Mike Van Bruggen begins his seventh year as head athletic trainer for the Eagles.

Van Bruggen oversees all aspects of providing comprehensive health care for the more than 500 Eagle student-athletes. Additionally, Mike is responsible for the implementation of the athletic department's comprehensive Alcohol & Drug Education and Testing Program. As a faculty member in C-N's Department of Health, Physical Education and Sport Science, Van Bruggen has been instrumental in the development of the athletic training education major which was awarded national accreditation in the fall of 2004.

Van Bruggen is an active volunteer on local, regional and national levels, serving as a CPR instructor for the American Red Cross. He currently serves as the Tennessee representative on the Southeast Athletic Trainers Association college and university athletic trainers committee. Prior to arriving in Jefferson City, Mike was the Head Athletic Trainer and Assistant Athletic Director at Howard Payne University in Texas. He has also held appointments at Flowing Wells High School in Tucson, Arizona and in the New York Mets minor league system. Van Bruggen earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Kentucky and a master's degree from the University of Arizona.

Mike is married to the former Sheri Whitney and they have one son, Alex.

Eugene "Chico" Dupas enters his second year as Director of the Athletic Training Education Program at Carson-Newman College.

Dupas served as an assistant atheltic trainer for three years at C-N before moving into the program's director position. Born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Dupas attended LSU and worked as an athletic training student for five years before graduating in 2002. During his college career, Dupas worked as an intern with the Seattle Seahawks for two summers. Dupas received his master's degree in Athletic Training at the University of Kentucky in 2004 and began work at Carson-Newman in July of that year.

Dupas works with the Eagle volleyball, basketball, and tennis teams and serves as an instructor in athletic training. In 2007, Dupas was appointed as co-program director of the athletic training program.

He is married to the former Renita Clark, a 2006 graduate of Carson-Newman.

Chris Dake enters his second year as an athletic trainer at Carson-Newman College.

A native of Knoxville, Dake attended Tennessee Tech University and earned a B.S. in Health and Physical Education. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Sports and Recreational Administration at Morehead State University. At MSU, Dake worked as a graduate assistant athletic trainer for the baseball and women's basketball teams. After a two-year stint at the University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tennessee, he worked in Roanoke, Virginia where he taught Health and Physical Education and became the Certified Athletic Trainer for a local high school.

Chris and his wife Erica have two sons: Zach (4) and Dean (2).