When the Salina Liberty entered the National Arena League playoffs last week as the No. 4 seed, they already felt they had a leg up.

In a sport where annual turnover is the rule — not just in roster movement but even league affiliations — the Liberty remain a notable exception, thanks in large part to their stability.

And nowhere is that more evident than in the veteran trio of running back Tracy Brooks, wide receiver Ed Smith and defensive end Travis Taylor, all of whom have been a constant on Salina’s roster for seven or more years.

Head coach Heron O’Neal

“They’re definitely leaders,” said Liberty coach Heron O’Neal, who himself is wrapping up season No. 8 in Salina. “Just that championship mindset, and it’s not just a thing for just talk.”

“That’s what it’s all about, is having guys like that who understand how to win a championship.”

Indeed, the trio of Brooks, Smith and Taylor all were a part of both the Liberty’s 2022 team that celebrated a Champions Indoor Football title at Tony’s Pizza Events Center and also the one that fell a missed field goal short the following year. After their hard-fought 50-48 quarterfinal home victory over the fifth-seeded Colorado Spartans on Sunday, they remain on track for another possible title, this time as first-year members of the eight-team NAL.

Next up for the Liberty is a 7:30 p.m. (CDT) semifinal matchup with the No. 2 Pueblo Punishers on Saturday in Pueblo, Colorado. Win that game — they won the regular season meeting, 40-34 — and they would either face top seed Southwest Kansas in Dodge City or the No. 6 Omaha Beef at home the following week.

Running back Tracy Brooks

“Every team that Coach O puts on the turf, I feel like we’ve always got a chance to win,” said Brooks, who leads NAL in rushing and ran for 117 yards with three touchdowns against Colorado.

Ask O’Neal, and the feeling is mutual.

“I call him Mr. MVP. He’s a guy that I always say is the most unselfish superstar you’ll ever meet,” he said of Brooks. “To have his leadership and what he brings to the table is immense.”

As is the team’s championship pedigree, O’Neal added.

“A lot of people think they can do it and just talk it,” he said. “We’ve got guys that actually can walk it because they’ve actually done it. That’s the good thing.”

This is the third league affiliation for the Liberty, who were founded in 2016 as members of Champions Indoor Football and then moved to the Arena Football League before landing this year in the NAL, which has a friendlier regional footprint.

That a core group of O’Neal and his three veterans have stayed together so long through all the changes is remarkable.

Wide receiver Ed Smith

“We’ve got a good bond here as players,” said Smith, who had one of the Liberty’s three receiving touchdowns against Colorado, and other than the 2019 season with Wichita has been in Salina longer than anyone. “We’ve got a good bond here with the coaches.”

“Everybody just comes together and makes things work, that’s all. Coach O believes in us, and we believe in him.”

Taylor’s partnership with O’Neal extends beyond their eight seasons in Salina. They have been together since 2018, when O’Neal was an assistant in Dodge City.

“Travis is a guy who has played for me now for nine years, and he’s one of my most loyal guys,” O’Neal said. “The way he plays with a hunger, he plays on every single special team.”

“(Taylor, Brooks and Smith) want to be out there, they want to make plays. We call it the championship mindset.”

Taylor agreed.

Defensive end Travis Taylor

“The motivation is we’re all on the same page,” he said. “We all believe in the coach’s system and what he brings to the table.”

Quarterback Tyrie Adams, who spent the 2021 season and part of 2022 with the Liberty before signing with the Canadian Football League, recently returned to the team with just two weeks left in the regular season. He made no secret of why he chose to come back.

Quarterback Tyrie Adams

“Those are our vets,” he said of Brooks, Smith and Taylor. “They know how things work and they’ve been in these situations before, doing it on this field with this organization with Coach O.”

“They know what he expects, and they already know how to hold up the standard. So, seeing them around, it just made it a lot easier decision. One thing I asked coach was who all is still there, and he named the names I wanted to hear.”

O’Neal, already a member of the Indoor Football League’s Hall of Fame as a coach, likes the fact that the Liberty have such a low-maintenance roster, thanks in large part to the veteran leadership.

“It’s now to the point that I don’t even have to say anything,” O’Neal said. “They know what needs to be said. They police the locker room.”

“We call it the Liberty Way.”