Hugh Freeze and Liberty’s football staff have concluded the first day of the Early Signing Period, which resulted in the signing of 17 scholarship athletes on Wednesday. For more information be sure to check out our Signing Day Live Blog and also hear everything that Coach Freeze had to say about the signing class.

Here are a few notes/thoughts on the class:

  1. The Flames were able to successfully seal the deal by signing 17 of its top prospects it targeted to sign Wednesday. The only one the staff missed out on was JUCO offensive tackle transfer Isaiah Adams who signed with Illinois.
  2. The signees came from 11 different states: Georgia (4), Colorado, Louisiana, and Tennessee with 2 each, and Alabama, Florida, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia each had one.
  3. The 17 signees was broken down with 11 high school signees and six transfers. Of those, two were JUCO and four transfers came from other Division I programs.
  4. 9 of Liberty’s 11 high school signees were three-star rated prospects.
  5. Liberty is currently ranked as having the 86th best recruiting class in the country according to 247Sports. That’s with just 11 of Liberty’s 17 signees. The signees they don’t have included are Bryce Dixon, Brylan Green, Antwon Jackson, A’Khori Jones, Jordan Norwood, and Mike Smith, Jr. Still, at No. 86, this would qualify as Liberty’s highest rated recruiting class in school history, besting the No. 89 final class for the 2020 signing class.
  6. Of the signees, 10 are expected to be early enrollees by joining the program in January for the spring semester.
  7. The Flames’ newcomers include three safeties, two corners, two defensive ends, two linebackers, two tight ends, two wide receivers, an offensive linemen, a quarterback, a running back, and one defensive tackle.
  8. There was really only one target the Flames were still in play for that they lost on Wednesday, and that was JUCO offensive tackle target Isaiah Adams who signed with Illinois.
  9. Looking ahead, the Flames have several openings in the class looking ahead to the February signing day. Offensive line will be a priority in that class. Freeze mentioned that he would pursue a tackle and a center. The Flames will also look for a safety and/or corner.