Liberty was back on the field Thursday morning for a walk thru practice. Following the practice, special teams coordinator Tanner Burns and wide receivers coach Maurice Harris talked to the media on a video conference call, and today’s notes will center around the special teams and receivers.

  • The biggest story line with the wide receivers is trying to fill the massive gap left by the school’s best receiver of all-time Antonio Gandy-Golden.  Coach Harris said there’s no one on the roster that is currently as talented as AGG, but there’s much more competition in the room this camp.
  • Quote from Harris – “I do think, from a whole offensive perspective, with the combination of Chris (Ferguson) and Malik (Willis), they bring something a little bit different than Buck brought to the table with their escapability. I think that will also give us more opportunities to make play son the ball.”
  • True freshman C.J. Daniels was a name Harris could not get out of his mouth on Thursday. He’s a bigger body guy playing in the slot and it sounds like he will get some playing time despite all the competition at that spot. Harris on Daniels – “I’m trying to think who has better hands than C.J. Daniels right now. He can catch the football anywhere you put it. We call him Sticky around here. He can catch the football.”
  • Coach Harris also spoke highly of Jaivian Lofton, a JUCO transfer who joined the program this summer. Lofton was at the top of the team’s recruiting board last season, and he will be part of the rotation of receivers on the outside.
  • It sounds like Noah Frith and C.J. Yarbrough have emerged as the leaders of the unit. Both will be counted for big roles in 2020.
  • Speaking of Yarbrough, Harris says he expects CJ Yarbrough to be ready to play by Liberty’s first game following surgery from a Jones fracture in his right foot.
  • Brody Brumm is another name that Harris spoke highly of and he’s a dark-horse candidate to get some meaningful reps at receiver this fall. Harris – “We’ve been very pleased with Brody ever since we’ve been here, but ever since the spring, that’s when we started to see him, alright, he’s starting to take the next step to compete with those outside guys for not just traveling but some valuable reps on the field.
  • Liberty returns kick returner Shedro Louis and expectations for him are very high. Coach Burns said Shedro is arguably the most explosive kick returner returning in all of college football, and he wants to continue to increase his role in the return game.
  • One area we could see Louis get more opportunities is in the punt return game. Louis, Demario Douglas, and DJ Stubbs are all working at returning punts right now.
  • Punter Aidan Alves, QB Will Bowers, and WR Brody Brumm are all taking reps as the team’s holder as the Flames will have to replace Landon Brown.
  • Jason Stricker and Alex Barbir are rotating reps with the first and second string, similarly to how coach Freeze described Malik Willis and Chris Ferguson rotating reps at quarterback early in practice. Burns is hopeful he will have more clarity at the position in the next week or so. On Stricker, he said, “He has made probably the most improvement of anybody in our specialist room from last fall camp to where he’s at now.”
  • Burns also said his goal for his unit is for his kickers to make 100% of all field goals 40 yards and in.

*photo courtesy Liberty Athletics