PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz.: Liberty’s fast rise has culminated with one of the best season in this system’s brief historical past.

The Flames are undefeated, have a Conference USA trophy again house in Virginia and can play in a New Year’s Six bowl for the primary time in Monday’s Fiesta Bowl towards No. 8 Oregon.

They’ve achieved it by way of an unbreakable bond sparked by tragedy.

“It turned a real true brotherhood and you may sort of watch it develop all year long, particularly once we get into a troublesome second in a sport,” Liberty co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach Newland Isaac said. “You can kind of see those guys come together alongside one another team. It’s probably is the reason why we’re 13-0.”

Liberty opened fall camp with the additional dose of enthusiasm a brand new coach brings to a program.

The Flames had a speedy rise below coach Hugh Freeze, incomes 4 straight bowl appearances after becoming a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2018. When Freeze parlayed his success in Lynchburg into the top teaching job at Auburn, in stepped Jamey Chadwell, who led Coastal Carolina to 3 straight bowl appearances.

The Flames’ world got here crashing down round them the primary Saturday of fall camp.

Tajh Boyd, a soft-spoken freshman offensive lineman, died on Aug. 7, later dominated by the health worker as a suicide. His demise hit the Flames like an emotional shockwave.

“When issues like that occur, you’ll be able to both crumble or you can also make it some extent to be round one another and be collectively, and attempt to keep collectively,” Liberty offensive lineman X’Zavea Gadlin said. “We really did that.”

The Flames needed to take small steps at first.

The faculty offered grief counselors and the teaching workers met with staff leaders to see the place the gamers had been mentally. The coaches needed to kind by way of when to begin practising once more, how laborious to observe as soon as they acquired rolling and hold a eager eye on gamers whose minds may be elsewhere to stop accidents.

“It was powerful, man, most likely the hardest factor I’ve ever needed to cope with,” Isaac said.

Liberty won an emotional opener over Bowling Green and kept winning. The Flames entered the AP Top 25 at No. 25 on Nov. 5 and climbed to No. 18 in the final regular-season poll. (They are No. 23 in the College Football Playoff rankings.)

The core of Liberty’s success has been an offensive line that rallied together following Boyd’s death.

The Flames led the nation in rushing yards per game at 302.9, finishing more than 20 yards per game ahead of the next-closest team. Liberty racked up 393 yards rushing and 712 yards overall in a 49-35 win over New Mexico State in the Conference USA title game.

“Tajh has been on our minds the whole way,” quarterback Kaidon Salter mentioned. “It’s powerful understanding that he’s not right here with us, however we’re taking part in for him. That’s the entire purpose of the yr, taking part in for Tajh.”

Boyd has not been with the Flames physically, but they’ve felt his presence every step of the way.

At practice one day, their teammate and friend gone the next — a tremendous blow for anyone, much less a team preparing for its first season under a new coach.

Grieving together and playing in his honor brought the team closer, forming the kind of bond the players might not have had otherwise. Difficult as Boyd’s death was, it brought everyone on the team closer, pushing them along through the best season in school history.

“God uses everything for the good, even when they look bad,” Gadlin mentioned. “One of the issues that positively good got here out of it was that we discovered easy methods to be extra of a better staff after that have, since you needed to pay attention to one another and be capable of navigate by way of all of it.”

Boyd may not be with the Flames when they face Oregon on Monday. His spirit will certainly be there guiding them.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football