Liberty University is moving up football subdivisions within the NCAAs Division I, from the FCS to the FBS, the school is announcing Thursday. The Flames will not be joining a conference, and will join as independent members.

The Big South announces Liberty has been granted an NCAA waiver to move to FBS as independent. Recently hired former Baylor AD Ian McCaw

Liberty will become FBS independent in 2019, after two seasons transitioning from FCS

The Flames represent a private, Christian university in Lynchburg, Va. and have won shares of seven Big South titles since 2007. Former Buffalo and Kansas head coach Turner Gill is 35-25 at Liberty. Big South conference rival Coastal Carolina just joined the FBSs Sun Belt for the 2017 season.

On paper, Libertys long appeared to be an interesting candidate for a mid-major FBS conference. The school is not without controversy, however.

Most recently, president Jerry Falwell Jr. announced the hire of Ian McCaw, formerly the athletic director at Baylor during its sexual assault scandal. Falwell said McCaw fits perfectly. Baylor opens its 2017 season against Liberty in Waco.

Falwell, speaking during a press conference on Thursday afternoon, said that Liberty applied for the FBS waiver after it appeared that conference realignment died down.

We recognized, I guess it was last year, that the realignment of a few years ago had pretty much stopped. Falwell said. And when the Big 12 decided not to add two additional teams, thats when we decided that the realignment was not going to occur again for the foreseeable future, so thats when we requested the waiver from the NCAA.

As far as other sports go, Falwell said that the intention is for the rest of the schools sports to remain in the Big South conference.

Falwell also said Libertys status as a private religious institution, much like BYU and Notre Dame, made the likelihood to get an invitation from a conference appear slim, further prompting the decision for the Flames to apply as an independent FBS program.

Liberty has been talking about making this move for some time, but its still a surprise. In 2011, Falwell unveiled the results of the programs "FBS Feasibility Study."

Since Coach (Danny) Rocco's departure, we have spoken with many potential head coach candidates before offering the position to Turner Gill, yesterday.

Liberty greatly values its membership in the Big South Conference, but given the unexpected turn of events, we believe the time is right to conduct this study. Due to the changes we have all seen in the college football landscape, we need to thoroughly evaluate the future of Liberty University football.

During our discussions with these head coaching candidates, it quickly became clear to us that the future of Liberty's football program was their primary concern. The candidates were particularly interested in whether Liberty had plans to move to the Football Bowl Subdivision level (FBS) at some point. In order to determine what course Liberty should pursue for its football program, including when Liberty should attempt to move to the FBS level, Liberty has commissioned an FBS Feasibility Study by Carr Sports Associates. The study should be completed in February or March.

Liberty footballs Williams Stadium has a capacity of 19,200, and it underwent major renovations in 2010.

Falwell added during the press conference Thursday that there are plans in place to add an additional 6,000 seats.

Libertys athletic department features 20 NCAA Division I athletic programs, including 20 teams that are fully funded with scholarships.

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Liberty University making surprise jump up to FBS football in 2019 - SB Nation