The University of North Alabama football team got acquainted with its new digs on Monday, as the Lions practiced at the new Cox Creek Sports Complex turf field for the first time.
The new turf field provides a practice destination for the team while the construction of Bank Independent Stadium takes place on-campus. The new stadium will be constructed over the next two years and will be located at the previous practice site — the Bill Jones Athletic Complex.
There are 11 Lions in the running back stable this season, including a pair of returners in redshirt sophomore Jalyn Daniels and true sophomore Dennis Moody (pictured above). Daniels had 16 carries for 223 yards and three touchdowns over just three games, averaging 13.9 yards per carry before a season-ending injury. Moody racked up 40 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown as a rookie.
“We’re working our craft every day,” said Moody. “We’re trying to do the things that we’re not necessarily bad at, but we could just be a little bit better at and constantly rep those things over and over.”
There are three transfers in the stable this season, including redshirt junior Jayvian Allen — commonly known as “Juice” — from Tennessee Tech, redshirt sophomore Travelle Anderson from Central Arkansas and sophomore Cade Mansmann from Troy.
“There’s a lot of excitement,” said Allen. “We have a lot of new guys and a lot of guys coming back that play a great role. I feel like there’s no hating around here. Everybody is playing their role and everybody is lifting each other up. That will really help the team.”
The room is also loaded with true freshmen, both locally and from other areas. Former West Morgan standout Jalen Fletcher is one of those, earning second team all-state honors last season. Also on the roster from local high schools are Micah Christensen from Lauderdale County and Logan Thornton from Shoals Christian.
The room also includes redshirt freshman Nic Strong, who returns from last season, as well as Roderick Taylor Jr. of Baker High School in Mobile and Ethan Cunningham of Page High School in College Grove, Tenn.
The running backs coach is Morgan Cruce, who enters his second season. He previously worked as an offensive coordinator for Brent Dearmon at Bethel and most recently served as the head coach at Brighton High School in Tennessee before coming to UNA.
“I feel like we are a lot deeper than we were last year,” said Cruce. “We’ve got a lot of great guys in the room…guys that we still have to grow and develop, but we have a couple of guys that have a lot of experience and have seen a lot of college football. Those guys can lead in that professional mindset to maybe microwave some of the growth we need with some of those younger guys…they rise to the occasion each and every day and I can’t wait to see what they do on Saturdays.” TG
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Image courtesy UNA Athletics