University of North Alabama head football coach Bobby Wallace talked about his return to Florence and the helm of the Lions at the meeting of the Russellville Rotary Club Monday afternoon.
Wallace spoke on what brought him out of retirement and what kind of program he expects to run at UNA.
“I sent coaches to every high school within a 60-mile radius,” Wallace said about his recruiting. “If you look at the hometowns of the players, the bulk of the team will be from Birmingham north.”
There had been some question of what Wallace’s recruiting plan would look like. UNA’s previous head coach, Terry Bowden, heavily recruited transfer students from larger institutions.
The problem in that was many of those students did not take schoolwork seriously, so many had poor grades.
Wallace said the program’s move to Division I will help with that matter, as the Academic Performance Rate (or APR) is enforced in Division I, which helps guarantee that student-athletes will perform in the classroom.
Division II does not enforce such rules, so Wallace said there is no “accountability” for students’ performances at UNA’s current level.
Wallace talked about his Division II National Championship teams in 1993, 1994 and 1995. He said those students were primarily talent from the Shoals area, which he will utilize more than Bowden did.
Wallace said many kids from the area would come to the school and stay on the team for three years waiting for their chance to play. Then a transfer would come along and start over them, and they would only be at UNA for one or two semesters and not care about grades.
This creates the problem of a lack of team chemistry because transfer players have no ties to the area and have little or nothing invested in the school and program.
Wallace spoke of a 10-year reunion that the championship players he coached had. He said that the people who spoke had different priorities than football at that point.
“It was all about relationships,” Wallace said. “No one mentioned scoring a touchdown or winning a game.”
Wallace has said that he will focus on making the players he coaches better men on the field, in the classroom and in society. These former players’ remarks speak volumes on what he was able to teach them then, and what he might teach players now.