By Justin Graves

Justin@athensnews-courier.com

FLORENCE – North Alabama football coach Mark Hudspeth feels pretty confident about the Lions being picked by the coaches to finish first in the Gulf South Conference.

“It feels good when your peers in the conference select you as the favorite,” Hudspeth said. “We have a solid group of players from last year’s team, and I think they chose us because of that and our past success.”

Despite having a new starting quarterback in sophomore in former Boaz star A.J. Milwee, the UNA coach likes what the Lions return on the offensive side of the ball. Milwee replaces two-year starter Vinnie Saylor, but doesn’t come into the season without any game experience. Hudspeth used Milwee in situations where he needed more mobility out of the quarterback last year in the playoffs.

“A.J. (Milwee) got some valuable game experience last year in the playoffs,” Hudspeth said. “He is more of a mobile type quarterback, and can make things happen outside of the pocket.

“We are going to utilize his speed and versatility more than we have our quarterbacks in the past.”

Last year Hudspeth moved defensive back Anthony Merritt to wide receiver, and he became one of the Lions’ biggest scoring threats and was nominated for the Harlan Hill Trophy. This year UNA gets back Marcus Lewis – the Lions leading receiver in the 2003 semifinal season – from injury to go along with Merritt and several other talented receivers.

“With have a group of receivers who have a chance to be among the best in the conference,” Hudspeth said. “I feel really good about our wide receivers this year. We have a lot of playmakers on the offensive side.”

Typically, most teams in the GSC are known for strong offenses, but last year UNA featured one of the best defenses in the Division II football. One of the main reasons for that was because of the changes new defensive coordinator Karl Morgan made.

The Lions were forced to play three consecutive road playoff games last year, and in each the defense prevailed and allowed UNA to advance to the semifinals.

“I hoping for the same type of results from our defense this year,” Hudspeth said. “Our defense performed at a high level last year, and that is the same type of effort we need this year.”

UNA takes the field for the first day of fall practice Saturday.