North Alabama Lions football
| North Alabama Lions football | |||
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| First season | 1912 | ||
| Athletic director | Mark Linder | ||
| Head coach | Chris Willis 1st year, 0–0–0 (–) |
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| Stadium | Braly Municipal Stadium | ||
| Seating capacity | 14,215 | ||
| Field surface | ProGrass | ||
| Location | Florence, Alabama | ||
| NCAA division | Division II | ||
| Conference | Gulf South | ||
| All-time record | 460–239–16 (.655) | ||
| Claimed nat'l titles | 3 (1993, 1994, 1995) | ||
| Conference titles | 17 | ||
| Colors | Purple and Gold |
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| Fight song | Go! Fight! U-N-A | ||
| Mascot | Leo III and Una | ||
| Marching band | Pride of Dixie Marching Band | ||
| Rivals | Jacksonville State | ||
| Website | www.roarlions.com | ||
The North Alabama Lions football team represents the University of North Alabama (UNA) in NCAA Division II competing as a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC). UNA plays its home games at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama. They are currently coached by Chris Willis. They were coached by head coach Bobby Wallace from 2012-16 and Terry Bowden from 2009–2011. He succeeded Mark Hudspeth, who left after the 2008 season to take the job as passing coordinator at Mississippi State.
The Lions are distinguished as the only team to win three consecutive football national championships in NCAA Division II. UNA's 27 consecutive weeks at No. 1 in the Division II polls also comprise the longest stretch of consecutive No. 1 rankings in football in NCAA history on any level. UNA is the last Division II team to beat a Division I-A (FBS) team, defeating Southwestern Louisiana (now Louisiana–Lafayette) on October 11, 1997. The Lions won 48–42 after going to four overtime periods. In 2016, UNA won their fourth consecutive Gulf South Conference championship — a conference record.
In 2018, the Lions will begin a transition to NCAA Division I, joining the Atlantic Sun Conference for non-football sports, spending the 2018 football season as a independent in the Football Championship Subdivision, and then becoming a football-only member of the FCS Big South Conference in 2019.
Based on a history compiled by www.roarlions.com, the University’s official athletic website, 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, 101–0. The institution carried on with a football program for 16 years despite similar poor results, finally terminating the program in 1928 after losing twice to Marion Institute, 86–0 and 85–0.
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