Jamey Chadwell and Liberty have concluded the December Early Signing Period, which resulted in the signing of 18 scholarship athletes on Wednesday. For more information be sure to check out our Signing Day Live Blog and also hear everything that Coach Chadwell had to say about the signing class.

Here are a few notes/thoughts on the class:

  1. The class is ranked as high as No. 89 by 247Sports while the other recruiting services have it narrowly trailing that ranking. The highest rated ranking in school history was No. 83 by Rivals for last year’s class.
  2. All except for two signees were ranked as a three-star prospect by at least one of the national recruiting services. That is better than any previous class for the Flames. By comparison, last year’s class had 8 three-star prospects.
  3. The signees came from 9 different states: Georgia was clearly the most popular state with 7 signees hailing from the Peach State. 3 came from Tennessee, 2 from South Carolina, and 1 each from Virginia, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Massachusetts, and California.
  4. The class includes 14 mid-year enrollees.
  5. The Flames’ newcomers include 4 offensive linemen, 3 defensive linemen, 2 safeties, tight ends, wide receivers, and linebackers, and 1 quarterback, corner, and running back.
  6. QB Jayden Bradford is clearly the highest profile of the signees. He played at one of the best high school programs in the country, IMG Academy, and will come to Liberty used to playing at a high level. He chose the Flames over numerous offers including several at the Power Five level.
  7. Coach Chadwell highlighted CB Ronald Moore and S Devin Henderson as two that could challenge for playing time immediately in Liberty’s defensive backfield.
  8. Expect the majority of the remaining high school players to likely be redshirted in 2024 unless something drastic happens. The Flames have built up some solid depth at most positions, and these players can take their time adjusting to the college game before being able to make significant impacts throughout their careers.
  9. Liberty signed four JUCO players on Wednesday. Two of these were on the defensive line, while one each for the offensive line and safety. These players will be expected to count into the team’s depth immediately.
  10. Most of these signees committed to Liberty prior to coach Chadwell and his staff even coaching a game at LU. The Flames were able to keep their commitments solid throughout the 2023 season despite several of them having continued overtures from other schools.
  11. It feels like this class has elevated the base recruiting level for the Flames moving forward, especially with the success of the team on the field.
  12. This class does not include any of Liberty’s transfer portal commits. The Flames currently have verbals from DT Eli  Hall (Wake Forest), LB Teylor Jackson (East Carolina), and LB/S Jahmar Brown (Coastal Carolina). Expect to see this number continue to grow in the coming days and weeks.