Bryson Gordon
Over the last two seasons, as Liberty has resided at the top of college football's rushing offense ranks, one running back has been the consistent force behind that effort. On Monday, he announced he's played his final game in a Flames uniform.
Quinton Cooley announced on social media that he will be turning his focus to the 2025 NFL Draft, ending his career in a Liberty jersey one game early. He is not expected to participate in the Flames' trip to the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo on Jan. 4.
The running back posted an extended letter on X, thanking the programs at Wake Forest, where he began his college career, and Liberty for "the way they helped me through the college years of my life."
"But it's time for a new chapter," Cooley, a North Carolina native, added, "and it's time for me to go chase my dream."
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Liberty running back Quinton Cooley answers questions during the Fiesta Bowl media day on Dec. 30, 2023. Paige Dingler, The News & Advance
The announcement caps a spectacular two seasons in Lynchburg for the 5-foot-7, 220-pound bowling ball of a running back, who ended up being a seamless fit into coach Jamey Chadwell's offense when they came to Liberty from different places prior to the 2023 season.
Liberty surged its way to one of the nation's best rushing attacks in consecutive seasons with Cooley and quarterback Kaidon Salter. In 2023, the Flames led the nation with 293 rushing yards per game, while Cooley's 1,401 yards and 16 touchdowns both led Conference USA and helped spur Liberty to its first-ever New Years Six bowl appearance in the Fiesta Bowl.
The Flames followed it up in 2024 with by averaging 258 yards per game, which ranked third-best nationally. While much of the offense struggled to recapture the form from 2023 with new pieces at some key positions, Cooley didn't struggle.
He averaged 114 yards per contest, finishing with 1,254 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in 11 games.
Quinton Cooley
Liberty running back Quinton Cooley scores a touchdown against East Carolina on Sept. 21. Cooley announced Monday his decision to focus on the 2025 NFL Draft, opting out of the Bahamas Bowl against Buffalo in January. Courtesy of Liberty Athletics
With 29 touchdowns, Cooley closes his career in a tie for fifth in program history despite playing just 25 games. At 2,655 rushing yards on 426 attempts, he finishes 68 yards shy of being in the top five in career rushing.
During his first three seasons at Wake, Cooley rushed 96 times for 402 yards and four touchdowns. Before celebrating Senior Day against Western Kentucky in late November this season, he recalled the feeling when Liberty welcomed him into its program in December 2022.
"Just being a kid that was down and didn't know what to do, and then coming here seeing me more comfortable being around players, being around different people outside of football," Cooley said, "that changed a lot of me, coming on and off the field."
Prior to rushing for 79 yards on eight carries against Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl, Cooley detailed overcoming a difficult childhood in a profile with The News & Advance.
“Football has really just created that space for me to love myself and have people around me. I wasn’t surrounded with much love,” Cooley said in December 2023, “and now I have teammates and a lot of people around me surrounding me with love.”
Cooley, with 'all the heart' after overcoming difficult childhood, looks to lead LU to Fiesta Bowl win
"That’s all I wanted in my life. Just help me with my life.”
In 2024, during moments when Liberty's offense needed shouldering, it was Cooley.
An early example of that was New Mexico State. In a comeback bid against the Aggies, he toted the ball four times for 88 yards and two scores on Liberty's last two drives. The last was a 44-yard scamper that was a go-ahead score for Liberty and left Cooley pounding his chest as he crossed the goal line.
Quinton Cooley
Liberty running back Quinton Cooley breaks through to the secondary on his 44-yard touchdown run in the Flames’ win over New Mexico State on Saturday in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Liberty University Athletics
He was injured against UTEP in the very next game, but returned against East Carolina a week later to start a torrid finish to the season, where he rushed for 100-plus yards in six of the last eight games. Cooley's season-high came against FIU, when he toted the ball 29 times for 174 yards and two scores. He had a second touchdown hat trick in his career against UMass in December.
After that win, like nearly every big game he had in 2024, Cooley was quick to deflect credit.
"I love my guys up there. ... All my yards are their yards. That's really how it is," he said about his offensive line.
Jordan White and Xavior Gray
Liberty offensive linemen Jordan White (left) and Xavior Gray (right) celebrate with running back Quinton Cooley during a game in November 2023. The two anchor offensive linemen announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal on Monday, according to CBS Sports. Courtesy of Liberty Athletics
In the regular-season finale against Sam Houston, he ran 19 times for 90 yards and didn't find the end zone in defeat. It was the only time in 2024 he received double-digit carries and didn't find pay dirt.
Liberty will have to turn elsewhere for production in the Bahamas.
Billy Lucas, a senior, has yet to declare his intentions about playing in a bowl game. On the portal front, Liberty lost running backs Victor Venn and James Jointer in recent days, leaving sophomore Vaughn Blue and freshman Caden Wilson as major options for the bowl game.
Liberty will likely be active in seeking out additions in the transfer portal, with at least one offer out already. The Flames also added running backs Jaylon Coleman and Malachi Fannin-Render in their 2025 high school class.
"Do we have someone here immediately, or enough people here immediately that they can take up that position and the number of carries?" Chadwell explained his thinking on National Signing Day, "and that's how you try to adjust."
Bryson Gordon, (434) 385-5529
bgordon@newsadvance.com
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