Why the time was right for Jamey Chadwell to leave Coastal Carolina for Liberty

Liberty University head coach Jamey Chadwell stands in the middle of his office, glancing out of the floor-to-ceiling windows that envelop the far side of the room. Outside, Liberty’s Williams Stadium rests quietly, while the Blue Ridge Mountains stand watch over the field he now calls home.

The snow that dusted the ground in the morning has melted off. Chadwell jokes he’s still adjusting to the cold weather that comes with moving “up north.” It’s quite the change of scenery for a man who, over six years at Coastal Carolina, worked just under a half-hour’s drive from the Atlantic Ocean and the tourist mecca of Myrtle Beach.

“There was some magic on that teal carpet there in that time frame,” Chadwell told The State, referencing the vibrantly colored playing surface of Brooks Stadium in Conway. “Lightning in a bottle, right? Taking over at the perfect time and taking the lightning by storm.”

Chadwell’s tenure at Coastal was prolific. His teams compiled a 39-22 mark, notched a trio of bowl appearances and won the school’s first Sun Belt football title in 2020.

Most college football insiders at this time a year ago would’ve told you the Tennessee native would be coaching in the SEC or ACC by now. Instead, Chadwell reportedly signed a seven-year deal worth over $4 million annually in December 2021 to replace Hugh Freeze at Liberty, a conservative Christian school tucked into the mountains of central Virginia.

The fit is certainly a change. Chadwell is transitioning from mullets and WWE-infused celebrations at Coastal to a school founded by evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns that remains heavily influenced by its Baptist roots.

Chat with him a little longer and look around the facilities the Flames call their own, and it’s easy to see why Liberty landed one of the hottest names on college football’s coaching carousel.

“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” Coastal Carolina athletic director Matt Hogue told The State in October about balancing Chadwell’s success with constant connections to open jobs. “It’s everything from being happy about the success and understanding that’s a byproduct, especially in our profile, when you have that type of elite success. You get some frustration, like, ‘Can we not always kind of be on the watch list?’

“I think you run the gamut (of emotions), but, at the end of the day, it’s how our business works. When people achieve great things, they’re going to be recognized, and there’s going to be a lot of other places after him.”

Leaving Coastal Carolina, landing at Liberty

That Chadwell landed an opportunity at a program with more resources is no surprise. His pseudo-option offense became the talk of college football in recent years, infusing elements of the triple-option with a vertical passing game. His fun-loving and easygoing personality, too, has made him an appealing option for administrators around the country.

Chadwell was involved in coaching searches at Tennessee, South Carolina and Georgia Tech, among others, in recent cycles.

Liberty, though, presented a unique opportunity in itself.

The school has only existed since 1971 and is among the largest Christian schools in the country, counting almost 50,000 students among its undergrads. Liberty adheres to a strict code based on its Christian principles. “The Liberty Way” — the school’s honor code — guides students to “a solid Christian foundation to equip men and women with the values, knowledge and skills essential for success in every aspect of life.”

“I try not to let labels define (me),” Chadwell said. “Power Five is a label. To me and our staff, where can we go and impact young people through football? Where can we go where we have an opportunity to hopefully win and win at a high level, (have) resources and be around the right people, but also continue to do things that we’re comfortable doing that we feel good about why we do what we do? And here, it gives you the opportunity to have a lot of those resources of the Power Five, but also maybe maintain some of the things that you’re used to from Division II.”

Vast cultural differences between Coastal Carolina and Liberty aside, the football program in Lynchburg has given the school immense exposure in the college sports landscape.

Freeze, who was fired at Ole Miss amid turmoil regarding recruiting violations and making phone calls to escort services, took over Liberty in 2019, transforming the program from a trio of six-win seasons under Turner Gill to a 34-15 mark between 2019 and 2022 — including a 10-1 campaign in 2020.

Chadwell will be tasked with continuing to steer the ship that Freeze — now the head coach at Auburn — built as the Flames transition from football independence to Conference USA. That in itself is a new challenge.

The Flames have only played at the FBS level since 2018, Gill’s final season at the helm. Independence brought schedules that forced Liberty to crisscross the United States in search of games as it fought to find stability at the highest level of college football. It found that and more under Freeze, who won bowl games each of his first three years on the job, eventually netting an invite from Conference USA in November 2021 and set to begin competition in the league in 2023.

Conference USA will have a bit of a different look in the coming years, adding Kennesaw State, Jacksonville State, New Mexico State and Liberty to address the departures of nine other league members. But with the College Football Playoff set to expand and, at least on paper, a seemingly easier path to a conference championship along with the bells and whistles at his disposal, Chadwell has Liberty thinking big.

“I think expanding the CFP, what that gives your team is, hey, if we go have an unbelievable season, win our conference, you then you got a chance to play for the CFP — which is awesome. Now that’s not a guarantee, because there’s other people that are going to have great (seasons), but if you can put yourself in that (situation) there’s no, ‘Man, well I’d love to see this team versus Notre Dame, or whoever.’ Now we might have that shot.”

Building a winner in Lynchburg

A quick 20-minute walk through the Liberty Football Center completed under Freeze’s watch offers evidence to why the school would appeal to a coach of Chadwell’s stature.

The entire complex — which includes the operations building, stadium and 100-yard indoor practice field designated just for football — rivals that of Power Five programs. The $20 million, three-floor operations building includes 17 offices, 10 position meeting rooms, an offensive and defensive meeting room, a 147-seat, theater-style team meeting room accentuated by neon lights and a player lounge that includes snacks, ping-pong tables and a Golden Tee video game console, among other luxuries.

The swanky new digs are almost over the top for a coach in Chadwell whose career began at Division II North Greenville and has included stops at Charleston Southern, Delta State (Mississippi) and Coastal Carolina. Still, they’re a nice perk.

“You pinch yourself sometimes,” he said, only half-kidding. “I mean, holy moly.”

Still, there’s a familiarity to Chadwell’s mission and persona as he talks through his reasoning for leaving Coastal Carolina, why Liberty was the right fit and how he envisions building a winner on the back of what Freeze constructed — literally and figuratively.

Chadwell brought six of his 10 on-field coaches with him from Coastal Carolina, including co-offensive coordinator and ex-Clemson quarterback Willy Korn. His recruiting department, too, is run by a pair of his former staffers from Conway in Devon Doyle and Colton Korn.

The fun-loving atmosphere that permeated Chadwell’s Coastal program has been brought to Liberty. The staff, as it has for years, plays basketball every Tuesday and Thursday in the campus recreation center as a way to keep things light.

Chadwell, too, has added to the candy stash he kept on his coffee table in Conway for visitors. It has long included bubble gum, but has added candy canes and Ghirardelli chocolate truffles to the selection.

“Numerous Power Five schools have approached him in recent years, and he’s been very loyal to Coastal Carolina,” Liberty athletic director Ian McCaw said during Chadwell’s introductory press conference in December. “But I think the opportunity to match him with Liberty and our mission was really the difference-maker in this case. I’ve said to a couple people this week, ‘I think Jamey Chadwell and Liberty University is a match made in heaven.’ ”

Chadwell is still technically in the process of moving to Lynchburg. His wife, Solmaz, and three kids are still in Conway, finishing the school year.

His office, as well, is a work in progress. Three Liberty helmets and a few personalized footballs were there when he arrived. He’s added pictures of family and friends. Chadwell makes sure to note the signed poster of Val Kilmer’s Doc Holiday character from the movie “Tombstone” — which featured prominently on the wall behind his desk at CCU — is still to be moved.

Now cleanly shaven and trimmed around the ears, he jokes about missing the mullet and mustache he grew as an incentive for his players to perform during his rowdier days at Coastal.

Assuming Chadwell keeps things rolling at Liberty, perhaps the facial hair and flowing mane will make another appearance in Lynchburg.

“Will the mullet or the mustache get embraced here like it did? I don’t know,” Chadwell concedes through a wry smile. “But I’m not afraid to try either.”