THE OFFICIAL ATHLETICS SITE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA LIONS

University of North Alabama Football History Through 2025
 
Since the rebirth of football at the University of North Alabama in 1949, UNA has been one of the most consistently successful programs in the state of Alabama and on a regional and national level. The Lions were a perennial power at the NCAA Division II level during the 1980s, the mid-1990s and for much of the 2000s and 2010s. UNA made the jump to FCS after the 2017 season, undergoing a four-year transition period until the 2022 football season.

In 2025, UNA will embark on its fourth season as a full-fledged Division I member, eligible to compete for both an United Athletic Conference and an NCAA Playoff berth.

As an NCAA Division II member, UNA was nationally ranked in the Top 25 of the final Division II poll 21 times from 1980 to 2017, with 15 Top Ten Rankings. UNA's 21 all-time playoff appearances were the second most in Division II history when the Lions left DII in 2017. In addition, UNA's 35 playoff wins were also the second most in DII history and the Lions' 12 Gulf South Conference football crowns are by far the most in league history by any school.

In 2018, the Lions began a new chapter with a transition to Division I and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) status. The Lions played as an independent in the FCS in 2018 and finished with a 7-3 record. In 2019, UNA played its first season as a member of the Big South Conference and went 4-7 overall, losing three games by a touchdown or less. The Lions were not eligible to rank in the conference standings due to the transition but would have finished fourth with a 3-4 league mark. During the season, the Lions faced four nationally ranked FCS teams, all on the road. In the COVID-19 shortened season of 2020, the Lions went 0-4 in a schedule that included FBS opponents Liberty, Southern Mississippi and BYU. Liberty and BYU both finished that season nationally ranked. The final season of the Lions' transition was in 2021, with UNA going 3-8 while competing in the Big South Conference. In the first season of postseason eligibility, the Lions finished the 2022 season with a 1-10 record.

Since coming out of the transition period, the Lions have played numerous ranked opponents and had one of the top 20 toughest schedules in FCS in both 2024 and 2025. One of those opponents was No. 10 ranked Abilene Christian, who went on to become the UAC Champion in 2025 with a 7-1 record. The one loss? North Alabama. On October 12, 2024, the Lions defeated No. 10 ACU by a 47-34 final on Homecoming at Braly Stadium, marking UNA's first all-time win over an FCS opponent.

THE EARLY YEARS

The University of North Alabama fielded football teams from 1912 to 1928, but with little or no success.

Following a miserable showing in 1928, football was dropped at the University. For the next 21 years there were several efforts made to return football to the Florence campus by writing letters to the administration and gathering names on petitions. Those efforts finally proved successful on March 30, 1949, when President Dr. E.B. Norton held a student assembly to announce that football would return to campus that September.

Since that September day, the University has reaped 67 years worth of benefits from a football program that has helped put UNA on the map as one the nation's premier collegiate powers. As an example, North Alabama boasts the highest winningest percentage since 1990 of any collegiate football program from the football tradition rich state of Alabama at 72.29.

UNA's football success has come through the combined efforts of eight different head coaches, more than 80 assistant coaches and more than 1,200 student-athletes.

Since Hal Self guided the first Lion squad onto the field on Sept. 29, 1949, through UNA's playoff loss that ended the 2009 season, the North Alabama program has made a name for itself like few others in the nation.

The 2008 season, UNA's 60th since football returned to campus, was emblematic of the Lions' current position in college football. The Lions posted a 12-2 record and came within one game of playing for the Division II National Championship on its home field. That's because UNA had served as the host for the Division II Football Championship since 1986, and is the only school to have had the chance to claim a Division II title on its home field. Following a record-setting season of his own, North Alabama quarterback A.J. Milwee was the runner-up for the Division II National Player of the Year Award. That award is the Harlon Hill Trophy, named for the former Lion standout end whose name has been on the player of the year award since its creation in 1986.

Then in 2009, another historic chapter was written when nationally renowned coach Terry Bowden came to Florence and led the Lions to an 11-2 record, a Gulf South Conference championship, a spot in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs and a No. 6 national ranking in the final poll. It was UNA's fifth straight season with 10 or more wins and fifth straight playoff appearance. It was UNA's 15th overall playoff appearance and the Lions' 27 NCAA playoff wins are also the second most by any current Division II institution. North Alabama's Michael Johnson was named National Defensive Player of the Year by Daktronics and D2Football.com, lineman Montrell Craft was a national finalist for the Gene Upshaw Award as Division II's top lineman and quarterback Harrison Beck was a national finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy as Division II Player of the Year.

In 2010 the Lions made their sixth consecutive NCAA playoff appearance and finished with a 9-4 record and followed that with a seventh straight post-season appearance in 2011.

In 2013 the Lions made their ninth post-season appearance in the last 11 years and reached the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs and followed that with a 9-2 record and 19th NCAA post-season appearance in 2014 and a 9-3 record and 20th playoff trip in 2015. In 2016, North Alabama won an unprecedented fourth straight Gulf South Conference Championship, advanced to the Division II Playoffs for the 21st time and advanced to the Division II National Championship Game for the fifth time in school history.

HAL SELF'S LIONS DOMINATED THE STATE
But the Lions can trace their success much further back. The first 30 years after the rebirth of the Lion football program established a strong foundation for the program. Under the direction of Hal Self, the early Lion football teams were a model of consistency, enjoying 12 winning seasons in the first 14 years or the program. The Lions dominated other state institutions, going 12 years from 1952 to 1964 without losing a game to another school from Alabama (31-0-2). The Lions' first conference title came in 1960 with the formation of the Alabama Collegiate Conference, and UNA would win four straight league titles. The first African American football players also joined the program during the Self era.

Upon Self's retirement from coaching in 1969, Durell Mock became the first, and so far only, former Lion player to become the Lions' head football coach. During Mock's third and final season as head coach, the University became a charter member of the Gulf South Conference. Three years later Mickey Andrews came to Florence and stayed four years before giving way to Wayne Grubb as the school's fourth head coach.

GRUBB BRINGS PROGRAM TO NATIONAL PROMINENCE
Grubb would lead UNA to 84 wins, three Gulf South Conference titles and its first three NCAA playoff appearances in an 11-year stint in Florence.

Following Grubb's departure, UNA turned to Bobby Wallace to continue the Lion tradition and he was more than up for the challenge. In his 10 years in Florence, Wallace led UNA to 82 wins, three GSC titles, six playoff appearances and three NCAA Division II National Championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

THREE STRAIGHT NATIONAL TITLES
North Alabama became the first school in the history of NCAA scholarship football to win three consecutive national championships, and UNA is still the only NCAA Division II institution to have won three straight crowns. Following that 1995 season, the Lions also became the first Division II squad invited to the White House, as the UNA squad met with President Bill Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and members of Congress.

From 1993-95 the Lions went 41-1 and set a Division II record by ranking No. 1 in the nation in 27 straight polls, UNA also tied a Division II record by winning 28 consecutive home games at Braly Stadium.

Wallace left UNA following another playoff run in 1997 and the Lions elevated longtime defensive coordinator Bill Hyde to the head coaching position. Hyde retired following the 2001 season and Mark Hudspeth became the seventh head coach in UNA history.

MARK HUDSPETH TAKES LIONS TO FIVE PLAYOFFS
Hudspeth spent seven seasons in Florence and put the Lion program back at the top of Division II, winning 64 games and making five playoff appearances. Under Hudspeth's direction, the Lions reached the NCAA semifinals three times, the quarterfinals twice, and had five seasons with 10 or more wins.

THE TERRY BOWDEN YEARS
With six decades of success already on the books, even more excitement was brought to the Lion football program on December 31, 2008 with the hiring of Terry Bowden as UNA's eighth head football coach.

Bringing a big-name, high profile former Division I National Coach of the Year to Florence sparked anticipation for year number 61 of Lion football and Bowden's first team didn't disappoint. UNA went 11-2 and won the Gulf South Conference championship. In three years in Florence Bowden compiled a 29-10 record  with three NCAA playoff appearances.

WALLACE RETURNS
Bobby Wallace returned to UNA prior to the 2012 season and led the Lions to a 5-5 record before his 2013 squad went 10-3, won a share of the GSC Championship and fought its way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Wallace and the Lions followed that with a 9-2 record, co-GSC Championship and another NCAA Playoff bid in 2014, a 9-3 record, third straight GSC title and NCAA Playoff appearance in 2015 and an unprecedented fourth straight GSC title, an 11-2 record and a trip to the Division II National Championship Game in 2016. Wallace retired at the conclusion of the season as the winningest coach in UNA history with a 126-51-1 record and as the winningest coach in Gulf South Conference history at 152-81-1.

CHRIS WILLIS LEADS LIONS INTO DIVISION I
After 15 seasons as an assistant coach on the UNA staff, Chris Willis became the Lions tenth head coach in 2017, leading the Lions in their final season of Division II competition as well as into the transition as an FCS program. Wilis led the Lions to a solid 7-3 finish in their first season in the FCS in 2018. The Lions finished with a 1-10 record in their first season of full Division I membership in 2022.

THE BRENT DEARMON AND UNITED ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ERA
On December 3, 2022, former Kansas, MTSU and Florida Atlantic offensive coordinator Brent Dearmon became the 12th head football coach at the University of North Alabama. Since taking the reigns for the 2023 season, Dearmon has coached the Lions in three nationally televised games with two on ESPN for the FCS Kickoff and one on The CW against No. 4 Florida State which set six-year primetime network ratings for the station. Dearmon faced eight ranked opponents and seven additional that were receiving votes in the FCS or FBS polls during his first two seasons. One of those was a landmark win over No. 10 Abilene Christian, which marked the first win over a ranked FCS opponent in school history.

INDIVIDUAL HONORS
And of course with the team successes have come a remarkable amount of individual accolades. Since 1949, 63 different Lion players have earned first or second-team All-American honors. Wallace was selected as the Division II Coach of the Quarter Century and the 1995 UNA squad was chosen as Division II's Best Team of the Quarter Century (1972-97).

Two Lion players, linebacker Ronald McKinnon (1995) and quarterback Will Hall (2003) won the Harlon Hill Trophy. Center Lance Ancar won the Division II Rimington Trophy as the division's top center in 2005.

McKinnon and quarterback Cody Gross have been inducted into the Division II Football Hall of Fame and McKinnon received the ultimate honor when he was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. Wallace was also inducted as part of the first class of coaches to enter the Division II Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

On a professional level, the Lions have produced an NFL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in Harlon Hill, and five other Lions have played on Super Bowl squads. A total of 24 Lions have been drafted by professional teams and 35 more have signed free agent NFL contracts. Numerous others have played in a variety of professional leagues in the United States, Canada and Europe.

LION PRIDE

* Since 1990. UNA has the highest second winningest percentage of any collegiate football program from the state of Alabama with 252 wins.

* The Lions' made 21 playoff appearance in the NCAA Division II which was the second most ever by any Division II program when UNA departed in 2017.

* UNA competed in the NCAA Division II Playoffs in 12 of its  last 15 seasons in the division.

* UNA's 35 NCAA playoff wins were tied for the second most ever by any Division II program when UNA departed in 2017.

* A total of 19 Lions have been drafted into the NFL since 1979 - including three each in 1980, 1986 and 1996.

* Five former Lions have played in the Super Bowl during their careers in the National Football League. The first was receiver Robert Steele who played with the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII. A pair of former Lions were in the same secondary in Super Bowl XXIV as Lewis Billups and Daryl Smith were teammates on the Cincinnati Bengals. Wide receiver Stevie Hobbs was a team captain and special teams starter on the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXVI and defensive tackle Shawn Lee was a starting defensive lineman for the San Diego Chargers in Super Bowl  XXIX. Hobbs is the only former Lion on the winning team in the Super Bowl as Washington defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24.

* Lion football teams have played in front of the television cameras of ABC, CBS, ESPN, ESPN2, SportSouth and SportsChannel.

* The Lions were nationally ranked in the Top 25 of the final Division II poll 21 times from 1980-2016, with 15 Top Ten Rankings.

* UNA's 27 consecutive No. 1 rankings in the Division II polls set a record for the longest stretch of consecutive No. 1 rankings in football in NCAA history on any level.

* At the time, UNA's win over Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana) in 1997 marked just the fifth win by an NCAA Division II school over a Division I opponent since the NCAA restructuring in 1973.

* Former Lion Harlon Hill was named the NFL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player during his professional career.

* UNA hosted the Division II Football Championship from 1986-2013, and is the only school to have had the chance to claim a Division II title on its home field.

* The Division II National Player of the Year Award - the Harlon Hill Trophy - is named for the former Lion. His name has been on the award since its creation in 1986.