It’s been almost an entire calendar year since Jamey Chadwell last lost a football game. It was Dec. 3, 2022, the Sun Belt championship game, and he was Coastal Carolina’s head coach. One could understand if he’s forgotten the feeling.

Few coaches have won more than Chadwell within the last four seasons. He is 43-6, and only Kirby Smart (49) and Nick Saban (48) have more wins in that span. He’s 12-0 in his first season as Liberty’s head coach, with a Conference USA championship game against New Mexico State tonight. A win coupled with a Tulane loss on Saturday could open a path to a New Year’s Six bowl game.

Advertisement

Chadwell’s used to winning, but even he didn’t expect this much this quickly with the Flames, just one year into the job.

“It’s a surprise,” he said. “Any time you go in, you believe you’re going to find a way to win, but it takes a while for people to buy into what you’re doing. I thought we had a chance to be solid, being new to the league, you wondered how we’d compare, with all the people we lost and brought in. I don’t want to sound like I’m surprised we’re here, but if you as a coach say you’re going to run the table and have a chance at the New Year’s Six, that’d be lying.”

It turns out that when you take a winning coach and give him all the resources he could ask for, he keeps winning.

At Coastal Carolina, Chadwell went 5-7 in his first year in full control of the program, but the Chanticleers exploded onto the scene with an 11-0 regular season record in 2020. They had a good New Year’s Six case as a second Group of 5 team but got left out, and a narrow bowl loss to Liberty cost them an undefeated season. That was followed with 20 wins over the next two years. With mullets and pro wrestling locker room celebrations, Coastal Carolina was the most fun team in the country.

His departure from Coastal Carolina to Liberty surprised some casual observers, to go from one Group of 5 job to another. But there were three key factors in the move. One was Chadwell’s Christian faith, he said, moving to an evangelical school. The other was the immense jump in resources.

His salary more than tripled; he now earns an average of more than $4 million annually on a seven-year contract. It’s the highest Group of 5 salary by more than $1 million. The facilities at Liberty are also on a Power 5 level. Athletic director Ian McCaw said more than $300 million has been put into facilities since he became the athletic director.

Advertisement

Before Coastal, Chadwell had coached at Charleston Southern, Delta State and North Greenville. He’s never had this much at his disposal. If he could win without it, imagine what he can do with it.

“Having access to a consistent (nutrition) training table, that’s been big,” Chadwell said. “Five full-time strength coaches, I’d never had that before. Things like that, which you maybe had to overcome at other places, you have those things here. Your players can do the necessary things they need like recovery, rehab, fueling their body. It helps you stay healthier, helps you develop and build.”

The third reason he went to Liberty is because a Power 5 school hasn’t hired him yet, despite all of his success. Power 5 programs usually cite his lack of Power 5 experience when he talks to them. (That Twitter hoax that listed his location in Starkville a few weeks ago was not real, by the way.)

So he’ll stick around and Liberty, with no reason to think the winning will slow down any time soon. The Flames haven’t had a losing season since 2005. Their athletic budget far outpaces the rest of Conference USA. One reason the Flames sat around in FBS independence without a conference invitation was because other university presidents didn’t want to deal with the outspoken politics of Liberty, but another was because the Flames would drastically outspend the rest of their conference. But once Conference USA got raided and needed new members, Liberty was happy to take the call.

Many in the conference expected Liberty to climb toward the top of the league, but this has happened more quickly than many expected. The interest in Chadwell will continue to grow as the winning continues, but he can afford to be pickier now.

“If you’re at somewhere like here where they want to provide you and maximize your team, your family is happy, your coaches are taken, (then you stick around),” Chadwell said. “At the end of the day, coaches want to feel valued. I get money and that other stuff, but they want to feel they have an opportunity to be the best they can every year and not have to fight uphill. We have a great thing here.”

Advertisement

This year’s Liberty team is led by quarterback Kaidon Salter, who is third nationally in yards per pass (10.1) and fourth in pass efficiency. He’s got a combined 40 touchdowns through the air and on the ground, with just five interceptions. His dual-threat ability made him a perfect fit for Chadwell’s spread option offense. But Salter is a former Tennessee transfer who split time last season and didn’t even have the job heading into fall camp.

Chadwell saw the talent in Salter but needed to see the desire. A turn came in fall camp when Salter began studying film a lot more. He committed himself, Chadwell said. The coach also let Salter work through some early season growing pains. He didn’t want his quarterback looking over his shoulder.

“It’s amazing playing in this offense, going out and doing what I do with the ball in my hand,” Salter said. “I can make any decision with the certain reads I have. Most have been putting me in the right spot, and that’s thanks to the coaches and scout team for preparing me.”

Chadwell didn’t see 12-0 coming, but he knew the Flames had bought in when CUSA moved to midweek games in October. After escaping Sam Houston 21-16 on Oct. 5, Liberty had a five-day turnaround for a trip to Jacksonville State. The Flames won that game 31-13.

“We played well and we’ve been on fire since then, to be honest,” he said. “That started waking me up, saying, hey, they’ve got a bit more to them than maybe what I’m giving them credit for.”

Chadwell’s winning yet again, and there’s no sign of that slowing down anytime soon.

(Top photo of Jamey Chadwell: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via Getty)