Liberty football is currently in the midst of spring practice as the Flames will go through 15 practices over the course of several weeks. With only one transfer portal window which closed following the conclusion of the 2025 season, Liberty knows its roster it will have for the upcoming 2026 season. As the team goes through its spring practice sessions, we are going to begin a new series over the next few weeks where we break down each position on the roster. We begin today with a look at the quarterback position.

Quarterbacks
#18 Jachin Davis, 6’0″, 195 lb
#13 Jaylen Henderson, 6’3″, 227 lb (West Virginia)
#14 Ethan Houck, 6’4″, 2o5 lb
#5 Deshawn Purdie, 6’4″, 228 lb (Wake Forest)
#15 Ethan Vasko, 6’3″, 220 lb

Ethan Vasko was Liberty’s starter last year. He completed 151 of 266 passes (56.8%) for 1,961 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions. He also rushed 100 times for 258 yards and 5 touchdowns. Vasko underwent surgery following the conclusion of the 2025 season and is expected to be sidelined throughout the spring. Originally from Chesapeake, Virginia where he attended Oscar Smith High School. Vasko began his college career at Kansas before transferring to Coastal Carolina following the 2022 season. During his two seasons at Coastal, Vasko played in 20 games. He completed 224 of his 393 passes for 2,889 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. A mobile quarterback, Vasko rushed the ball 170 times for 815 yards and 7 scores as he brings something the other quarterbacks in the room don’t possess and that’s significant playing experience at the college level.

Because of Vasko’s struggles on the field in 2025 and his off-season shoulder surgery, the Flames went to the transfer portal and brought in two talented and experienced quarterbacks in Deshawn Purdie and Jaylen Henderson.

Former Wake Forest and Charlotte quarterback, Purdie threw for 618 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 3 interceptions in 8 games, while making 2 starts, for the Demon Deacons in 2025. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland and Milford Mill Academy, he was a three-star recruit out of high school with over 4,500 yards and 45 touchdowns during his final two seasons at Milford Mill. In 2024, as a freshman at Charlotte, he appeared in nine games with six starts. He completed 100 of his 200 pass attempts while throwing for 1,802 yards, and 10 touchdowns as a true freshman, also adding a rushing touchdown. He had a 68.6% completion percentage while throwing for 194 yards in his first career start against Gardner-Webb. He had his best game as a 49er at Florida Atlantic, recording a career-high 396 yards and a career-high three touchdown passes against the Owls. He was 4-2 as a starter for the 49ers. Charlotte finished the season at 5-7.

After his true freshman season at Charlotte, Purdie entered the transfer portal. He picked up numerous offers including Florida, Georgia, Mississippi State, North Carolina, and Wake Forest. He originally committed to Florida before switching to Wake Forest. For the Demon Deacons, he completed 41 of 82 passes. He completed 14 of 29 passes for 270 yards and four touchdowns against Oregon State. In his second start while filling in for Robby Ashford, he was 14 of 26 passing for 183 yards and 2 interceptions against SMU. For his collegiate career, Purdie has completed 50% of his passes, completing 141 of 282 passes for 2,420 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. He hasn’t been much of a rushing threat, with -141 rushing yards and 1 touchdown on 52 carries. Arriving in Winston-Salem, Purdie completed with former Auburn and South Carolina quarterback Robby Ashford, before losing the battle for the starting spot prior to the start of the 2025 season.

Henderson began his career at Fresno State. He spent two years at Fresno State, completing 5 of 8 passes for 49 yards. He also rushed 16 times for 66 yards. He then transferred to Texas A&M, where he appeared in five games during the 2023 season. In those appearances, he completed 53 of 78 pass attempts for 715 yards and six touchdowns with two interceptions. He also ran the ball 41 times for 104  yards and two scores. He underwent surgery on his non-throwing arm after the 2023 season, and with a new coaching staff in place, he was pushed down the depth chart. This past year at West Virginia, Henderson completed 7 of 18 passes for 50 yards. He also rushed 29 times for 146 yards and a touchdown. In his collegiate career, Henderson has completed 65 of 104 passes (62.5%) for 814 yards, 6 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He’s also run the ball 86 times for 316 yards, and 3 touchdowns. Liberty pursued Henderson heavily last year when he was in the transfer portal from Texas A&M, even bringing him in on a visit. Ultimately, the Flames brought in Ethan Vasko while Henderson went to West Virginia.

Ethan Houck has the advantage of being the only quarterback that was in the system last year going through spring practice. As a true freshman, Houck played in two games while Vasko was hurt this past fall. He was 1 of 6 passing for 17 yards and an interception. When he was in the game, Houck was more of a rushing threat to compliment Michael Merdinger as the primary passer. Houck rushed the ball 7 times for 24 yards.

Jachin Davis is from Goose Creek, South Carolina where he attended Stratford High School before enrolling for the spring semester at Liberty. Davis had over 6,600 total yards with 75 touchdowns accounted for in his high school career. He led Stratford High to the third round of the playoffs as a senior and chose the Flames over numerous offers including Cincinnati, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Miami Ohio, Navy, Southern Miss, and UConn.

Chadwell Quote

“We brought (the transfers) in (to compete for the job). Obviously, Ethan (Vasko) is coming back. Ethan is somebody we know can play. He didn’t play overly well a lot of times (last season). He knows he would have to play better. He knows he is in a competition to win that job. We brought those other quarterbacks in. They both have experience. They both played at other places and are coming in here to compete for this job. All those guys have an opportunity to show what they’re about and give the opportunity this spring to see if they can put the ball in the end zone. It will be a wide open competition. I hope somebody will win it this spring, that would be great. I don’t want to go through fall camp and have to do that. Maybe somebody just comes in and does so well this spring that it’s a no brainer. It’s challenging for a newcomer to win (the job) in the spring, but we want to give everybody the best opportunity to do that. It will be wide open as long as it needs to be open until we can make the decision that gives us the best opportunity to win games.”

“We are looking for the guy that’s not going to turn it over, that’s going to help us put the ball in the end zone. Also, I want to find somebody that can elevate the whole team, that the team believes in. If he’s out there, they have a lot of confidence good things are going to happen. The main thing I’m looking for is somebody that throws it to our guys and not the other guys.”