Liberty’s safeties room may be the most experienced position on the team entering the 2025 season. The Flames return three starters with significant playing experience as well as a couple of valuable reserves that should provide a solid nucleus. to build from.
Brylan Green and A’Khori Jones highlight this group. Both part of the same recruiting class, Green and Jones enter their fourth season at Liberty, having been a key part of the defensive secondary each campaign. After beginning his career playing both baseball and football, Green focused on football full-time following his freshman campaign. He grew into one of the team’s best players, leading CUSA in interceptions with five during his sophomore campaign, earning All-American honors for his play. Last year, Green was hampered by injuries, finishing the year by playing in 10 games with 32 tackles and two pass breakups.
Like Green, Jones has also been a big part of the Flames’ secondary the past three seasons, playing in 35 games during his career. He has 87 career tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss. Jones is Liberty’s third leading tackler that returns to the team in 2025 after he recorded 53 tackles in 2024.
A former JUCO transfer, Eldric Griffin was impressive in his debut season with Liberty in 2024. He played all 12 games, finishing the year with 18 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, and 2 pass breakups. He will be counted on to be a key member in the secondary once again this season and could be a starter alongside Green and Jones. Another veteran that returns is Elijah Auguste. He is entering his fourth year with the program and has grown from being a special teams contributor to one of the team’s top safeties. In 2024, Auguste played in all 12 games and finished with 12 tackles.
Weber State transfer Jalon Rock should also factor into Liberty’s rotation at safety. Rock is a 5’10”, 165 pound defensive back from Arlington, Texas and Mansfield Summit High School. At FCS Weber State, Rock played in 11 games this past season with 35 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 5 pass breakups. In 2023, in 11 games played, he had 5 pass breakups, 30 tackles, a strip sack fumble, and an interception. In 2022, Rock recorded 5 tackles and an interception in 11 games played. Throughout his career at Weber State over three seasons, he recorded 75 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 1 sack, and 13 pass break ups. He has already graduated from Weber State and was named a team captain for the 2024 season.
Christian Bodnar is back from an illness that forced him to miss most of the 2024 season. He ended up playing in five games while recording 13 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 interception and 2 quarterback hurries. Before Bodnar’s absence, he became one of the team’s most disruptive playmakers in the secondary and he should be able to return to that form once again in 2025. Another name to watch is the youngster Devin Henderson who played in five games as a freshman last season.
The Flames also have brought in a couple of transfers in the spring transfer portal that could factor in at either safety or corner in Jayden Whaley and Jiquavious Marshall. Whaley is a 6’2″, 185 pound athlete who played in 10 games in 2024 as a freshman for Hampton. He finished the year with 30 tackles, two tackles for loss, and two pass breakups while playing more than 400 snaps. Whaley, who could play either corner or safety, has three years of eligibility remaining and was named an HBCU Freshman All-American. Whaley is originally from James Island, South Carolina and James Island High School. He helped lead them to a 12-1 record in 2023 as a senior, finishing with 45 tackles in 12 games with two tackles for loss and three interceptions, two of which he returned for a touchdown. He was a three-year starter in high school and should be expected to compete for playing time immediately.
Marshall is a 6’4″, 180 pound corner who has all four years of eligibility remaining after redshirting in his first season at Kentucky this past season. Since entering the portal, Marshall picked up numerous offers including from Arkansas State, Toledo, Western Michigan, Ohio, Marshall, and Appalachian State. He took visits to Georgia State and Coastal Carolina in addition to Liberty.
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Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Line
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