smallest pond. Although, it seems we’ve lost that plot at the moment. I really don’t think our current leadership is interested in completing with the bigger fish. We’re certainly not doing what we need to do to even compete with the little fish right now.

[Humble_Opinion]

There had better be some roster turnover after a 4-8 season. Right now, the biggest changes I'm waiting on are the staff changes we were told were coming on the defensive side of the ball. HCJC needs to remove his loyalty cap and realize that he has never really gotten it right on that side of the ball at any of his stops. LU's defenses under HCHF were head and shoulders above the current performance of this staff and it was against better competition. We need a whole new scheme and line of thinking when it comes to recruitment and player development.

If you step back and look at this from a 30K foot view, keeping HCJC was the best option. The last time HCJC had a downturn like this, his next team turned it around and had a 10-win season. The question is, does he realize that his normal formula and modus operandi are no longer going to work? The high school class we just signed was decent enough, but he said a few things in his press conference about not reaching for players and being patient if they didn't get every position they need knowing full well they can take advantage of the portal. That for me is a step in the right direction. I don't know what will happen with the G5 at this point and for all intents and purposes I don't really care. Right now, we need to focus on adjusting to the new landscape and developing a formula that allows us to find the talent necessary to win the CUSA year-after-year.

As for all the talk about conference realignment, I think everyone needs to realize how much things have changed in 15 short years. Conferences are eventually going to dissolve, and a new system is going to take its place. There are powerbrokers in the background driving these changes for the expressed purpose of creating enough chaos that a new system can be embraced. It’s likely much closer than we all realize at this point.

[Humble_Opinion]

I appreciate the insights here.. My question would be.. If we are struggling with NIL now, what would change if we moved to a P4 conference that would put us in a better position on NIL? I know being in a smaller market hurts us, but I continue to struggle with how poorly it seems we are doing with NIL, especially with the increasingly large alumni base we have. Liberty has a ton of wealthy connections associated with the university. I guess I'm a little lost on this part of NIL.

We are not struggling with NIL. At least not amongst our G5 and conference peers. NIL has been replaced by Revenue Share though, with schools now being able to pay the athletes directly up to $20.5M (or 22% of Athletics Generated Revenues). There are still commercial NIL opportunities for athletes, but those must all individually go through the Deloitte Clearinghouse. With respect to the Revenue Sharing, LU has the ability to go all the way up to the Max of $20.5M if they choose to do so. We do not have to abide by the 22% of Athletics Generated Revenues. If all schools at the G5 level followed the 22% guidance, then the avg G5 would payout about $4M per year to their student athletes. While it has not been stated publicly, I would bet that LU will be over $10M per year.

So, to reiterate, we are not going to be struggling with "NIL" for the foreseeable future from a funding perspective. The most recent changes should actually accentuate LU's competitive advantages simply because LU's financial model is far healthier than most colleges and universities in the country thanks to LUO.

Being the “best team in the state” doesn’t matter when most of your alumni are out of state.
Since I’m from Roanoke, it matters to me, but I realize it doesn’t matter to most of the fan base.

It's been a long while since I worked at LU, but a little over a third of LU's alumni was in VA at the time if I recall correctly. This is much lower than most in-state schools for obvious reasons, and it presents a challenge to LU from an ability to generate athletics focused revenue. We have far greater numbers of our alumni base outside what most would consider to be feasible when it comes to travel to attend a game. To keep the ones within driving range of attending a game excited about the program, having us be one of the best as compared to our in-state peers does matter.

[LU Armchair coach]

Why has Flames Rising went away? Other schools have the Rev Share and collectives also. Which could generate more money for the athletics.

[broncosliberty]

If Liberty truly isn’t struggling with NIL and has the ability to spend close to $10 million per year on athletes, then I think the fanbase deserves more transparency about how that money is being allocated. I would love to see a breakdown of this year’s roster and what each player received. I saw a report claiming Vasko made around $150K this past season — I don’t know if that’s accurate, but if it is, then I hope whoever is making these NIL decisions is a talent evaluator who actually knows how to assess players correctly. Because based on this season, the evaluation process clearly wasn’t working.

This raises real questions:
Who is actually competent enough on this staff to evaluate talent and determine the proper NIL value for each player? That directly affects our ability to win in the future.

If Liberty wants to position itself for a Power Conference move down the road, hitting the maximum NIL target of $20.5 million should absolutely be the goal.

According to the LU website, Brad Queen is listed as Assistant AD / Chief of Staff, and Colton Corn is the Director of Player Personnel. I would really like to know whether either of them is responsible for NIL strategy, roster evaluation, and ultimately the decision-making behind this year’s talent acquisition. If so, then they share responsibility for the lack of success this season.

Many major programs now have a General Manager position that oversees roster construction, NIL valuations, and talent strategy. Liberty should strongly consider bringing in an experienced outside hire to fill that role. We need someone who specializes in roster building, not just someone promoted internally because of familiarity.

I also continue to believe the entire defensive staff needs to be replaced next year, along with a new scheme and system. Kyle Krantz and Skylor McGee should not be returning after how poorly the defense performed. The concerning part is that, outside of Willie Korn’s departure, we haven’t heard much staffing movement yet — and that lack of urgency makes me nervous.

[Humble_Opinion]

If Liberty truly isn’t struggling with NIL and has the ability to spend close to $10 million per year on athletes, then I think the fanbase deserves more transparency about how that money is being allocated. I would love to see a breakdown of this year’s roster and what each player received. I saw a report claiming Vasko made around $150K this past season — I don’t know if that’s accurate, but if it is, then I hope whoever is making these NIL decisions is a talent evaluator who actually knows how to assess players correctly. Because based on this season, the evaluation process clearly wasn’t working.

This raises real questions:
Who is actually competent enough on this staff to evaluate talent and determine the proper NIL value for each player? That directly affects our ability to win in the future.

If Liberty wants to position itself for a Power Conference move down the road, hitting the maximum NIL target of $20.5 million should absolutely be the goal.

According to the LU website, Brad Queen is listed as Assistant AD / Chief of Staff, and Colton Corn is the Director of Player Personnel. I would really like to know whether either of them is responsible for NIL strategy, roster evaluation, and ultimately the decision-making behind this year’s talent acquisition. If so, then they share responsibility for the lack of success this season.

Many major programs now have a General Manager position that oversees roster construction, NIL valuations, and talent strategy. Liberty should strongly consider bringing in an experienced outside hire to fill that role. We need someone who specializes in roster building, not just someone promoted internally because of familiarity.

I also continue to believe the entire defensive staff needs to be replaced next year, along with a new scheme and system. Kyle Krantz and Skylor McGee should not be returning after how poorly the defense performed. The concerning part is that, outside of Willie Korn’s departure, we haven’t heard much staffing movement yet — and that lack of urgency makes me nervous.

The fanbase does not deserve transparency on how NIL is being spent. The $150K for Vasko did not pan out. I think a message has already been sent that he's likely not going to be the starter next year, though that's mostly a guess. As far as who is in charge of LU's revenue share allocations from a talent evaluation perspective, I'm sure they have someone with experience tagged already performing this role. You likely just don't know about them, which means it very well may be a contractor(s) working on behalf of the university dealing with player agents directly. There's a whole lot of ways to go about it.

As far as swinging for the fences re: P4 levels of NIL funding... there's zero reason. At the end of the day, we're going to be much higher than our conference counterparts. The P4 conferences will be well aware of LU's ability to increase funding levels should they come calling.

Last, it's likely that HCJC has already had meetings internally to inform the staff of the changes coming. To ensure continuity, he's probably already conducting interviews for any open positions and those may be announced altogether so that it limits as much of a shakeup as possible on that side of the ball with your current players and commits. I'm not panicking yet and no one else should be.

[Purple Haize]

Just throwing this out there. The LU athletic department may not be as flush with cash as yall think. It certainly can’t print money like some are proposing. LU absolutely spends a ton especially in relation to its peers. But at some point you run out of money.

[broncosliberty]

If Liberty truly isn’t struggling with NIL and has the ability to spend close to $10 million per year on athletes, then I think the fanbase deserves more transparency about how that money is being allocated. I would love to see a breakdown of this year’s roster and what each player received. I saw a report claiming Vasko made around $150K this past season — I don’t know if that’s accurate, but if it is, then I hope whoever is making these NIL decisions is a talent evaluator who actually knows how to assess players correctly. Because based on this season, the evaluation process clearly wasn’t working.

This raises real questions:
Who is actually competent enough on this staff to evaluate talent and determine the proper NIL value for each player? That directly affects our ability to win in the future.

If Liberty wants to position itself for a Power Conference move down the road, hitting the maximum NIL target of $20.5 million should absolutely be the goal.

According to the LU website, Brad Queen is listed as Assistant AD / Chief of Staff, and Colton Corn is the Director of Player Personnel. I would really like to know whether either of them is responsible for NIL strategy, roster evaluation, and ultimately the decision-making behind this year’s talent acquisition. If so, then they share responsibility for the lack of success this season.

Many major programs now have a General Manager position that oversees roster construction, NIL valuations, and talent strategy. Liberty should strongly consider bringing in an experienced outside hire to fill that role. We need someone who specializes in roster building, not just someone promoted internally because of familiarity.

I also continue to believe the entire defensive staff needs to be replaced next year, along with a new scheme and system. Kyle Krantz and Skylor McGee should not be returning after how poorly the defense performed. The concerning part is that, outside of Willie Korn’s departure, we haven’t heard much staffing movement yet — and that lack of urgency makes me nervous.

The fanbase does not deserve transparency on how NIL is being spent. The $150K for Vasko did not pan out. I think a message has already been sent that he's likely not going to be the starter next year, though that's mostly a guess. As far as who is in charge of LU's revenue share allocations from a talent evaluation perspective, I'm sure they have someone with experience tagged already performing this role. You likely just don't know about them, which means it very well may be a contractor(s) working on behalf of the university dealing with player agents directly. There's a whole lot of ways to go about it.

As far as swinging for the fences re: P4 levels of NIL funding... there's zero reason. At the end of the day, we're going to be much higher than our conference counterparts. The P4 conferences will be well aware of LU's ability to increase funding levels should they come calling.

Last, it's likely that HCJC has already had meetings internally to inform the staff of the changes coming. To ensure continuity, he's probably already conducting interviews for any open positions and those may be announced altogether so that it limits as much of a shakeup as possible on that side of the ball with your current players and commits. I'm not panicking yet and no one else should be.

Do all schools use outside contractors for NIL allocations? Because that seems like an enormous responsibility to place outside the university. If outside evaluators misjudge talent — like the reported $150K given to Vasko — that doesn’t just hurt the roster. Mistakes like that could legitimately cost Chadwell his job.


My fear is that our coaching staff signed off on NIL investments for players they believed were high-level contributors — but they weren’t — and as a result, we got beaten by teams with far less talent on paper and far smaller budgets. That’s a breakdown in evaluation, development, and roster management.

This is exactly why I believe Liberty needs to hire a true General Manager, like other successful programs have done. A GM should oversee:

NIL allocation strategy

Talent evaluation

Roster building

Transfer portal decisions

Long-term personnel planning

About Chadwell Making Staff Changes

You sound confident that Chadwell will make changes to his staff, but many of us — myself included — are very skeptical. Chadwell has shown a pattern of intense loyalty to his coaches, even when results clearly don’t justify it. His press conference comments about “promoting analysts already on staff” instead of hiring outside voices honestly made my concerns even worse. That approach does not fix the scheme, the culture, or the defensive problems.

If Chadwell refuses to break loyalty and improve his staff, then nothing changes.

[LU Armchair coach]

Oh, of course, the only competent soul at LU is supposed to be Jamie Chadwell. I don’t really know if that’s true—but GM, no GM, whatever, he’s the only person this dumpster fire of roster management even remotely falls on. And yet, here we are, seriously entertaining the idea of hiring some random Joe Blow off the street to handle NIL deals, talent evaluation, and the future of our program? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
News flash: this isn’t a TikTok fantasy league. This isn’t Madden Ultimate Team. This is real football, where $150K in NIL doesn’t magically turn a practice squad guy into a starter. And if you can’t see why someone like Matt Bevins—LU alum, Freeze road warrior, actual football brain—would crush this role, congratulations, you clearly think hiring amateurs is a strategy. I don’t know if he’d leave his current role, probably not, but this is exactly the type of person the AD should target—and eliminate all the nonsense that filters through the doors from people who don’t even have a key.
But by all means, let’s bring in Joe Blow, hand him a clipboard, and watch the program spiral into full clown-show territory. Popcorn ready, because the chaos isn’t coming—it’s here, and it’s driving a stolen school bus.

[Tothehoopyall1]

https://www.cbssports.com/college-footb ... ing-power/

[LU Armchair coach]

Just tossing this out there: the former TE 2025 has apparently decided to do a post-exit leadership review of the current HCJC. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and definitely not a great look. Not Surprised either!

[Humble_Opinion]

Just tossing this out there: the former TE 2025 has apparently decided to do a post-exit leadership review of the current HCJC. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, and definitely not a great look. Not Surprised either!

What? "TE 2025"?

[LU Armchair coach]

Just my humble opinion — and I’m sure this will come as a shock to anyone who’s been paying even minimal attention — but for clarity’s sake: (TE) means Tight End on the 2025 roster.

1. Bo Burkelow
2. Eli Sisson
3. Caleb Ryan
4. Austin Henderson
5. Jacob Jenkins
6. Connie Hewit II

Unless I somehow overlooked a mystery Tight End, those were the Tight Ends on the 2025 roster. Does seeing the names listed out help?

[Humble_Opinion]

Everyone knows that TE = tight end. What we don’t know is what you thinking you’re inferring. With the extra clarity given you’re saying a TE on the 2025 roster requested an exit interview to discuss HCJC’s leadership?

Who with - Ian McCaw? Must be a senior so either He season or Jenkins…

[LU Armchair coach]

So yes, in my humble opinion, you got the right answer. You just managed to turn a straight line into a full lap around the stadium first. Bravo.

[jbock13]

The answer that one must seek
Lies just below the golden beak
And if you ever want an answer
Take a gander at the prancer
Keep the answers vague enough
Make up some superfluous fluff
The mystery is beyond reproach
Says the man in a chair for whom claims to be a coach

[flamehunter]

The answer that one must seek
Lies just below the golden beak
And if you ever want an answer
Take a gander at the prancer
Keep the answers vague enough
Make up some superfluous fluff
The mystery is beyond reproach
Says the man in a chair for whom claims to be a coach

Late entry for post of the year.

[flamehunter]

So yes, in my humble opinion, you got the right answer. You just managed to turn a straight line into a full lap around the stadium first. Bravo.

The straight line would have been for you to straight up state who it was and what he said. Instead you're playing the "I know something you don't know" game. Silly. Most people stop doing that when they hit high school.

[LU Armchair coach]

Flameshunter, this is very entertaining—you have to admit. You post something, people comment, chaos ensues. It was definitely true, and clearly this LU armchair coach is “in the know.” As for the rest of you coaches, maybe you should apply for the HCJC staff—you’d probably fit right in. Possibly as a GM!!!! LOL

[Purple Haize]

So yes, in my humble opinion, you got the right answer. You just managed to turn a straight line into a full lap around the stadium first. Bravo.

The straight line would have been for you to straight up state who it was and what he said. Instead you're playing the "I know something you don't know" game. Silly. Most people stop doing that when they hit high school.

That sums up the majority of his posts

[PAmedic]

And why he's on ignore for me
So no quoting plz and thx

[PAmedic]

Unreadable tripe, really
And while throwing the baby out with the bathwater I'm probably missing some interesting nuggets but oh well

[flamehunter]

And why he's on ignore for me
So no quoting plz and thx

Read and acknowledged.