North Alabama Lions football The North Alabama Lions football team represents the University of North Alabama in the NCAA Division II competing as a member of the East Division of the Gulf South Conference ( GSC ) . UNA plays its home games at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence , Alabama . They were coached by head coach 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 # 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 became one of only nine DII schools to beat a Division I - A ( FBS ) team ( since the NCAA ' s restructuring in 1972 ) when they beat Southwestern Louisiana on October 11 , 1997 . The Lions won 48 - 42 after going to 4 OT ' s . 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 . 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 . The program was not resumed until 1949 , when President E . B . Norton announced that Florence State Teachers College , as the institution was then known , once again would field a team . At the first pep rally for the new team , Dr . Norton told the student body that the school had not lost a football game in 20 years and did not want to start losing then . Nevertheless , the first game , played Sept . 29 , 1949 against Jacksonville State , resulted in a 12 - 7 loss . Florence State rebounded in the next game with a 28 - 7 win over Howard College ( now Samford University ) . Dr . Norton told the Flor - Ala student newspaper on January 5 , 1949 that a football team was important not only for school spirit but also because a teachers college should have facilities to train coaches for the public schools . In an interview with the Florence Times - Daily in 1994 , Dr . Norton recounted the football team ' s role at a critical juncture in the college ' s history . Wendell Wilkie Gunn , the first African American graduate of Florence State , registered in 1964 . In the wake of the protests and violence that attended integration at other southern colleges and universities , Dr . Norton called the football team together and said he expected a peaceful and welcoming atmosphere on the Florence State campus . He charged the football players to set the appropriate example as leaders of the student body . Mr . Gunn matriculated and graduated in four years without incident . Dr . Norton stated that the football team ' s contribution to the successful integration of the institution justified his original vision of the program , in a way he could not have foreseen in 1949 , and exceeded even the program ' s considerable achievements on the field ( which by the 1990s included several national titles ) . The Lions also have won numerous Gulf South Conference Championships since the 1980s . 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 - American s , 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 . Wayne Grubb . Wayne Grubb took over for Andrews in 1977 . 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 . Bobby Wallace ( first stint ) . 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 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 . 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 . 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 . Hudspeth left UNA after the 2008 season to become an assistant under newly - hired Mississippi State Coach Dan Mullen . Terry Bowden . Former Auburn head coach Terry Bowden was named the new head coach of UNA on January 1 , 2009 . Bowden ' s brother Jeff also joins Terry at UNA as the WR coach . Pre - season hype focused on Bowden ' s remedy to a re - building roster by acquiring over twenty - five transfers from Division I schools including several from his father ' s Florida State team . The 2009 campaign would climax late in the season with an undefeated 10 - 0 record and the school ' s return to the # 1 ranking for the first time since 1996 . The season wrapped up with a UNA loss in the regional finals with a record of 11 - 2 . Bowden left after the 2011 season to take the head coaching job at Akron . Bobby Wallace ( second stint ) . Wallace returned for a second stint as head coach after Bowden ' s departure .