Program-Best Recruiting Class Will Help Fill Shoes Left by Buckshot and Gandy-Golden

Era-defining LU football stars Stephen Buckshot Calvert and Antonio Gandy-Golden finished their Flames careers with a place in Liberty’s record books and a bowl win to their names. But their graduation this spring meant losing the dual stars of Liberty’s football solar system, and for Head Coach Hugh Freeze, this unusual offseason meant an opportunity to rebuild the Flames in his own image with a new class of freshmen recruits. 

With an eye on the Flames long-term prospects in FBS football, Freeze brought in the highest-ranked recruiting class in program history this year, per Liberty’s website. According to 247Sports.com, Liberty’s recruiting class of 2020 ranks No. 89 in the country, the first time a Liberty recruiting class has broken the top 100 – surpassing Freeze’s previous class by 46 places. 

“Recruiting at this level, it’s all about your evaluation of what young men can become, and we’re excited to see (it),” Freeze said in a Feb. 5 press conference. “Right now, we think all of them are going to be great players. Hopefully our evaluation of how they’ll develop – you’re looking at kids who are 250 (pounds) now that you project to be 290, and then you turn them over to our training table … and hope that in two years your projection was correct.”

When Liberty completed its National Letter of Intent additions Feb. 5, it had recruited a total of 29 players, with four more signing since that date for a total of 33 new Flames. 

Adding 18 three-star recruits to the team’s roster, Freeze will quickly look to his new players to continue reshaping the team into a force to be reckoned with in FBS football as the Flames prepare to go toe-to-toe with three ACC teams this season. Filling Calvert’s and Gandy-Golden’s shoes will not be easy, however – and Freeze will have his work cut out for him to replicate their consistent offensive production. 

With that in mind, he brought in three quarterbacks this year – but only one, graduate transfer Chris Ferguson, will slot into the team right away. The University of Maine transfer is competing with Auburn transfer Malik Willis and redshirt freshman Johnathan Bennett for the starting quarterback slot this season, and Freeze expects Ferguson to make an instant impact on the team. 

“I think that with Malik being here, Chris provides very good competition,” Freeze said. “Some people don’t care for it, (but) you’re in the wrong place if you’re not wanting to compete. I think it make us all better, and I’m really excited about the depth of competition we’ve been able to create.”

Gandy-Golden’s exceptional stats at wide receiver may be even harder to replicate, however. A current potential starter for the Washington Football Team this upcoming NFL season, he hauled in a total of 240 receptions for 33 touchdowns and 3,814 yards across his Liberty career, according to The Washington Post. 

Though most of the weight to replace him will rest on the shoulders of current players like Kevin Shaa and D.J. Stubbs, recent junior college transfer Jaivian Lofton is expected to challenge for a starting spot, ASeaOfRed.com reported. 

Liberty’s coaching staff believe that Lofton’s experience and maturity will play a crucial role in helping him settle into the team, wide receivers coach Maurice Harris said to ASeaOfRed.com. 

“He understands that he doesn’t have the time that some of our freshmen have (to adjust), so he’s in the meeting room, he’s asking questions, he’s going over the script prior to us practicing, going through it after us getting through practicing,” Harris said. 

Additionally, the Flames aimed to bolster their offensive line this offseason, adding graduate transfer offensive tackle Bryce Mathews to shore up the team’s system. 

Initially recruited by Freeze at Ole Miss, Mathews is the son of former NFL offensive lineman Jason Mathews, and Freeze expects him to make an impact in 2020. 

“We felt like we needed somebody to come in and compete at right tackle, and we believe Bryce can do that,” Freeze said in a press conference Feb. 5. “We also know that he can play every position, which I love for a grad transfer. We know he can play center, guard or tackle, (and) he’s looked good in the workouts we’ve had thus far.” 

Though choosing a starting quarterback and replacing Gandy-Golden’s safe hands will be crucial, much of Freeze’s attention this offseason has gone to the defensive side of the ball. A number of defensive starters graduated, including linebacker Solomon Ajayi, but unexpected circumstances made defense even more of a priority heading into the fall.  

The decisions to transfer away from Liberty this summer by cornerbacks Kei’Trel Clark and Tayvion Land hit the team hard, leaving Freeze with two gaping holes in his defense. However, Freeze and cornerbacks coach Rickey Hunley hope that some of the new freshmen will step up to fill those gaps. 

One notable signing, three-star defensive back Juawan Treadwell, is the brother of Laquon Treadwell, an NFL wide receiver most recently on the roster of the Atlanta Falcons. Laquon Treadwell was another Freeze recruit at Ole Miss, and Freeze’s connections with the family helped to seal Juawan Treadwell’s signature for the Flames. 

“My relationship with his mom, Miss Tammy, from recruiting her other son Laquon Treadwell back at Ole Miss really paid dividends for us, and once we got them on campus and she saw the environment here, they were sold it was the best place,” Freeze said. “He’s someone we’re expecting to play right away – he’s a physical safety that will strike you and can run and cover.”

Continuing on patterns from last year, Freeze said this season was a process of adjustments in deciding where to focus his recruiting efforts. He believes that as his staff continue to recruit, they will further establish their niche in the market. 

“We’ve evaluated what areas that we think are best suited for us to recruit from,” Freeze said. “For Liberty, I’m still in the evaluation of that. I’ve changed my thought process on that a bit. But there’s no question we’re doing really well. Georgia, north Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia and the D.C. area (make) a really good home base for us. Our coaches have good ties there, and obviously junior colleges are a mixture of everywhere, but that seems to be a good area.”

Freeze recruited the most from Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia, with six players hailing from Virginia and five each from North Carolina and Georgia.

John Nekrasov is the Sports Editor. Follow him on Twitter at @john_nekrasov.