# 1975 North Alabama Lions football team

The 1975 North Alabama Lions football team represented the University of North Alabama as a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) during the 1975 NAIA Division I football season. Led by third-year head coach Mickey Andrews, the Lions compiled an overall record of 6–4 with a mark of 4–4 in conference play, finishing sixth in the GSC. North Alabama played home game at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama.

## Schedule

| Date | Opponent | Site | Result | Attendance |
| September 13 | at Southeastern Louisiana | Strawberry StadiumHammond, LA | L 15–28 | 8,300 |
| September 13 | Livingston | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL (rivalry) | L 7–14 | 7,500 |
| October 4 | Delta State | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL | L 9–21 | 7,500 |
| October 11 | at Alabama A&M* | Milton Frank StadiumHuntsville, AL | W 48–29 | 6,800 |
| October 18 | Austin Peay* | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL | W 23–6 | 3,000 |
| October 25 | at Troy State | Veterans Memorial StadiumTroy, AL | W 49–26 | 9,000 |
| November 1 | Mississippi College | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL | W 41–14 | 4,000 |
| November 8 | at Nicholls State | John L. Guidry StadiumThibodaux, LA | L 28–27 | 7,500 |
| November 15 | at Tennessee–Martin | Pacer StadiumMartin, TN | W 30–20 | 5,000 |
| November 22 | Jacksonville State | Braly Municipal StadiumFlorence, AL | W 21–14 | 5,000 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecoming ||||||

## Offseason
### Spring Game

The annual spring intrasquad matchup took place on Tuesday, April 1st, at Braly Stadium. The game saw the team split into both Gold and Purple squads. The Golds, led by Steve Clark and Jerry Mizell, defeated the Purples 26-21.
The game also saw honorary head coaches for both teams: Miss UNA Susie Vaughan for the Purple team and Miss Alabama Pam Long for the Gold team.

### GSC Summer Meeting

From June 12th to 15th, the Gulf South Conference summer meeting was held in Birmingham, Alabama. During the meeting, several topics were discussed. Due to multiple schools in the league holding dual membership in both the NCAA and NAIA, a recommendation was brought forward that any school must accept an invitation to any NCAA postseason tourney. The NCAA Division II-only schools of the league brought forth the idea to create a committee to look at the possibility of moving the conference up to Division I.
Other decisions made during the meeting were to forbid exchanging football film with non-conference teams and to reduce football rosters from 55 to 50 players.

### Conference Realignment

On July 4th, it was announced that Northwestern State would be leaving the GSC to join the Southland Conference. The school listed poor attendance for conference games and the proposed plan to reduce Division II scholarship limits from 70 to 55. They believed this would give nearby Division I schools a recruiting advantage.

### Preseason conference poll

The Gulf South Conference released their preseason coaches' poll on August 3. The poll still includes Northwestern State despite their departure from the conference in July.
GSC coaches' poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Jacksonville State | 87 (7) |
| 2 | Southeastern Louisiana | 70 (1) |
| 3 | Delta State | 56 |
| | Livingston | 56 |
| 5 | Troy State | 55 (1) |
| 6 | North Alabama | 44 |
| 7 | Nicholls State | 37 |
| 8 | Northwestern State | 21 |
| 9 | Mississippi College | 17 |
| | Tennessee-Martin | 17 |

### Recruiting

Signees
| Name | Pos. | Hometown | High School |
| Weldon Abercrombie | DG | Robertsdale, AL | Robertsdale High School |
| Danny Beeler | TE | Knoxville, TN | Knox Central High School |
| Eddie Blankenship | SE | Pompano Beach, FL | Pompano Beach High School |
| Bruce D. Childs | OG | Birmingham, AL | Huffman High School |
| Phillip Connell | DE | Dunwoody, GA | North Springs High School |
| Reginald Green | OT | Birmingham, AL | Woodlawn High School |
| Harry Grimes | LB | Tuscumbia, AL | Deshler High School |
| Marty Hanson | DB | Addison, AL | Addison High School |
| Brad Hendrix | DE | Birmingham, AL | Woodlawn High School |
| Mark Holmes | FB | Birmingham, AL | Berry High School |
| Billy Hudson | DT | Muscle Shoals, AL | Muscle Shoals High School |
| Marvin Jackson | FB | Millbrook, AL | Stanhope Elmore High School |
| Mark Kreider | QB | Birmingham, AL | West End High School |
| Chuck Lane | OT | Decatur, AL | Decatur High School |
| Hugh Martin | DT | Brilliant, AL | Brilliant School |
| Ronald Moon | RB | Commerce, GA | Commerce High School |
| Rusty Prater | DB | Florence, AL | Coffee High School |
| Howard Ross | LB | Birmingham, AL | Woodlawn High School |
| Terry Stooksberry | RB | Florence, AL | Bradshaw High School |
| Albert Walker | DE | Decatur, AL | Decatur High School |
| David Waller | OG | Huntsville, AL | Johnson High School |
| Ricky Wheeler | QB | Nashville, TN | Glencliff High School |
| Tim White | DE | Robertsdale, AL | Robertsdale High School |
| Johnny Williams | DE | Holt, AL | Holt High School |
Source:

## Awards
### Honors

Weekly Honors :
| Player | Award |
| Mike Allison | GSC Defensive Player of the Week (Week One) |
| Rodney Bivens | GSC Defensive Player of the Week (Week Eight) |
| Burnis Rose | GSC Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Week Nine) |
| Marc Merritt | GSC Offensive Player of the Week (Week Ten) |
| Ivan Richard | GSC Defensive Player of the Week (Week Eleven) |
Yearly Honors :
| Player | Award |
| Roger Ralph | All-American GSC Offensive Player of the Year All-GSC First Team - Offense |
| Terence Witherspoon | All-GSC First Team - Offense |
| Jerry Mizell | All-GSC Second Team - Offense |
| Barry Johnson | All-GSC Second Team - Offense |
| Norman Sims | All-GSC Second Team - Defense |