Bruce Wasem will guide the University of Virginia's College at Wise football program for the seventh year and looks to continue the momentum the team has built over the past two seasons. 

    The Highland Cavaliers have posted a 17-5 record under Wasem over the combined 2007-08 campaigns, the most back-to-back wins since 1995-96 where they had 20 victories.

    The Cavs had their best year of 9-2 under the veteran coach and claimed the program's first  Mid-South East Division title last year.  UVa-Wise finished the year 14th in the NAIA's final ratings with a high mark of seventh.

    Wasem earned his first Mid-South East Coach of the Year honors in 2006 when UVa-Wise posted an 8-3 mark.  The squad was rated 24th in the final national rankings and made it as high as 16th.

    The longtime Highland Cavaliers' coach has been one of the architects of the football program.  The head coach is in his 18th-year with the program and is the only person to have seen all 173 games the team has played.  Wasem has seen UVa-Wise go from not owning a single football in March of 1991 to today when its facilities are arguably the best of any small college in the nation.

    Wasem has helped see the program from its inception, through two NAIA playoff runs and the building of Beaty-Richmond Field at Carl Smith Stadium complex.

    Over his tenure, the coach's teams have produced 43 All-Mid-South Conference selections including 22 on the first team as well as 17 Academic    All-Mid-South athletes.  UVa-Wise has had three Daktronics NAIA All-Americans and two NAIA    Scholar-Athletes.

    Wasem joined his long-time mentor Bill Ramseyer, the founding head coach of Highland Cavalier football, in the early spring of 1991 to start the program.  He was the team's Defensive Coordinator for the first 11 years where he helped UVa-Wise reach the national playoffs in 1995 and achieve an undefeated season and another playoff berth in 1996.

    Upon Ramseyer's retirement in 2002, Wasem assumed the head coaching duties and helped initiate the Cavs' transition into the nationally-recognized Mid-South Conference.

    Before coming to the Cavs, Wasem coached under Ramseyer at Wilmington College of Ohio for 17 years, serving as  the Defensive Coordinator as well as the Head Baseball Coach for six years and Director of Intramurals.

    The head coach has served as American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) chair of the NAIA Assistant Coaches Committee for two different terms as well as working on the AFCA's football rules committee.

    On the UVa-Wise campus, Wasem is a teacher and advisor in the physical education major.  He also chairs the Student Publication Committee.

    The Ohio native played college football for Bluffton College and later obtained his M.A. from Ohio State University.

    Dewey Lusk begins his fourth season leading what has become one of the top offensive units in the NAIA.  Lusk has instilled an exciting brand of offense and play-calling to the Cavs' attack. 

    The UVa-Wise offense led the NAIA in scoring offense (49.5 ppg) and pass efficiency (174.77) while second in total offense (515.5 yds./gm) and third in pass offense (331.1 yds./gm) last season.  The Cavs led the Mid-South in three of those four categories while second in passing offense.

    Along with having the top total offense unit, Lusk saw running back Ra'Shad Morgan garnered All-American first team honors for the second year in a row while two other offensive members were All-American honorable mention.

    The offensive coordinator came to UVa-Wise after serving 14 years as an assistant coach to the now retired Emory & Henry College head coach Lou Wacker.  He was coach Wacker's offensive coordinator and also served as the head baseball coach, where he is the winningest coach in school history. 

    Lusk earned his bachelor's degree from Emory & Henry and master's degree from Gardner-Webb University, where he also served as an assistant coach.  The Christiansburg (VA) High School product graduated in 1981 and played under current Powell Valley head coach Phil Robbins.

    Coach Lusk is married to Mily Dover of Shelby, NC and they have two children, Gil, 16, and Landi, 14.

    John Kuczko will move into the defensive coordinator position for the 2008 season after serving as the defensive line coach the past 10 years for the Cavs.

    Many of the defensive players which he has coached have received post season honors. The honored players include graduated defensive end Reggie Dorsainvil and current defensive line coach Maurice Hughes, both not only made All-Mid-South Conference first team but also NAIA  All-American honorable mention.

    Previously, coach Kuczko guided J.I. Burton High School (Norton, Va.) to two 10-win seasons, three Region D playoff appearances, three state playoffs, one state final game and was named the Group A Coach of the Year in 1991. The veteran coach also coached baseball and football at Abingdon High School and J.J. Kelly High School (Wise, Va.). He held the position of defensive coordinator at J.J. Kelly in 1981, the year the Indians won the Group A state title.

    The coach and his wife, Donna, who live in Abingdon, Va., have two daughters, Kelly and Shea. Kelly and her husband Shawn Good live in Christiansburg and they have two daughters, Hayse and Rena. Shea is married to Zach Tritt and they have a daughter, Tallian, and live in Abingdon. 

    For the third year, Brandon Qualls will be a member of the UVa-Wise coaching staff where he will work with the running backs during the 2008 season.

    Over the past two years, Qualls served as a student assistant coach for the running backs. 

    Previously the 2008 UVa-Wise graduate coached at his high school alma mater Powell Valley.  He helped guide the Vikings to the 2004 Lonesome Pine and Region D coaching staff of the year. 

    Coach Qualls lives in his hometown of Big Stone Gap.

    For the fall, Adam Hubbard will move into the college coaching ranks and serve as assistant offensive line coach for the Cavs.

    Hubbard brings to the UVa-Wise staff six years of coaching in the high school ranks.  He coached five years at Honaker High School as offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and both offensive and defensive line assignments.  Last season, Hubbard assisted the offensive line at J.J. Kelly High School (Wise, Va.)

    He is working on his language & literature education degree at UVa-Wise.

    Following a four-year hiatus, Randy Ramseyer returns to lead the linebackers as part of the Highland Cavalier coaching staff.  He was an assistant for UVa-Wise for the program's first 14 seasons first under his father, Bill Ramseyer and then under currect head coach Bruce Wasem.

    Ramseyer was a standout player at Wilmington College.  He was an All-District first team outside linebacker and earned Academic All-American honors.

    The veteran coach has a law degree from Vanderbilt University and currently serves as an assistant U.S. attorney. 

    Ramseyer and his wife, Jennifer, live in Abingdon and have two children, Craig and Maggie.

    Shawn Austin begins his fourth season on coach Wasem's staff.  He directs the Cavs' defensive secondary and saw his 2007 defensive backs set a school record with 23 interceptions as both James Haley and Brandon Moore earned All-Mid-South honors.

    Coach Austin is in his 19th year of coaching including 10 years at Moreno Valley (Ca.) High School and five years at Victor Valley College in Victorville, Ca.

    Austin played college football for Cal State Fullerton.  He and his wife, Roseanne, live in Big Stone Gap, Va. and have three children, Shaniece, 17, Samantha, 9, and Shane, 8.

    After a solid career, Maurice Hughes will assist the UVa-Wise defensive linemen for the second year. 

    During his time as a Cavalier, the nose guard earned 2005 All-Mid-South East first team and 2004 Mid-South second team acclaim.  Hughes totaled 23.5 tackles for loss for 86 yards, 153 tackles, eight sacks, three interceptions and 10 pass breakups.

    The former lineman earned his business adminmistration degree in 2006 from UVa-Wise and is completing his master's in business administration at King College.