When Liberty started training camp a couple weeks ago, head coach Jamey Chadwell said the first nine practices of camp would be pretty close to a wide open quarterback battle between the five guys at the position. Ethan Vasko, Ryan Burger, Michael Merdinger, Jayden Bradford, and Ethan Houck were all vying to become the Flames’ next starting quarterback. Following this past Saturday’s first full scrimmage, Chadwell announced he had narrowed the competition to two, as has been his plan all along.

“Through the first nine or so (practices), they were on equal reps, but going forward Vasko and Burger will be getting the majority of the reps,” Chadwell said on Tuesday afternoon. “Merdinger will be getting a decent amount, as well. We’ve narrowed it down to those three with Vasko and Burger competing out for who will be the starter.”

Vasko, the transfer from Coastal Carolina, is easily the most experienced at the FBS level of this group. He started all 12 games for Coastal in 2024, throwing 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions with a 55% completion percentage while throwing for over 2,000 yards. During his two seasons at Coastal, Vasko played in 20 games. He completed 224 of his 393 passes for 2,889 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. A mobile quarterback, Vasko rushed the ball 170 times for 815 yards and 7 scores as he brings something the other quarterbacks in the room don’t possess and that’s significant playing experience at the college level.

Ryan Burger joined the Flames a year ago through the transfer portal, coming over from Appalachian State where he began the 2023 season as App’s starting quarterback before suffering a hand injury in the first half of the first game that caused him to miss the remainder of the season. Burger served as Kaidon Salter’s backup in 2024 at Liberty. He got playing time in five games, most notably in the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo, where Liberty lost 26-7. Burger started that game as Salter was already in the transfer portal. He completed 4 of 12 passes for 40 yards and was sacked 3 times. He also rushed 11 times for 57 yards. Burger did miss the spring practice sessions due to a concussion suffered in the bowl game.

At the start of camp, Chadwell said his goal was to have the starter penciled in going into the first week of school. With Liberty’s classes set to begin Monday, Vasko and Burger have four complete practices to convince their coaches that they are the guy moving forward.

“As you break down what helps this team win this year, the other quarterbacks made great improvement,” Chadwell said as he explained his decision. “Ethan Houck is a freshman. There’s a lot of great things he did. He’s not where he needs to be, by any means, but he has a bright future. Jayden (Bradford) made tremendous strides and got better. Jayden missed spring so that really set him back. He really came back and I thought had a good fall camp, but, from a consistency standpoint, understanding what you’ve got to do every down, not quite there yet.”

Chadwell also said he had confidence in Merdinger, the North Carolina transfer. While Merdinger has been ruled out of being the starter for the season opener August 30 against Maine, he will continue to get reps and prepare to be ready to play in case he is called on at some point during the season.

“If Mike ended up being the quarterback, we could win a lot of games with Mike,” Chadwell said of the redshirt-freshman. “We believe that. I think Mike made a lot of strides. Those other two were just ahead of where we need them to  be right now to go out and try to accomplish what we want to accomplish. As your practice window gets shorter, you can’t rep everybody in order to get better. You got to narrow it down, and we made that decision. Experience does help, for sure, and being able to operate the system the way you want it to operate to the full extent.”

Chadwell highlighted a few key areas that will be the deciding factors between Vasko and Burger over the coming days – consistency, protecting the ball, and leadership.

“Consistency,” said Chadwell. “From each practice, from each meeting, who is the most consistent, gives us the chance to move the ball, score touchdowns. Secondly from a physical standpoint, who is taking care of the ball. You can’t put the ball in precarious situations. You gotta protect the ball, but also who is going to bring that team together? Who is going to unite us, make sure the guys are playing hard? Whoever wins the job, I am 100% confident the team will be behind. They are great leaders. They care about their teammates. They have been great in the locker room. I don’t worry about that, but I think that is important too. The guys are behind those guys.”

Chadwell thinks both Vasko and Burger have the support of their teammates and have proven to be a good leader throughout the off-season and up until now in camp. One of these guys will ultimately earn the coaching staff’s trust and be the starter when the Flames kick off the 2025 season in just over two weeks.

“It’s been a good battle up until this point, and it will continue to be a good battle,” said Chadwell. “I couldn’t tell you right now exactly this guys is in the lead today. I think they both did some good stuff. There are some areas of improvement. They are competing hard right now.”

Vasko & Burger by the numbers

Ethan Vasko

  • 6’3″, 220
  • Chesapeake, VA
  • 1st year at Liberty
  • 1 season at Kansas, 2 seasons at Coastal Carolina
  • 21 collegiate games played, 16 starts
  • 0 games played at Liberty
  • 227 of 398 passing for 2,902 yards, 21 touchdowns, 9 interceptions
  • 172 carries for 821 yards, 7 touchdowns

Ryan Burger

  • 6’4″, 205
  • Myrtle Beach, SC
  • 2nd year at Liberty
  • 2 seasons at Appalachian State
  • 7 collegiate games played, 2 starts
  • 5 games played at Liberty, 1 start
  • 19 of 36 passing for 201 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions
  • 23 carries for 83 yards, 1 touchdown