The Lions were not eligible to rank in the conference standings due to the transition but would have finished fourth with a 3–4 league mark.

For the next 21 years there were several efforts made to return football to the Florence campus by writing letters to the administration and gathering names on petitions.

Since that September day, the university has reaped 67 years worth of benefits from a football program that has helped put UNA on the map as one of the nation's premier collegiate powers.

Since Hal Self guided the first Lion squad onto the field on Sept. 29, 1949, through UNA's playoff loss that ended the 2009 season, the North Alabama program has made a name for itself like few others in the nation.

The Lions posted a 12–2 record and came within one game of playing for the Division II National Championship on its home field.

Then in 2009, another historic chapter was written when nationally renowned coach Terry Bowden came to Florence and led the Lions to an 11–2 record, a Gulf South Conference championship, a spot in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs and a No.

Under the direction of Hal Self, the early Lion football teams were a model of consistency, enjoying 12 winning seasons in the first 14 years or the program.

Grubb would lead UNA to 84 wins, three Gulf South Conference titles and its first three NCAA playoff appearances in an 11-year stint in Florence.

In his 10 years in Florence, Wallace led UNA to 82 wins, three GSC titles, six playoff appearances and three NCAA Division II National Championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

1 in the nation in 27 straight polls, UNA also tied a Division II record by winning 28 consecutive home games at Braly Stadium.

Wallace left UNA following another playoff run in 1997 and the Lions elevated longtime defensive coordinator Bill Hyde to the head coaching position.

Hudspeth spent seven seasons in Florence and put the Lion program back at the top of Division II, winning 64 games and making five playoff appearances.

Bobby Wallace returned to UNA prior to the 2012 season and led the Lions to a 5–5 record before his 2013 squad went 10–3, won a share of the GSC Championship and fought its way to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

[10] The loss of Travis is what many accredit as the main cause for the Seminoles being left out of the College Football Playoff despite being undefeated and being snubbed for Alabama.

Self also amassed several Alabama Collegiate Conference championships and coached eight All-Americans, including Harlon Hill, the school's first professional football star.

UNA also qualified for the national semifinals in 1980 and 1983, competing for the Division II Championship at Palm Bowl in McAllen, Texas, in 1985.

[17] The Division II move to Florence also led to the adoption of the Harlon Hill Trophy, named after one of the most successful athletes in UNA's history.

The only loss UNA suffered during this three-year period was to Youngstown State, a Division I-AA power at the time, losing narrowly, 17–14, following a field goal in the fourth quarter.

Hudspeth left UNA after the 2008 season to become an assistant under newly hired Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.

[19] Pre-season hype focused on Bowden's remedy to a re-building roster by acquiring over twenty-five transfers from Division I schools including several from his father's Florida State team.

Wallace ranks as the winningest football coach in Gulf South Conference history with 149 wins in his 19 years in the league.

After a successful off-season, the 2013 Lions had an impressive 10–3 record and shared the GSC title with in-state rival West Alabama.

[21] In 2015, coach Wallace led the Lions to a 9–3 record and shared their third consecutive GSC Championship with West Georgia and another Division II Playoff appearance.

The Lions defeated UNC-Pembroke 41–17 in the second round, shutout North Greenville 38–0 in the quarterfinals, and went on to the semifinals winning at Shepherd 23–13, advancing to the national championship game.

The Lions fell to 4–7 during the 2019 campaign after playing a tough non-conference schedule featuring prominent FCS programs such as Montana and Jacksonville State.

In his one previous year of head coaching, he led his alma mater, Bethel University, to an undefeated regular season before a loss in the NAIA playoffs.

[31][32] The largest crowd for a UNA football game at Braly Stadium is 15,631, which was achieved on December 12, 1993, against the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

[37] In 2023, first-year head coach Brent Dearmon revived the Purple Swarm name as a way to preserve tradition through the Division I transition.

He stated that, “Tradition is a big thing and I didn’t want, through all the transition, there to be a loss of that around this place.” He did so by aiming to build a “Purple Swarm” defense.

The Pride Rock is a 60-pound granite stone with the actual paw print of the UNA's live lion mascot, Leo I.