After coming off an incredible season that landed the University of the Cumberlands football team as high as 14th in the NAIA National Poll and a record of 8-2, the future looks bright for the Patriots. Head Coach Chuck King and the rest of the coaching staff have really gotten the program rolling. It appears that anything could be possible. The 2004-2005 Patriots will begin their "Mission Possible" campaign on August 28 at Presbyterian College.

With fifteen seniors that were graduated last year, the Patriots will be looking to fill some major gaps not only in talent but in team leadership. Both the offensive and defensive leadership roles on the field will need to be manned by someone new this year with the loss of All-American linebacker Bo Buchanan and three year starter at quarterback, Matt Sims. The Patriots will also lose valuable talent as All-American punter Andrew Nathan and leading wide receiver Nathan Goodpaster were graduated this past year.

Even though the loss of Buchanan and Nathan will be huge, the defensive side of the ball will be strong for the Patriots once again. The entire secondary of Chad Dailey, Denny Earls, Dustin Huffaker, and Adam Housley will be returning. Their experience will lead the team as three have been four-year starters. Huffaker has a chance this season to put his name in Patriot record books as he is only two interceptions shy of breaking the career interception mark of sixteen picks. Jason Cheek, Ben White, and Frank Shope will lead the defensive side of the ball at the linebacker position. Cheek will be coming off a season ending injury and will be hungry for action. White has been a solid force at the inside linebacker position for the past two years. Shope led the team in sacks last year with five and a half.

On the offensive side of the ball, Ben Beeler, Kyle Singleton, and Mike Crowder will be returning to the offensive front. They anchored an offense that led the nation in rushing last year. Beeler will likely be an All-American candidate for the Patriots. Derrion Gee and Phillip Petway will be returning with their speed and hard-nosed running ability in the backfield for the Patriots. At the wide receiver position, Lawrence McGee, who moved from cornerback to wide receiver, Jeremy Vaught, and Wayne Dabbs will likely see playing time. All are young players but their speed will help offset their youthfulness.

Coach King commented on the three signs that the Patriots will be strong once again. "First, we have a few guys that practiced last season that have grown up into someone that will fill some major gaps. We have some young guys that no one has seen who will surprise a lot of people. Second, we have had a great recruiting class. We were able to pick up some guys that have played some great football in their high school days. Third, we were fortunate to pick up some transfer players that will fill in some areas of concern,” King said.

"We will play one play at a time, one game at a time. We have an older group of guys that are very goal oriented. Of course, there are many steps to each of our goals, but we want to do better. We finished eighth in the country in total defense- we want to be better. We finished 16th in the country in total offense- we want to be better. We finished ranked 20th in the final poll- we want to be better. We had one all conference position player on the first team- we want to be better. We lost only one player to grade problems- we want to be better."

Coach King and the rest of the Patriots will be better this year. They know their mission, and, yes, it is definitely possible.