Following a season that saw many tremendous individual and team accomplishments achieved, the 2008 ULM Warhawks look to take the foundation laid by last year’s squad and build it into something even greater.

The Warhawks return 19 starters from last year’s team that went 6-6 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.  The six wins posted by ULM marked the first time that the Warhawks had been bowl eligible since making the jump to Division I-A in 1994.

ULM ended the season winning five of its final six games, including a 21-14 victory over Alabama in Bryant-Denny Stadium.  The Warhawks held the Crimson Tide scoreless for the last 42 minutes of the game stunning a packed house of over 92,000 fans.

The Warhawks lose just one player who scored a touchdown off of last year’s squad, while the player was ULM’s all-time leading rusher Calvin Dawson, there is still plenty of offensive firepower returning.

All-Sun Belt running back Frank Goodin is the heir to the Warhawk backfield, but the sophomore tailback has already put his own personal stamp on the position.  Goodin ran for 596 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie last season, well ahead of the pace that Dawson set his freshman season.  Dawson tallied just 98 yards and didn’t cross the end zone in his first year with the Warhawks.

Goodin surpassed the 100-yard threshold twice last season gashing the Clemson defense for 102 yards and a touchdown on just 10 carries, while running for 106 yards on 23 carries against Grambling State.

Senior single caller Kinsmon Lancaster returns for his third year as the starter under center for the Warhawks after throwing for over 1,800 yards last season with 13 touchdowns.   He enters the season sixth on the ULM all-time completions and passing yards lists.

The Warhawks return a stable of wide receivers, losing just one player who made a catch last season.  Leading the way are seniors LaGregory Sapp and Zeek Zacharie and junior Darrell McNeal.  Sapp, a All-Sun Belt performer his sophomore year, averaged nearly 15 yards per catch last season, while McNeal led the team with 54 catches and 502 receiving yards.

Zacharie, a two-time All-Sun Belt selection and two-time John Mackey National Tight End of the Week honoree, led the team and ranked third among all SBC receivers with six touchdown passes.  The touchdown total was 10th nationally among tight ends.

ULM will have to replace three starters on the offensive line, including All-Sun Belt selections Kyle Cunningham and Adam Hill.  Seniors Larry Shappley and Aaron Schutz have both started 33 games in their careers, each missing just two games due to injury; Shappley missed the final two games of 2006 and Schutz missed two last season.  Junior college transfers Keating Helms (center) and Ryan Dercher (tackle) and sophomore Doug Stroud will step in to fill the void of Cunningham, Hill and Patrick Avinger.

Just like on the offensive side of the ball, the Warhawks return a great deal of starters on defense, including the team’s top four tacklers from last season, but must fill some key spots on the line.

2007 sack leader David Cooper and run stopping Kendall Mouton are gone up front, but a trio of junior college players from Pearl River Community College are ready to step in.  Alex Ford (chose ULM over Alabama), Thomas Robinson and Aaron Williams will battle for time down in the trenches, while All-Sun Belt Aaron Morgan, Alaric Coleman, Travis Eickman and Jameson Jordan will man the ends.

The Warhawks, who feature a 4-2-5 defensive scheme, will have one of the deepest linebacker cores in the conference.  All-Sun Belt selection and ULM’s leader tackler from last season Cardia Jackson returns as does Josh Thomas, Theo Smith, Jeremy Moll and redshirt-freshman Ken Dorsey.

Just as with the rest of the ULM defense, the Warhawk secondary is loaded with numerous players looking to make a big impact.  All-Sun Belt safety Greg James returns after intercepting five passes, breaking up five passes and recording 88 tackles.  James Truxillo (68 tackles, 3 TFL) and Josh Thompson (hurt in third game of the season) both return to starting roles, while LSU transfer Troy Giddens will make his ULM debut.  The Warhawks will have to replace both cornerbacks with the departure of Quintez Secka and Darrius Battles, but junior college transfer Otis Stamps and sophomore Tay Ogletree both had outstanding springs in starting roles.

ULM returns All-Sun Belt punter Scott Love for his junior season.  Love set the ULM single-season record for punts inside the 20 with 23 and the single-game record for the same accomplishment with five at Alabama.  Love ranks third on the ULM career punting average list with a mark of 41.7 over two seasons.  Redshirt freshman Radi Jabour steps into the starting place kicker role after the departure of Cole Wilson, who made a school record 17 straight field goals.

Where the Warhawks took their biggest hit was on the coaching staff.  ULM lost four assistants off last year’s staff, three of which went into the Southeastern Conference and one to the NFL.  However, head coach Charlie Weatherbie replaced all four with high-caliber coaches.  Former LSU, Virginia Tech, West Virginia and Boston College defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian joins the staff as co-defensive coordinator.  Mark Tommerdahl, who has stops at Texas A&M and Alabama, takes over the special teams and tight ends, while Darrell Perkins and Demetrius Adams come in to work with the secondary and linebackers, respectively.