Just before Danny Rocco’s first season as Liberty’s football coach, he had to plan his practice schedule around the installation of new FieldTurf at Williams Stadium. In fact, Liberty only got to work out on the new turf a couple of times before the season opener against St. Paul’s. So much for home-field advantage. The turf was recently replaced at no expense to the school because the company that installed the turf didn’t exactly do a bang-up job. If you watch any of the games on TV, especially at night, there was a weird glow on the field. Because something went awry with the original, rushed installation, more rubber infill was added to prop up the blades of grass. If you walked on the thing, you could tell there was just too many rubber pellets in the turf. Before big games, the school would have to rake the field to make it more playable.

That shouldn’t happen with the new turf, which features red end zones rather than the blue that were there before. The end zone lettering is the same, as is the logo at midfield. Also, the Big South logo, which was painted on before, is presumably being sewed in this time. But again, the Flames are fighting the clock. Spring practice is set to open Thursday, and workers are still putting the finishing touches on the field. Spoke to LU athletics media relations director Todd Wetmore, and he said the field should be ready and the only thing that could delay practice is the weather.

Liberty enters the 2009 with more uncertainty than at any time in the Rocco era. There are tons of personnel questions and several new coaches, and a few remaining coaches must get acclimated to new roles. Five things to watch during spring ball:

1. Who takes the snaps?

For the last three seasons, the starting quarterback role has not been in question. Sure, Brock Smith had a couple of hiccups. Rocco put Zach Terrell in at quarterback in the second half at Savannah State during Smith’s sophomore year, and Rocco publicly questioned Smith’s ability after the blowout loss at Elon during Smith’s junior year. But Smith’s job was never seriously in question. I’m convinced Rocco’s actions were just motivational ploys, and they worked. After the Elon game, Smith improved. He played free and easy last season. Opposing coaches were concerned with tailback Rashad Jennings, for sure. But they hated facing a team with a three-year starter at quarterback. Smith rarely made mistakes last year and played exceptionally well when he needed to. Liberty will miss that.

South Carolina transfer Tommy Beecher is a wild card who won’t make it to campus until the summer. So the snaps during the spring will be split between Mike Brown, Spencer Landis and Tyler Brennan.

Brown is intriguing. He played receiver last season out of necessity, but with the influx of transfers (Ervin Garner from Virginia Tech, Freddie Brown from South Carolina) and the return of Chris Summers, the Flames have some options there. Jimmy Eden, who redshirted last year, is listed as a starter on the spring depth chart. Pat Kelly, the LCA grad who enrolled early so he could play spring ball, will be an option, too. So will B.J. Hayes, who played some tailback and some receiver last year. Rocco wants to give Brown an entire spring at quarterback so he knows exactly what Brown can bring to the team. It should be noted that Freddie Brown won’t be on campus until right around the start of fall practice. He still has to gain an NCAA waiver to make the transfer.

Brown is an exceptional athlete who can run and throw and has learned the offense inside and out because he worked with both the quarterbacks and receivers last year.

Landis has seen much of his time his first two years in mop-up duty either in blowout wins or blowout losses. At 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, he’s much smaller than Smith, who weighed close to 260 but was suprisingly athletic. For the last two years, Landis has been the unquestioned backup, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts to competing for the starting job.

Brennan was the scout-team quarterback last year as a redshirt freshman. He has some ability, and certainly, Rocco redshirted him because he thought Brennan would be able to help down the line.

2. Is there another Rashad Jennings out there?

Doubt it. He’s a potential first-day NFL draft pick, and Liberty hasn’t had anyone drafted in nearly 20 years. So with apologies to the new crop of tailbacks coming in, no, I wouldn’t expect anyone to rack up the sort of numbers Jennings did in his three years on campus. Losing Jennings would be enough. Add losing Zach Terrell to the mix, and things get dicey for the Flames in the backfield. SirChauncey Holloway is in school but can’t participate in spring ball until some paperwork goes through the NCAA clearinghouse, and it will be interesting to see what he can do since he didn’t get to play his senior year in high school. B.J. Hayes made strides as an A back last season. Terron Lawrence returns, as does Terry Williams. But there’s no telling how healthy Williams is after suffering a devastating knee injury last season. I wouldn’t expect him to participate in the spring. Former William Campbell quarterback Danny Broggin heads into camp as the No. 1 tailback, followed by Lawrence.

3. How do the new coaches fit in?

Good question. Brandon Streeter hasn’t been responsible for calling plays since, well, ever. But the spring will give him an opportunity to get acclimated to handling the offensive playcalling and gameplanning. He’s already got a jump start, seeing as he was on staff and slowly began to pick up some responsbilities from ex-offensive coordinator Scott Wachenheim, who left for a job with the Washington Redskins. Levern Belin is an experienced, accomplished defensive coach who’s worked with Rocco before. New secondary coach Wally Ake brings close to 30 years of coaching experience. The spring will be important for the coaching staff to develop the same sort of chemistry the previous one had.

4. Who will snap?

One of the more underrated losses from last year’s team will be center Mike Godsil, a four-year starter and a beast of a competitor. In his place, initially at least, is former E.C. Glass standout Mario Cosby, a senior who has spent his entire career as a backup. He’s not nearly as strong as Godsil (but really, who is, aside from strength coach Bill Gillespie?) He does have some chemistry with the quarterbacks, having spent the last year working with backups Spencer Landis and Mike Brown.

5. Who takes the Mike?

The Mike linebacker position is one of the most important on defense, because that’s the player who makes all the defensive calls and checks when the offensive audibles. Nick Hursky seamlessly took over the role from Manny Rojas, and though Hursky was one of the toughest players to come through here in recent years, the dropoff from Hursky to Doncel Bolt won’t be dramatic. When Hursky was dealing with knee problems last year, Bolt got some time at the Mike, learned the calls and was an effective player. He’ll split time there with Kyle O’Donnell, who was set to be the starting Jack linebacker last year before injuring his knee in August. Pierre Tinsley (Amherst) moves to the Jack to back up Chad Brown.