The newly renovated weight room in the Liberty Football Center (LFC) has officially been named the Men of Armour Football Alumni Weight Room, after an evangelistic ministry led by the team’s strength and conditioning programs from the 1970s to the ’90s.
Multiple football alumni from the ministry attended a plaque unveiling and dedication ceremony on Sept. 3 during Football Alumni Weekend.
Men of Armour, which was based on Ephesians 6:10-20, was integral in the whole-person development of many Flames Football players. They traveled with the strength coaching staff to different high schools, churches, and youth events to perform feats of strength and teach the basics of strength and conditioning, following it up with a Gospel presentation. Many young people came to know Christ and grow in the faith through this ministry.
Two rooms were also named for two strength coach titans of the Flames Football legacy who organized and implemented the outreach. The Football Head Strength Coach’s Office was named after Bill Gillespie, former football player, track & field team member and coach, and longtime football strength coach. The Head Strength Coach’s Office in the Liberty Athletic Center was named after Dave Williams, a longtime strength coach with the Flames and a Liberty Athletics Hall of Fame member.
Liberty Athletics and the Flames Club completed a multi-year fundraising campaign in July to rename the facility, with a gracious matching gift from Richard Osborne, a football alumnus, and his wife, Karin. A total of $250,000 was raised by dedicated fans and supporters, among them football players from every decade of Liberty Football. The funds raised will be used to improve and maintain national-caliber facilities for current Liberty student-athletes.
“We are deeply indebted to Karin and Richard Osborne, who made a generous lead gift, and a number of our former student-athletes for commemorating the Men of Armour ministry and honoring two very deserving Liberty legends in Bill Gillespie and Dave Williams,” said Director of Athletics Ian McCaw.
