BEAT COASTAL: More Than Just a T-Shirt Motto
10/15/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
When Athletics Director Jeff Barber arrived at Liberty during the winter of 2006, he brought a renewed charge to Liberty's Athletics Department to be the best athletics program in the Big South Conference.
At that time, Coastal Carolina was the top program in the league, as the Chanticleers were in the midst of winning their third of four-straight Big South Sasser Cup titles. Barber knew in order to be the best, Liberty would have to beat the best and that needed to start with Liberty beating Coastal Carolina.
Barber's campaign to take down the Chanticleers started the next year when the now infamous "BEAT COASTAL" t-shirts started showing up on Liberty Mountain. The solid red t-shirt, with block white lettering, might have been plain, but the message it conveyed was simple – BEAT COASTAL.
On Oct. 28, 2006, a then up-and-coming Flames football team, which was in the midst of its first football season under head coach Danny Rocco, traveled down to Conway, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina, which was ranked No. 22 at the time of the match-up.
Liberty, who was coming off a 1-10 season the year before, played toe-to-toe with the Chanticleers, but Coastal Carolina eventually prevailed. The home squad held on for a 28-26 victory, which was a key victory toward its march to a third-straight Big South title.
That game is now one of note for true Liberty football fans, as it marked the last time Liberty has dropped a Big South Conference game. Entering this weekend's match-up with the Chanticleers, two-time Big South champion Liberty has reeled off 11-straight Big South Conference wins, which ranks as the fourth longest active conference winning streak among all FCS teams around the country.
The BEAT COASTAL campaign quickly seeped its way into all parts of Liberty's Athletics Department. Three years later, each facet of the program is met with the same charge, starting with the various athletics programs all the way up to the department's senior administrative staff.
The campaign has helped rejuvenate the thinking that stems from the Hancock Athletic Center on Liberty Mountain, leading to back-to-back Big South Sasser Cup titles for Liberty. Liberty has now laid claim to the conference's top program seven out of the last 12 years. The remaining five during the stretch of time were won by Coastal Carolina, making Liberty and Coastal Carolina the Big South's premier programs for more than a decade.
During the last three years, Liberty has captured 19 Big South titles, to go along with three NCAA East Regional wrestling champions, consecutive IC4A track and field outdoor titles and had its second NCAA individual national champion in Josh McDougal at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Last year's run to the Big South Sasser Cup was a total team effort for the Flames. During the 2008-09 athletic season, 14 of Liberty's 17 Big South sponsored programs finished third or better in their respective regular seasons or at the conference championships.
Once just a handful of t-shirts thrown out to students during select athletics competitions, a BEAT COASTAL t-shirt now seems to be standard issue attire for all incoming freshmen when they set foot on Liberty Mountain each August.
The campaign, which was started to give Liberty a rival in football, has turned into a rallying cry for the entire athletics programs. Coastal Carolina and Liberty are now key players in almost each Big South title run, meaning a BEAT COASTAL game has turned itself into a potential pivotal game each year for Big South supremacy in almost each sport.
Prime example to the above mentioned fact can be found in the sport of football. Liberty and Coastal Carolina have captured the last five Big South Conference titles and the overall series is tied at 3-3. An even closer look at the meetings, which began when the Chanticleers started their program in 2003, reveals that Liberty has scored 171 points to Coastal Carolina's 171 points during the six games.
Once a t-shirt giveaway to spark interest in a Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina football match-up has now turned into something much more. It is more than just a motto on a t-shirt … it is a mindset, a way of thinking, a philosophy toward achieving excellence.
The BEAT COASTAL campaign was geared toward the Chanticleers three years ago, but now, it means so much more. It is an overall charge for each student-athlete who dons a Liberty uniform, every coach welding a chipboard on the sideline, or the support staff members or administrators behind the scenes.
Liberty's charge, in keeping with the beliefs of its found Dr. Jerry Falwell, is to be the best, making Liberty Athletics the top program in the Big South Conference and putting the name Liberty in a place of national prominence.
At that time, Coastal Carolina was the top program in the league, as the Chanticleers were in the midst of winning their third of four-straight Big South Sasser Cup titles. Barber knew in order to be the best, Liberty would have to beat the best and that needed to start with Liberty beating Coastal Carolina.
Barber's campaign to take down the Chanticleers started the next year when the now infamous "BEAT COASTAL" t-shirts started showing up on Liberty Mountain. The solid red t-shirt, with block white lettering, might have been plain, but the message it conveyed was simple – BEAT COASTAL.
On Oct. 28, 2006, a then up-and-coming Flames football team, which was in the midst of its first football season under head coach Danny Rocco, traveled down to Conway, S.C., to take on Coastal Carolina, which was ranked No. 22 at the time of the match-up.
Liberty, who was coming off a 1-10 season the year before, played toe-to-toe with the Chanticleers, but Coastal Carolina eventually prevailed. The home squad held on for a 28-26 victory, which was a key victory toward its march to a third-straight Big South title.
That game is now one of note for true Liberty football fans, as it marked the last time Liberty has dropped a Big South Conference game. Entering this weekend's match-up with the Chanticleers, two-time Big South champion Liberty has reeled off 11-straight Big South Conference wins, which ranks as the fourth longest active conference winning streak among all FCS teams around the country.
The BEAT COASTAL campaign quickly seeped its way into all parts of Liberty's Athletics Department. Three years later, each facet of the program is met with the same charge, starting with the various athletics programs all the way up to the department's senior administrative staff.
The campaign has helped rejuvenate the thinking that stems from the Hancock Athletic Center on Liberty Mountain, leading to back-to-back Big South Sasser Cup titles for Liberty. Liberty has now laid claim to the conference's top program seven out of the last 12 years. The remaining five during the stretch of time were won by Coastal Carolina, making Liberty and Coastal Carolina the Big South's premier programs for more than a decade.
During the last three years, Liberty has captured 19 Big South titles, to go along with three NCAA East Regional wrestling champions, consecutive IC4A track and field outdoor titles and had its second NCAA individual national champion in Josh McDougal at the 2007 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Last year's run to the Big South Sasser Cup was a total team effort for the Flames. During the 2008-09 athletic season, 14 of Liberty's 17 Big South sponsored programs finished third or better in their respective regular seasons or at the conference championships.
Once just a handful of t-shirts thrown out to students during select athletics competitions, a BEAT COASTAL t-shirt now seems to be standard issue attire for all incoming freshmen when they set foot on Liberty Mountain each August.
The campaign, which was started to give Liberty a rival in football, has turned into a rallying cry for the entire athletics programs. Coastal Carolina and Liberty are now key players in almost each Big South title run, meaning a BEAT COASTAL game has turned itself into a potential pivotal game each year for Big South supremacy in almost each sport.
Prime example to the above mentioned fact can be found in the sport of football. Liberty and Coastal Carolina have captured the last five Big South Conference titles and the overall series is tied at 3-3. An even closer look at the meetings, which began when the Chanticleers started their program in 2003, reveals that Liberty has scored 171 points to Coastal Carolina's 171 points during the six games.
Once a t-shirt giveaway to spark interest in a Liberty vs. Coastal Carolina football match-up has now turned into something much more. It is more than just a motto on a t-shirt … it is a mindset, a way of thinking, a philosophy toward achieving excellence.
The BEAT COASTAL campaign was geared toward the Chanticleers three years ago, but now, it means so much more. It is an overall charge for each student-athlete who dons a Liberty uniform, every coach welding a chipboard on the sideline, or the support staff members or administrators behind the scenes.
Liberty's charge, in keeping with the beliefs of its found Dr. Jerry Falwell, is to be the best, making Liberty Athletics the top program in the Big South Conference and putting the name Liberty in a place of national prominence.
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