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LIVINGSTON, Ala. –
University of West Alabama football coach Bobby Wallace
already has an outstanding resume.
Wallace, the only coach in the
history of scholarship football to win three straight
national championships, took over a West Alabama program
last March that had gone through its share of lean
years. But he is well on his way to building another
Gulf South Conference contender.
But if things work out it won’t be
the first time, as he built North Alabama in to a
consistent NCAA Division II college football power from
1993-95.
Prior to this season, the UWA
Tigers hadn’t put together a winning season in 14 years,
but that changed with a 37-14 victory two weeks ago at
the University of Arkansas at Monticello, giving West
Alabama a 6-3 mark. If the Tigers pull off a shocker of
rival North Alabama, ranked No. 3 in Division II, West
Alabama will finish with seven wins, the most for the
program since the team went 10-3 in 1975.
Saturday’s 6:00 p.m. Gulf South
Conference game at Tiger Stadium should be exciting for
those in the Livingston and Florence communities. The
game isn’t being billed as “Bobby Wallace vs. North
Alabama,” however it will be interesting to see how
Wallace deals with being on the opposite sideline for
the first time since his third national title in 1995.
“As far as my coaching career,
those were the best 10 years,” Wallace said.
The winning didn’t start right away
at North Alabama for Wallace, as the Lions went 2-8 in
his first season (1988), but that was just the start of
things as North Alabama made the playoffs the next year
and eventually went on to win three straight national
titles from 1993-95, as his squads finished with an
overall record of 41-1 during the course of those three
campaigns.
The Lions qualified for the NCAA
Division II Playoffs six times during his tenure. Over
his 10 seasons at the helm, he compiled an overall mark
of 82-36-1, and produced 12 NFL players.
“It was just a magical time,”
Wallace said. “There was a lot of enthusiasm in the
community. There were great players, great coaches and
it was like the perfect storm – everything came together
perfectly. To be in it (the national title game) and win
it three years in a row was really special. I’ve got
great friends in Florence and anytime you coach in one
place for 10 years, you develop a lot of great
friendships.
“I look back with nothing but great
memories at North Alabama. A lot of things have changed
and we’re not playing the name, we’re playing the
people. I’ve got a lot of friends that will be here
(Tiger Stadium). I have a lot of respect for the UNA
people, including the administration.”
After turning around the North
Alabama program, Wallace left Florence for Philadelphia
to coach at Temple University. In 2004, he joined other
college football coaches Paul “Bear” Bryant, John
Heisman, Pat Dye and Gene Stallings in the Alabama
Sports Hall of Fame, and also earned his 100th
career head coaching victory with a win over Florida
A&M.
After leaving Temple at the end of
the 2005 season, Wallace had thoughts of retiring, but
West Alabama came calling.
“It has been one of the more
enjoyable and gratifying years I’ve had as a head
coach,” Wallace said. “We’ve had no distractions on this
team. The kids have done everything they’ve been asked
to do. The coaches have worked extremely well together.
It’s just been a great year and gone unbelievably fast.
“I’ve enjoyed this year. I’m glad
we’ve won six games and hopefully we’ll win seven, but
it has been a good start. It’s not where we want to be
and it’s not where we are going to be. I want to get the
program not where the UNA’s and the Delta State’s are
now, but where UNA was in the ’90s.”
Two years ago the Tigers defeated
the Lions 28-27 in dramatic fashion to win the first
“Battle of the Victory Bell,” when West Alabama
quarterback Josh Crouch found Andre Epps in the end zone
between a pair of North Alabama defenders with only five
seconds left on the clock. Tiger fans erupted in a
celebration that included tearing down one of the goal
posts.
“This senior group has done a
fantastic job this year,” Wallace said. “They play with
a lot of emotion and they love the game. I think the
emotion will play into their last college football game.
It wouldn’t matter who we’re playing. Then you throw
into the fact that our last game is against UNA, our
rival.
“The bottom line is that it is a
football game and we’ve got to keep it in perspective. I
know there will be a lot of emotion there, more so
because it’s their last game. They’ve got this program a
winning season for the first time in 14 years and they
set a great foundation for us to build on for the
future.”
West Alabama is 2-1 in its last
three meetings against North Alabama, as Lions head
coach Mark Hudspeth is 0-2 at Tiger Stadium.
However, West Alabama (6-4 overall,
3-4 GSC) at home has given the ball up just six times.
North Alabama (9-0, 7-0 GSC) comes into the rivalry game
having already locked up a share of the conference
title. The Lions roared past West Georgia 26-16 last
weekend.
West Alabama wraps up the season at
6:00 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11 against Gulf South
Conference rival North Alabama at Tiger Stadium. The
game can be heard on WZNJ-FM 106.5 or on the internet at
www.athletics.uwa.edu. |
