Alabama NewsCenter 2022 football preview: University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama's Takairee "TK" Kenebrew makes a catch during the 2021 season. Kenebrew is one of a pair of outstanding receivers returning for the Lions this season, with Cortez Hall. After four tough years of transition, UNA finally begins Division I play in the Football Championship Subdivision. (University of North Alabama Athletics)
Chris Willis would rather nobody else had to go through what his North Alabama Lions did.
For four years, they’ve worked to transition from Division II to Division I, the Football Championship Subdivision. The Lions have now completed a gauntlet that was challenging because wins scarcely mattered, since championships weren’t an option.
“You throw in the pandemic in the middle of all that and it’s been four tough years,” the UNA coach said. “It didn’t matter if you won 10 games, six games, three games. It was just tough.
“I wish the NCAA would change that rule. I wish it would go to two years instead of four. I just think it’s so unfair for a team to go for four years and play what feels like exhibition football.”
Sure, they played for pride. They played for the alumni. They played for their schoolmates.
“But at end of the day, you don’t get no reward for it,” Willis said. “It’s a challenge, but now we feel like we see light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve kind of kicked the door through. Everybody’s like, ‘OK, we’re gonna let you guys go eat at the big boys’ table today.’”
Alabama NewsCenter is taking a look at the upcoming college football season and today is focused on the University of North Alabama.
Alabama NewsCenter: What are the prospects for this season?
Chris Willis: Our goals are always the same. You want to win every game. We know that’s hard to do. You don’t see undefeated teams all over the country, but we want to win every football game we play. But if you can’t win them all, you want to win more than you lose. You want to hopefully put yourself in some type of position, maybe. … Where are you in the standings? I don’t think many people in Year One are expecting very too much out of us. We got picked last (in the six-team ASUN Conference preseason football poll). We’ve got to prove ourselves, but I do think we’re a sleeping giant. I think there’s some stuff here that people are not aware of, (things) that are coming. We’re putting it together on the field. We’ve been in a lot of close games (during the transition) and played some really good competition. We haven’t just been blown out by very many teams at all. I think we’ve overachieved and played better than people expected.
ANC: What is the strength of this year’s team?
Willis: Offensively, I like where we are. I’ve hired some new coaches. I like the new game plan system we’re putting in. I like the way we’ve built our O-line. I think this will be probably the best O-line that’s hit the field here in some time. I like our wide receiver position. We’ve got some veterans over there. Cortez Hall is back and (Takairee) “TK” Kenebrew, just to name a few. It’s not that I don’t like our quarterbacks and running backs, but we’ve got a battle going on there to see who’s going to take it and run with it. I think it’s a good problem to have. Defensively, I like our depth at the D-line. I really do. We’ve got a lot of new guys on defense. That’s probably the mystery of it all, to see how this is all gonna play out. Our linebacker corps is fairly new. We’ve got a veteran secondary. We’ve just got to get the right pieces in the right places back there.
ANC: Who are your team’s standouts?
Willis: Offensively, I like Parker Driggers in the running back room. I think he’s leading that group. Tight end is Corson Swan. He’s leading that group of veterans. At O-line, Cam Watson is leading that group. At receiver, I would say Cortez Hall/“TK” Kenebrew. At quarterback, I can name a couple. Everybody’s kind of waiting to see who’s gonna be named the starter. That’s probably a little unknown right now at that spot. At D-line, there’s a guy named Micah Bland that we really like that’s leading that group. In the secondary, there’s a couple guys: Kyree Fields is a safety, Terrell Bailey is a corner. And I’ve got a long snapper who’s been here a while, Brett Burton. He does a good job. It’s probably eight or nine guys we count on and there might be a couple of more. We’ll see how it goes, how it develops.
ANC: What game(s) do your fans have circled on your schedule?
Willis: Obviously, I think everybody will be eyeballing game No. 1 even though that’s not no type of rivalry or anything. I just think everybody will be keyed on seeing how that is, a Thursday night game at Indiana State. We play Week Three at Chattanooga, which is not too far from us and they’re picked to win their conference. Obviously we will be an underdog in that game, but we played them fairly good here last year. We struggled on offense but we played well enough to give ourselves a chance in most of that game. Obviously, the game that we’ve moved over to the Trash Panda baseball stadium (Toyota Field in Madison) that we’re playing against Jacksonville State. That’s always a game everybody’s gonna watch, and if I’ve read correctly that game may be sold out. Kennesaw State, you know, we played them down to the wire last year. That was one of the top eight teams in the country and we got beat on the last drive of the game. But they’re also picked to win our conference, so people will probably key that one. We play Memphis at the Liberty Bowl in the last game of the year, so I would think that would be another game (of interest).
ANC: What is your lingering question?
Willis: I would say the quarterback position is really huge right now. One of the quarterbacks is Rett Files. He was here last year. Another quarterback was Jaylen Gipson. He was here last year. Brady Pope was also a quarterback who was here last year. We brought in a transfer by the name of Ben Harris and then Noah Walters would be the fifth guy. He’s a high school kid we signed, a Gatorade Player of the Year out of Nebraska.
Alabama NewsCenter is posting season previews for all 16 college football programs in Alabama. Read a preview for Jacksonville State University and look for a new preview each weekday.
