We had the privilege of speaking with Liberty Athletic Director Ian McCaw at length about the state of the Liberty Athletic program. We delved into a vast array of topics, focusing on the athletic program’s second year in Conference USA and the numerous changes within the college athletic landscape. We also touched on several topics surrounding Liberty football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and other programs on the Mountain.
This will be a multi-part series we release this week. Today’s feature focuses a recap of the 2024-25 athletic year for the Flames, goals for the athletic department and the House Settlement.
ASOR: As a whole, how do you think the athletic department fared this past athletic season, the second year for the athletic department in Conference USA?
Ian McCaw: “It was an outstanding year with a school record-tying 13 conference championships. Men’s women’s basketball advanced to the NCAA Tournament, softball winning a regional. So, we had a tremendous amount of success, both of the conference and national level, so certainly feeling very blessed.”
ASOR: What are your top memories as you think back on the past year?
Ian McCaw: “Last March, in Huntsville, with both the men and women winning and cutting down the nets the same day, that was a really special, special time. And then, Kaylan Yoder striking out the batter from Texas A&M to clinch the regional. Those would be two things that would really vividly stick out in my mind.”
ASOR: How do you quantify Liberty’s growth as an athletic department over the past few years?
Ian McCaw: “It’s a meteoric rise, for sure. If you look at the last two years, we’ve won 25 conference championships, gone to a Fiesta Bowl, gone to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournament, and won a softball regional. If someone told you that 10 years ago, that that would happen in a two year span, I don’t think anyone would believe it. So, we do keep a lot of metrics, and we call them KPIs, key performance indicators, so we do track that, as does the University. Certainly the growth and success of the athletic program has been widely noted.”
ASOR: The House Settlement has officially been approved, how do you think Liberty is positioned for this new era of college athletics?
Ian McCaw: “Well, we’ve been working on this plan for about a year, and put a lot of hard work into it, and I think we have a great plan. We’re fortunate to have tremendous support from President Costin and Chancellor Falwell and the University leadership. Now that the House Settlement’s improved, it’s time to execute the plan, and then evaluate how we’re progressing with it, but we feel really good about what we are.”
ASOR: What do you think will be the biggest challenge Liberty will have to overcome in regards to the House Settlement?
Ian McCaw: “I think the key for us is to be able to really maintain our distinctive Christian culture in an environment where NIL funds are infused, and that’s going to be a disruptor in the system, and that could certainly cause some individuals to think I over team. So, I think our coaches’ ability to really maintain strong cultures, find the right student-athletes that fit Liberty is going to be extremely important.”
ASOR: How much do you think the challenges of previously going through external NIL and the transfer portal similarly compare and maybe prepare the coaches for navigating the new changes that come from the House Settlement?
Ian McCaw: “I think our coaches have navigated the environment very well. I think lLberty is a tremendous institution in this environment because we’ve been able to retain student-athletes at a better rate than others. We still have portal transition, but a lot of the student-athletes come here for our mission, our environment, our culture, and they stay for those reasons despite other opportunities. I think we’re set up to to kind of navigate this environment better than most schools.”
ASOR: Do you think these changes will lead to a continued widening gap between the G5 and the P4?
Ian McCaw: “Not necessarily. We saw a lot of multi-million dollar rosters that didn’t perform all that well this past year, and then we saw some other programs that have absolutely no NIL whatsoever have success at the national level. So, I think there’s a lot of factors that go into it. It’s been somewhat encouraging to see some schools again, Liberty softball and Coastal Carolina baseball, and some of the Group of Five schools have done really well on the national level. So, I think we’re gonna be able to continue to find a way to do it.”
