We continue our position previews today with a look at Liberty’s running backs.
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Quarterbacks
In the first two years under head coach Jamey Chadwell and his staff, Liberty had one of the most dynamic rushing attacks in the country. In 2023, the Flames led the nation in rushing and finished 2024 ranked in the top five. Most of that was behind the workhorse legs of Quinton Cooley. Last year, it was Evan Dickens who emerged to be the team’s workhorse, rushing for over 1,300 yards and 16 touchdowns. Dickens has transferred to Boston College while several other members of the room also went into the portal. Jaylon Coleman is the only returning back with any significant experience and he is joined by five incoming transfers who are all competing for playing time.
Through the first week of camp, Offensive Coordinator and Running Backs Coach Newland Isaac has focused on splitting reps equally among all the backs in the group before narrowing that down. The Flames will travel 4-5 backs during the season and will focus on them once they’re identified. The goal is to have two A-Backs and two B-Backs to be able to play in most games.
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “It’s very, very competitive. These are really, really good dudes and really talented dudes. They take football seriously. It’s tough trying to watch it, trying to make sure these guys are getting the reps. They are getting frustrated because some days they may get 4 or 5 reps in a period and they want 10, but I’ve got to give 10 to the other person to make sure I balance it out through the first 9 practices. They are super competitive. They get frustrated about it because they all want to be the guy and they all want to show that they can be the guy. They are really, really talented. This is the deepest group that I’ve had since I’ve been coaching (19 years). I haven’t had a running back group like this before where you’ve got so many dudes that can be a starter on so many different teams in this conference. To have a room like this is really a blessing to have.”
B-Back
Competition
7 Peyton Jones SR 5’10” 195
Originally from Norfolk, Virginia, Jones began his collegiate career at Duke where he played in four games with 10 rushed for 34 yards and 1 touchdown in 2025. He also caught three passes for 23 yards and returned four kickoffs for 87 yards. In 2024, Jones played in all 13 games with 82 rushed for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns, finishing second on the team in rushing. He also added 8 catches for 94 yards and one score and returned 18 kickoffs for 382 yards. Over his time at Duke, Jones played in 30 career games with one start, rushing 112 times for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also has 11 catches for 117 yards and a touchdown. Jones was a three-star recruit out of Maury High School where he was listed as the No. 46 athlete in the country and No. 22 prospect in Virginia. He was highlighted by Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell as one of the early camp standouts. He can play either A-Back or B-Back and is currently fighting for the starting B-Back spot.
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “Peyton can do a little bit of everything. He probably has the best hands.”
4 Kam Davis JR 5’10” 224
Coming out of high school, Davis was a consensus four-star prospect. He was ranked as the No. 3 running back prospect in the country and No. 8 overall prospect from Georgia by Rivals. From Dougherty High School in Albany, Georgia, Davis played quarterback and accounted for 8,762 yards of total offense and 75 touchdowns during his career before signing with Florida State. As a freshman in 2024 with the Seminoles, Davis had 52 rushed for 173 yards, finishing second on the team while adding two receptions for 21 yards. He had a season-high 14 rushed for 63 yards in a game at Duke, while playing in nine games. This past season, Davis ran 8 times for 51 yards and one touchdown over four games. He has been compared to former Liberty back Quinton Cooley with his size and physical running presence and has been a standout in short yardage packages.
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “(Kam Davis and Quinton Cooley) weight about the same, but Kam Davis is faster. He runs just as hard. He got out in the open (earlier in camp), everybody was shocked. We didn’t think he could pull away from people the way he did. He’s talented. He’s tough. He’s physical. He plays the game the right way. He takes it serious. He’s been in college going on his third year, but he feels like a senior. He feels like an older guy. He has a voice. He is very, very mature.”
6 Kanye Udoh SR 6’1″ 220
Kayne Udoh began his collegiate career at Army. As a freshman in 2023, he was second-team Phil Steele Postseason All-Independent Team, finishing with 5 starts in 10 games played for 524 yards on 99 carries with 1 touchdown. In 2024, he racked up 1,117 yards and 10 touchdowns, averaging 6.2 yards per carry and leading Army to a 12-2 record, going 8-0 in the AAC. Udoh then transferred to Arizona State for the 2025 season where he rushed 56 times for 240 yards and 2 touchdowns. Udoh certainly has the potential to lead this Liberty running back room, but the competition has been intense during the offseason.
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “Kanye is hard to tackle when he gets going. He’s tough in the box. The difference between Kanye and those other backs, those other backs are obviously smaller, so their feet are a little bit different. That’s where Kanye has to improve his feet in the box, being able to make some of the cuts that the smaller backs can make. That wasn’t his game at Army or at Arizona State. He didn’t have to use his feet as much. He was able to just get downhill on one cut and run through people. Our offense, you’ve got to be able to use your feet and win some 1 on 1s and win some stuff in space. That’s been the biggest challenge for Kanye. Short yardage or any chance he gets to put his foot in the ground and go get vertical, he’s hard to tackle. One person’s not tackling him, it’s going to take 2, 3, 4 people to get him down.”
11 Terron Kellman 5th Year 5’8″ 210
Terron Kellman rushed for 901 yards and 5 touchdowns in three seasons while playing for Northern Illinois, Charlotte, and Wyoming. He spent one season at Northern Illinois where he redshirted. In 2 seasons at Charlotte, Kellman had 570 rushing yards on 130 attempts with 1 touchdown in 17 games. At Wyoming last season, he rushed 65 times for 331 yards and 4 touchdowns.
Depth
23 Cam Wood FR 5’8″ 200
A-Back
Competition
29 Justin Marshall SR 5’10” 190
Marshall rushed for 1,006 yards and 5 touchdowns over the past 2 seasons at Colorado State. He played 3 seasons for the Rams. He is from Merrillville, Indiana. He played in 26 games for the Rams, finishing with 1,317 yards and 7 touchdowns to go along with 18 receptions for 159 yards. He had a pair of 100-yard rushing performances in 2024, including 106 yards in the season opener at Texas. Marshall hit 22 miles per hour this summer and has been a surprise in the early days of camp. Could he push past Jaylon Coleman as the team’s starting A-Back?
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “Justin Marshall in the spring struggled learning the offense, picking up the offense, trying to find a role. But he put in so much time at the end of spring, so much time throughout the summer. Through six practices in summer camp, he doesn’t have any missed assignments. He’s very clean on everything right now. He’s not making any mistakes. He’s making explosive plays. He’s getting in the end zone. Justin Marshall has been the biggest surprise because he’s been flawless through fall camp. He’s been playing really, really well.”
0 Jaylon Coleman SO 5’9″ 155
Coach Isaac was ranting and raving about Jaylon Coleman during the spring after he broke out as a true freshman towards the last half of the season. He has the potential to be one of the top playmakers on the team, but he hasn’t been able to gain the weight the coaching staff was hoping he would be able to. Now, he’s being pushed by the veteran Justin Marshall for reps at A-Back.
Liberty Running Backs coach Newland Isaac – “He has not put on the weight we wanted him to. He struggles gaining weight, that’s something we’re still trying to work on with him. He still plays hard. He still does everything, but he’s obviously frustrated because he’s not gaining the weight that he wants to gain. That’s been his biggest challenge. He knows the offense through and through. He can coach these guys up, but the challenge has always been for him just putting on the weight and getting bigger and being the size that we need him to be at.”
Depth
26 Jaylin Belford 5th Year 5’8″ 175
