We continue our position previews today with a look at Liberty’s safeties.
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Brylan Green. Gone. A’Khori Jones. Gone. Christian Bodnar. Gone. Even other contributors like Eldric Griffin, Eli Auguste, and Devin Henderson are gone. So, Liberty had to virtually remake its entire safety room and find replacements for a group of players that combined to start 35 games for the Flames last season in the secondary. New defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach Cory Peoples had his work cut out for him upon arriving on the Mountain. He brought in a few guys that he was familiar with from his previous coaching stops, part of five transfers incoming at safety that will look to make an immediate impact for the Flames.
Frontrunners
0 D-Icey Hopkins 5th Year 5’11” 195
If you have watched any of the preseason press conferences during Liberty football’s training camp, you have heard D-Icey’s name mentioned. Nearly everyone has brought him up at different times, even unprompted. Coming from Georgia State, D-Icey Hopkins was one of the highest rated safeties in the Sun Belt last season where he had 51 tackles and 3 tackles for loss while holding opposing receivers to a 43.3% completion rate in coverage. He also had a team-high 5 pass breakups and played in all 24 games for the Panthers over the past two seasons. He’s expected to be the team’s leader in the secondary on the field this fall. He is one of three newcomers to the safety room that signed with Coach Peoples out of high school at a previous institution.
Liberty Defensive Coordinator Shawn Quinn – “D-Icey Hopkins, he’s done a great job leading us back there, being a veteran guy. He’s cool as the other side of the pillow. He’s very calm, collected. He’s cerebral, which you need at that position because he’s got to help get other guys lined up.”
Liberty Safeties Coach Cory Peoples – “It starts with D-Icey Hopkins. He doesn’t talk much, but he does a great job in leading by example.”
7 Izaiah Guy 5th Year 6’2″ 200
Izaiah Guy is originally from Ocala, Florida and Vanguard High School. He began his college career at Georgia State, under Peoples, where he had 55 tackles, two fumble recoveries, a forced fumble, and a sack in 22 games across two seasons. Guy played in 2 games at South Florida in 2025 before missing most of the year due to injury. He is one that will be on the field a lot this fall and can even slide out to corner at times, as needed.
Liberty Safeties Coach Cory Peoples – “He’s more the vocal guy, that talks and gets the guys going.”
Competition
13 Jeremiah Vessel SR 5’11” 190
A late addition, Vessel entered the transfer portal back in January but did not find a new home until announcing his commitment to Liberty in May. He is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He spent the 2025 season at UAB where he started 8 of the 11 games he played in, finishing with 54 tackles, two PBUs, one TFL, one sack and one forced fumble. Vessel began his collegiate career at New Mexico State where he played in six games in 2023 with 11 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and 2 PBUs. In 2024, Vessel played in 12 games at UNLV, finishing the season with 10 tackles, 1 TFL, a sack, and an interception.
Liberty Defensive Coordinator Shawn Quinn – “He’s been awesome, really good addition to us, a veteran guy.”
17 Jayden Davis SR 6’1″ 180
Jayden Davis comes to Liberty from Georgia Southern where he had 10 tackles in just one game played last season. He played at Georgia Tech previously, under Peoples.
10 Ronald Moore, Jr. JR 5’11” 195
Ronald Moore, Jr. is entering his third season at Liberty. After redshirting following a season-ending injury in 2024, Moore played in 8 games last season. He looks to factor into the Flames’ plans in the secondary this fall.
3 Ashton Whitner 5th Year 5’11” 196
Ashton Whitner comes to Liberty from Ball State where he played 10 games in 2025, finishing the season with 41 tackles, 3 tackles for loss and a pass breakup. He spent the 2023-24 seasons at Old Dominion where he saw playing time in 19 games, finishing his time at ODU with 52 tackles.
Depth
19 Jayden Whaley JR 6’2″ 185
Jayden Whaley transferred to Liberty a year ago from Hampton. He played in 10 games in 2024 as a freshman, finishing the year with 30 tackles, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups while playing more than 400 snaps while being named an HBCU Freshman All-American.
25 Jaleel Parker FR 5’11” 205
26 Macaiden Brown FR 6’1″ 180
29 Tony Arnett FR 6’1″ 180
36 Anthony Saget SO 5’10” 175
