Given that this is (historically speaking) a Mississippi State sports blog, it’s probably worth acknowledging that there’s a collection of Mississippi State football fans that have some big feelings about Liberty Flames head coach Jamey Chadwell.

I don’t have particularly big feelings about the fact that he’s not the head coach in Starkville, but I’m on the record as someone who definitely wanted him as the head coach in Starkville.

But, well, Chadwell’s time at Liberty hasn’t necessarily been full of the level of success that led to him being coveted by Mississippi State football fans.

Sure, that was that fun run for them in 2023 (Chadwell’s first season with Liberty during which he coached a team largely constructed of Hugh Freeze’s recruits). 13 wins and a chance to play in the Fiesta Bowl is something to be thrilled about.

But 2024 featured a step back to 8-4. And then in 2025? Well, that was a 4-8 season.

That’s a pretty far departure from the three-year run from 2020 to 2022 at Coastal Carolina during which Chadwell and the Chanticleers won 31 games.

So, what all went wrong for Chadwell this past season? If you ask him (and we didn’t even have to), he blames himself. A combination of a health issue and, well, himself. He didn’t look in any other direction during his press conference at the 2026 Conference USA Media Days.

Libery HC Jamey Chadwell is looking forward to 2026 season

“I appreciate everybody being here,” Chadwell said to start his press conference. “Personally, I’m looking forward to this season. There’s no secret. Last year wasn’t the type of program, type of team, type of season we wanted to have. And that was because of me not being able to be the type of head coach that I needed to be to help us have a chance to be successful.”

And that’s a pretty significant statement to make to start things off. As for how Liberty is actually going to move forward?

“So for us to get back this year, for myself to get back, be healthy, have a chance to hopefully win a conference championship, that’s our ultimate goal,” Chadwell explained.

Being healthy is certainly a start (and a very important thing, to be completely honest. And it really seems like Liberty’s head coach fully believes the health issues that he was wrestling with got in the way of his team’s success.

“We’re looking forward to that as a team, and being able to represent Liberty the way they need to be represented. Last year was not that, and it was frustrating, because when you’re the main reason for that as I was. So I’m looking forward to getting back out and getting back on track.”

Chadwell examines why his offense floundered in 2025

If you’re looking for a very tangible element of what was going wrong, the 4-8 record helps explain that. As for what was happening on the field in games, it’s pretty clear that the offense just wasn’t clicking anywhere near what it needed to be.

In 2023, the Flames were averaging 499 total yards of offense and 38.3 points per game. This is a team that could move the ball up and down the field with ease.

And that faded pretty quickly over the past couple seasons.

This past year? Well, Liberty’s offense put up an average of 389 total yards of offense per game and 25.6 points per game. Neither total were anywhere near what the Flames needed from that side of the ball.

Chadwell was asked about that and he was very straightforward in his response.

“Why weren’t we as good as we needed to be? You look back, and we turned the ball over way more than we ever have, a lot of penalties, a lot of discipline, detail things that typically are not representative of the type of offense we’ve been,” Chadwell said.

And as for moving forward?

“I’m confident this group will be better as far as knowing what to do, doing it the right way, not putting ourselves in bad positions where we can’t be explosive. We can’t be much worse than we were last year,” Chadwell jokingly explained.

But what about his health? How is Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell doing?

One of the most interesting moments came as the head coach for the Flames was asked about how he was feeling following treatment for his health. And it was an interesting moment, because it afforded a glimpse at humanity that is sometimes missing when talking about the performance of the head coach for a college football team.

“This is probably the best, as far as physically and as far as inside, in the last two years that I’ve felt,” Chadwell said. “I had a lot going on the last two years and couldn’t figure out what it was. The whole ’24 season I was doing a lot of blood work, trying to figure out what was going on, couldn’t figure it out. Obviously found out right before the season last year.”

Two years of trying to get a diagnosis? That’s a hard thing to deal with. And it makes sense as to why Chadwell’s mind may not have been as focused on football as he wanted it to be. The experience of being human is a bit complex sometimes.

And thankfully, Chadwell seems to be feeling better now, which is good.

“It’s a blessing to figure out what was going on. Physically, probably the best I’ve felt since ’23. There’s still some physical limitations I’m going through, that I’m still working through,” the Flames’ head coach continued. “But as far as my mind and the way I was feeling compared to the last couple of years, night and day.”

Now he’s excited about this coming season, and for good reason.

“That’s why I’m looking forward to this season more than any in a long time because I feel like I’m back, at least health-wise, to what I was prior to. When you don’t know what’s going on and you’re trying to figure it out, you think about everything. I’m disappointed that I allowed it to interfere with us last year.”