(Ann Arbor, MI) After another playoff season for the Cardinal football program on the field, the success quickly carried to the recruiting trails. Headed into his fourth year as head football coach, Joshua Schumacher announced that 45 student athletes have signed their national letter of intent to become Cardinals in the fall.

The 2019 campaign saw the program reach the NAIA FCS playoffs for a third season in a row. During the season, the Cardinals were ranked as high as 4^th in the NAIA Coaches' poll. The Cards have won at least eight games in each of the last three seasons against some of the top competition in the NAIA in the MSFA.

While the Cardinals continue to raise their national profile, Coach Schumacher recognizes the interest in the program is at an all-time high. "We are extremely excited about this class of recruits, said Schumacher. "We have seen as increased interest overall in the Concordia football program each year."

Consistency on both sides of the ball can be one of many contributors to the Cardinals continued success. The Cardinals ranked 3rd in Total Offense and Total Defense in the MSFA. Schumacher believes he has a solid returning group of Cardinals combined with a talented recruiting class that can take the program to the next level.

"We are very excited about our incoming recruiting class," says Schumacher. "As coaches we look for student-athletes that we trust, and we believe this is a great group of young men that will do the dirty work. We believe these guys will achieve great success on the field and create lasting memories with each other."

The recruiting class of 2020 will be Schumacher's fourth as head coach. "Time has gone quickly over the last four years. While on paper this looks like a roster made up solely of our recruiting classes, we are blessed to have people outside of our staff that recommend and help us identify guys that will be great fits at Concordia. Our goal is to continue to recruit men that believe in each other and find a way to get it done; just like the men that built the program from a farm field to a team that compete for championships."