Liberty — Conference USA
HC
Jamey Chadwell · Williams Stadium (VA) · Lynchburg, VA · 25,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.17 / 0.20
2025
Class rank
#109
class of 2026
Returning PPA
38%
returning production
2026 schedule
2025 results (4–8)
Statistical comps — 2025 Liberty's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (26 in / 19 out)
Origins
Falwell wanted a Notre Dame for evangelicals and said so out loud. Freeze's 2023 team went 13-1 and reached a New Year's Six bowl in its fourth season at the FBS level.
Founded 1971 · Founded by Jerry Falwell as a Baptist college in Lynchburg · first football 1973 · defined by Hugh Freeze
All-time record
Win %
58.4%
30 seasons played
Winning seasons
19
63% of seasons
By level: FCS 91–76 (1989–2017) · FBS 65–35 (2018–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2023 | 13 | 1 | Conference USA |
| 2020 | 10 | 1 | FBS Independents |
| 2008 | 9 | 2 | Big South |
| 2014 | 9 | 5 | Big South |
| 2010 | 8 | 3 | Big South |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1989 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 341 | 71% |
45% | 60 of 136 | 5.5 | 11% |
| 2nd down | 259 | 53% |
44% | 49 of 136 | 6.8 | 15% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 48 | 75% |
63% | — | 4.1 | 8% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 50 | 34% |
40% | — | 5.1 | 20% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 58 | 19% |
26% | — | 7.0 | 14% |
| 4th down | 22 | 50% |
45% | — | 1.6 | 5% |
143 drives · 34% ended in points · 7.2 plays and 38.1 yards per drive · 0.93 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 14 | Kennesaw State |
Evan Dickens 95 Yd Run (Jay Billingsley Kick) |
95 | 7.13 |
| 10 | Delaware |
(14:40) No Huddle-Shotgun #23 E.Dickens rush right for 72 yards gain to the DEL00 TOUCHDOW… |
72 | 6.37 |
| 2 | Jacksonville State |
Ethan Vasko pass complete to Julian Gray for 72 yds for a TD (Jay Billingsley KICK) |
72 | 6.37 |
| 14 | Kennesaw State |
Vaughn Blue 59 Yd pass from Michael Merdinger (Jay Billingsley Kick) |
59 | 5.21 |
| 2 | Jacksonville State |
Ethan Vasko pass complete to Donte Lee Jr. for 62 yds for a TD (Brayden Beck KICK) |
62 | 4.69 |
| 14 | Kennesaw State |
(04:43) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 M.Merdinger pass complete deep right to #8 T.Mobley caught at… |
40 | 4.30 |
| 11 | Missouri State |
End of 1st quarter. |
27 | 4.21 |
| 13 | Louisiana Tech |
(14:27) Shotgun #15 E.Vasko pass complete deep middle to #48 C.Ryan caught at LAT45, for 5… |
56 | 4.07 |