North Alabama Lions football
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The University of North Alabama Lions are distinguished for winning the only three consecutive football national championships in NCAA Division II history. UNA's 27 consecutive No. 1 rankings in the Division II polls also comprise the longest stretch of consecutive No. 1 rankings in football in NCAA history on any level.
The Lions also have won numerous Gulf South Conference Championships since the 1980s. They are currently coached by Mark Hudspeth.[1]
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[edit] History
Based on a history compiled by RoarLions.com, the university’s official athletic Web site, football had an especially inauspicious beginning at the University of North Alabama. The institution’s first football game in 1912 ended with Florence State Normal School losing to Sewanee 100-1. The institution carried on with a football program for 16 years despite similar poor results, finally terminating the program in 1928 after losing to twice to Marion Institute, 86-0 and 85-0.
The program was not resumed until 1949, when President E.B. Norton announced to the student body that the institution once again would field a team. The first game, played Sept. 29, 1949 against Jacksonville State, resulted in a 12-7 loss, though Florence State Teachers College, as the institution then was known, rebounded in the next game with a 28-7 win over Howard College (now Samford University).[1]
[edit] Hal Self
Under the direction of Head Coach Hal Self, the college completed the year with a 4-5 record, turning in a slightly improved 5-4 record the following year. However, during Self's 21 seasons as head coach, the Lions compiled a 109-81-8 record, posting wins against even some Division I schools.
The Lions were especially dominant among other Alabama teams, building a 31-0-2 record, beginning with a 32-6 win over Livingston (now West Alabama) in 1952 and ending 12 years later with a 21-7 loss to Troy State in 1964. Self also amassed several Alabama Collegiate Conference championships and coached eight All-Americans, including Harlon Hill, the school’s first professional football star.
Former Lion standout Durell Mock succeeded Self in 1970, followed by Mickey Andrews in 1973 and Wayne Grubb in 1977.[1]
[edit] Wayne Grubb
Grubb followed a disappointing 5-5 beginning season with 8 consecutive winning seasons, including Gulf South Conference championships in 1980, 1983 and 1985. UNA also qualified for the national semifinals in 1980 and 1983, competing for the Division II Championship at Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas, in 1985.
In 1985, Florence's Braly Municipal Stadium also was secured as the site of the Division II national championship game, with UNA serving as the host institution ever since. The Division II move to Florence also led to the adoption of the Harlon Hill Trophy, named after one of the most successful athletes in UNA’s history.[1]
[edit] Bobby Wallace
The most successful era in UNA football history followed the hiring of Bobby Wallace as head football coach. Following a four-year rebuilding period, Wallace led the Lions to a 7-4-1 record in 1992 and competed in the second round of the Division II championship until a loss to the team that ended up that year’s Division II national champions.
Over the next three years, UNA amassed a 41-1 record, which also encompassed three state Gulf South Conference Championships and three consecutive NCAA Division II National Championships — the first so-called three-peat in NCAA history.
The only loss UNA suffered during this 3-year period was to Youngstown State, a Division I-AA power at the time, losing narrowly, 17-14, following a field goal in the fourth quarter. Youngstown State went on to win the 1994 I-AA national championship.
During Wallace’s 10-year tenure, the UNA Lions competed in six NCAA playoffs and compiled an 82-36-1 record.
In 1995, UNA Lions were selected the “Best Team of the Quarter Century” in Division II, while Wallace was named Division II‘s “Coach of the Quarter Century.”
Following their third consecutive Division II National Championship, the Lions were invited to the White House to meet President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and members of Congress.[1]
[edit] Mark Hudspeth
Following a 3-year interlude under Bill Hyde, Mark Hudspeth assumed the head coaching job at UNA. After a disappointing first year, Hudspeth has led Lions to another string of Division II playoff games. [1]
In his first five seasons at UNA, Hudspeth has posted the best record of any previous Lion head coach in their first five years - leading the Lions to a 44-17 mark, two Gulf South Conference titles and three NCAA Division II playoff appearances.[2]
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
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