1973 Florence State Lions football team

1973 Florence State Lions football
Conference	Gulf South Conference
Record	4–6 (3–6 GSC)
Head coach	Mickey Andrews (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Richie Gaskell (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Dean (1st season)
Home stadium	Braly Municipal Stadium

1973 Gulf South Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. T–17 Troy State $	6	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
No. 4 Jacksonville State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Delta State	6	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Livingston	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Northwestern State	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Mississippi College	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Southeastern Louisiana	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Florence State	3	–	6	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Nicholls State	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Tennessee–Martin	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from NAIA Division I poll

The 1973 Florence State Lions football team represented Florence State University as a member of the Gulf South Conference (GSC) during the 1973 NAIA Division I football season. Led by first-year head coach Mickey Andrews, the Lions compiled an overall record of 4–6 with a mark of 3–6 in conference play, tying for seventh place in the GSC. Florence State played home game at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	7:30 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	L 0–26	7,000
September 22	7:30 p.m.	Delta State	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	W 21–18	5,500
September 29	7:30 p.m.	Livingston	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL (rivalry)	W 13–12	6,200
October 6	2:00 p.m.	Mississippi College	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	L 7–26	8,200
October 13	7:30 p.m.	at Northwestern State	Demon Stadium Natchitoches, LA	L 14-27	6,000
October 20	2:00 p.m.	at Troy State	Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy, AL	L 7–36	8,300
October 27	7:30 p.m.	at Nicholls State	John L. Guidry Stadium Natchitoches, LA	W 27–11	6,500
November 3	7:30 p.m.	Appalachian State*	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	W 21–7	5,500
November 10	2:00 p.m.	at Tennessee–Martin	Pacer Stadium Martin, TN	L 16–17	7,100
November 17	7:30 p.m.	Jacksonville State	Braly Municipal Stadium Florence, AL	L 12–42	6,500
*Non-conference game Homecoming

Offseason

Coaching changes

Preparation for the 1973 season began before the 1972 season concluded. Durell Mock, who had led the Lions to a 3–24 record in three seasons, announced that he would resign from the head coach position after the final game of the season at Jacksonville State. With the resignation, the search for a new head coach began. Unofficial reports suggested that four coaches had been chosen for final consideration. The list of coaches was made up of Southern Miss assistant coach Hamp Cook, Georgia assistant coach Byrd Whigham, and Auburn assistant coach Sam Mitchell. But, it would be the fourth man on the list who got the job: Mickey Andrews.

Andrews, who had previously been coaching at Florence State rival Livingston, was announced as the new head coach and athletic director on November 30. In his three years at Livingston, he coached the Tigers to a NAIA National Championship and a Gulf South Conference championship in 1971. He also played defensive back for the Alabama Crimson Tide from 1962 to 1964.

Andrews brought forth multiple changes during the offseason. He brought previous members of his coaching staff at Livingston to join him in Florence. Mike Dean, who Andrews had brought on to Livingston to become a defensive coach, was selected as defensive coordinator. Richie Gaskell, who had been head coach at Carson-Newman before joining Andrews' coaching staff, joined on as the new offensive coordinator.

Spring practice

Andrews and his new coaching staff quickly became dissatisfied with the state of the team. After the first spring practice, Andrews said in an interview, "We're about as far away from being a football team as any group I've ever seen on the first day of spring practice. The best thing we had was effort." During the remaining spring practice sessions, the amount of players would drop from the initial seventy to only thirty-four remaining. This along with the record amount of freshman joining the team led to a very young Florence State Lions football team in 1973.

New stadium proposal

Off the gridiron, plans for a new stadium for the Lions were being drafted. Despite playing in Braly Stadium since 1949, it seemed that the Lions had outgrown the stadium. With the recent move to the Gulf South Conference and the construction of Flowers Hall, it seemed that Florence State athletics was about to grow. Along with this, issues were beginning to arise about sharing Braly with high school teams. There were several instances in the previous years where both Coffee High School and Bradshaw High School would play on Thursday and Friday and then, the Lions would play on Saturday. This would create poor field conditions by the time Florence State took the field on Saturday night.

With these sentiments, the FSU Alumni Association led by Harlon Hill began to create plans and fundraise for the stadium. By May, the proposal would gain support from the city and optimism for the stadium was high. The proposed stadium would be built west of the Florence State campus and have a capacity of 20,000. The stadium would also have artificial turf. With the optimism, it was believed that the stadium would break ground in 1974. However, it would not. It would be fifty years later in 2024 when the university broke ground on Braly's replacement, Bank Independent Stadium.

Roster

1973 North Alabama Lions football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class C John Anderson Fr OT Tony Ayah So WR Richard Bagwell Fr OT Harry Bowman Jr OT Hal Breffle Fr HB Cornelius Brown Fr TE Dale Courington Fr C Paul Daniel Fr HB Raymond Dew Fr G Bob Dorcheck Fr OT David Doverspike Fr FB Jim Durden Fr C Jerry Elkins Fr QB Danny Everett Fr QB Roger Ferrell So SE Tony Gandy Fr QB Bobby Gauntney Fr TE Steve Grefseng So G Tim Harden Fr OT Wendall Hawthorn Sr G Jerry Hodges Fr OT Brad Holden Fr HB Marvin Jarman Fr G Barry Johnson So SE Danny Kimble Sr QB Larry Klatt Fr SE Mike Knight So OT Barry Kohen So WR Lonnie Luckerson Fr FB Carlos Mejia Fr QB Nick Martilli Fr G Bob McConnell Fr HB Bill McGlincy So HB Tony McMinn So OT Rolando Medrano Fr QB Chuck Medders Fr WR Mark Merritt Fr G Greg Miller Fr FB Jerry Mizell So HB Terry Mizell Jr G Andy Morris So HB Larry Parker Fr OT Ben Parrish Fr C Paul Parvin Jr G Jim Pillow Fr HB Steve Pope Fr HB Jeff Porterfield Fr G David Pruitt Fr FL Roger Ralph So QB Lee Robbs Fr HB Greg Rorex Fr TE Keith Bryant So G Ewing Sellers Fr HB Kiney Sexton Fr C Mike Sheehan Fr QB Mike Shipp Fr C Larry Short Fr FB Norman Simms Fr WR Ricky Smith Fr OT David Stallcup Fr TE William Steffey Fr G Troy Underwood Fr QB Raymond Weaver Jr HB Ricky Yates Fr G Ted Yoho Fr OT Tony Yoho So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Calvin Bacon Fr DT Tommy Baker Fr DT Joe Bowman Fr LB Maurice Browley Fr DT Larry Brown Jr DB Eddie Burns Fr DB John Calvert Fr DE James Crawford Fr DB Robert Crouch Fr LB Frank Deliz Fr DB Curtis Dixon Fr DT Jud Driver Fr DB Jim Ezell So DE Danny Fromhold Fr DT Joe Gabr Fr DB Bruce Gentle Fr DB Marty Gentle Fr DB Terry Hanks Fr S Billy Hargrove Sr DB Robbie Hudson So DB Larry Jefferys Jr DE Jerome Jeffries Fr DT Paul Jenkins Fr DB Marty Johnson Fr OT Charlie Kennedy So LB James Laggis Fr LB Curtis Lowery Fr DT Sparks Luncheford Fr DB Clayton Lundy Fr DB Mike McCombs Fr DE Spry Mitchell Sr DE Mike Murray Fr DB Mike Petty Fr LB Ivan Richard So DT Stan Romine Fr DT Tim Searchy Fr DE Tobin Sexton Fr LB Elwin Smith Fr LB Lawrence Stephens Fr LB Steve Stewart So LB Bill Strain Jr DT Frank Strickland Fr DB James Sullivan Fr LB Ricky Swords Fr DT John Trotter Jr DB Terry Wray Fr LB A.C. Wright Fr LB Wade Yates Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Dale Mathis Sr K Mark Turner Fr	Head coach Mickey Andrews Coordinators/assistant coaches Richie Gaskell – Offensive coordinator Mike Dean – Defensive coordinator Wally Burnham – Offensive line coach Bob Herring – Defensive line coach Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt