UNA Softball Coach Ashley Cozart: Finding Success In The Game She Loves

una
L-R: UNA Assistant Coach Whitney Hawkins and UNA Head Coach Ashley Cozart

Florence, Ala. – Coach Ashley McCool Cozart knows success.  Cozart played high school softball at softball powerhouse Ezell-Harding Christian School in Antioch, Tennessee, before earning a scholarship with Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville.  At Trevecca Nazarene, Cozart was part of a team that had a couple of top-five finishes at the NAIA Softball World Series.  Additionally, Cozart was selected as the TranSouth Conference Freshman of the Year in 2004, four-time all-conference and all-region selection and broke the school career record for hits and doubles and is ranked in the program’s top five in runs batted in, home runs, batting average and runs scored.  In 2014, Cozart was selected to the Trevecca Athletic Hall of Fame.  After finishing at Trevecca Nazarene, Cozart had the opportunity to be the head coach at Antioch High School in Nashville.  After one year of the two year program at Antioch, Cozart decided to apply with Lindsey Wilson College.  Speaking about Lindsey Wilson College on Applebee’s Tailgate Talk on Saturday, Cozart said, “I came into a situation where the program needed turning around and needed some love and TLC.  We were very successful.  After success there I had the opportunity to go to the University of North Alabama in July of 2013.  Since that time, UNA Softball has been a part of the NCAA Tournament three straight times and ultimately won the NCAA Division II National Championship last season.
Coach Ashley Cozart will tell you, coming off a 2016 NCAA Division II National Championship isn’t easy.  Referring to UNA’s successful championship run, Cozart said, “People don’t realize it’s so hard coming off a year like last year.  I think some people think it’s easy, but it’s super super hard.  Everybody plays their best game against you.”  Currently UNA is 10-5 on the season and ranked number 3 in the NFCA Top 25 Coaches Poll.  Coach Cozart said, “I’m pleased with where we’re at, but I feel like we haven’t really hit our stride yet.  There’s something special about this team.”
As a Division II school, Coach Cozart has built the majority of her team with many outstanding players in and around our area.  As UNA moves into Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference, Coach Cozart says that she will definitely continue to look at local talent, but they’ll have to send more recruiters out and go everywhere.  She says one area that she’ll be looking at is deeper south in the state of Alabama.  Cozart said, “We haven’t had to go too deep south because there is so much talent north of Birmingham, but we will need to send more people out and look at more kids.  Alabama is such a hotbed for talent with such great softball programs.”  When Cozart was in Columbia, Kentucky, at Lindsey Wilson College, she says that she recruited quite a few players from the state of Alabama.  She said that over time, it became harder and harder to get those Alabama kids.  After that, she decided that she just needed to take a job in Alabama and applied for the head coaching job at UNA.
Coach Cozart is helping others along on the coaching path as well.  On Applebee’s Tailgate Talk she mentioned a couple of great student assistants who currently work with her at UNA, Brooklynn Clark of Seadrift, Texas, and Courtney Shields of Columbiana, Alabama.  Both student assistants played for UNA and did their part to help the team to NCAA Division II National Championship in 2016.  Of the pair, Cozart said, “They have been wonderful this year.  I don’t know what I would do without them.”
When talking about the job she has, Cozart said, “Coaching is an awesome profession to be in.  Sometimes, I have to pinch myself because I love my job so much.”  Roar Lions!
applebees
 
Sources: UNA Softball, Trevecca Athletics, Applebee’s Tailgate Talk
 
 
 

Coach Ronnie Ritter To Be Inducted Into The Lauderdale County Sports Hall Of Fame

image
Coach Ronnie Ritter has been named as a 2017 Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame inductee.

Florence, Ala. – The Lauderdale County Sports Hall of Fame has announced the inductees for 2017 and among the group is former player and head coach for the Lauderdale County Tigers, Coach Ronnie Ritter. Ritter who played running back and quarterback for LCHS under Coach Earl Grisham from 1969-1973, was named an All-State player his senior year. As a player, Ritter also holds the LCHS record for longest interception return at 100 yards.
Upon graduation from LCHS in 1974, Ritter attended and graduated from The University of North Alabama where he also played football.
image
Coach Don Grubbs and Coach Ronnie Ritter at LCHS in 1996.

In 1991, Ritter was hired as the head coach of his alma mater where he would serve as the head coach for the next 16 years. During his time at LCHS, 12 of his 16 teams made the AHSAA Playoffs. Two of those teams, the 1991 and 1995 squads, made it to the AHSAA Playoff State Semi-finals. Over 16 seasons at LCHS, Ritter amassed a record of 106-77.
In 2015, Ritter, along with one of his former assistants, Don Grubbs, came back to LCHS to coach an alumni team against Loretto High School Alumni as a fundraiser for the LCHS and Loretto football programs.  In the 17-14 victory over Loretto, the alumni team raised over $4000 for the LCHS football program. Ritter is currently an assistant football coach at Loretto High School.
Ritter’s son, John, who now coaches for West Morgan, posted the following after hearing the news of his dad’s being named an inducted into the LCSHOF, “So extremely proud of my dad. Such a great career as a player and a coach at Lauderdale County. Great coach, great man, but an even better dad and granddaddy. Proud son of a Hall of Famer.”
Others named to the LCSHOF 2017 class are:
• James “Bubber”Ford
• Chris Mapes
• Charlie Meyer
• Gary Wayne Michael
• Samuel Lee Prater
• Mike Russell
• Joseph Terrell
• Tony Willis
• Sandra Witt Bradley
The annual dinner, and induction ceremony, is Saturday, March 18, 2017, at 6:30 p.m., at the Florence Conference Center. It is a special event for visiting with old friends, sharing memories, and recognizing the athletic accomplishments of individuals from Lauderdale County. Tickets are $30 each or $240 for table. Contact Steve Harrison at 256-810-3460, or Dennis Hargett at 256-762-9056, or any committee member for tickets. Tickets are also available at local high schools.
applebees

For Dennis Homan, It's About The "Four F's"

dennis
Dennis Homan pictured during his playing days at Alabama.

Muscle Shoals, Ala. – The field at Muscle Shoals High School bears his name.  The first player from Muscle Shoals to be drafted in the NFL, Homan was an exceptional all-around athlete.  After graduating from Muscle Shoals High School, Homan went on to play for Paul “Bear” Bryant and the Alabama Crimson Tide.  In the days when Homan played for the Tide, freshmen did not get to play.  As a freshman in 1964, Homan said, “We got beat around by the seniors to help them win the national championship.”  Homan’s freshman year, Joe Namath was under center for the Tide.  Waiting in the wings was Homan’s roommate, Kenny Stabler.  When asked about staying out of trouble with Stabler, Homan jokingly said, “I tried my best with Kenny, that’s for sure!”  As a player, Homan originally came in as a running back, but became a two year starter at split end.  On the other side of the field was another great receiver in Ray Perkins.  As for Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, Homan said, “That was a man I feared more than any man in my life.  A lot of our motivation was out of fear.  We lost three games in four years and I remember the price we paid after each loss.”  As a matter of fact, Homan said that before his senior year, he and his, now, wife of 48 years wanted to get married, but Homan said, “Coach Bryant put a squash on that.”  Taking Coach Bryant’s advice, they waited until after his senior year to get married.  In his time under Coach Bryant’s guidance, Homan was a two time SEC performer and was also named an All-American and Academic All-American his senior year, after making 54 receptions for 820 yards and nine touchdowns.  The Tide won the national championship in 1965 and was undefeated in 1966.  After Alabama defeated Nebraska 34-7 in the 1967 Sugar Bowl and Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers went on to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I, Coach Lombardi was asked how it felt to be the best team in the world.  His response was, “I don’t know, we haven’t played Alabama yet”.  In the Senior Bowl, Homan was named the MVP of the South team.  In 1968, Homan was selected in the first round draft by the Dallas Cowboys.  Of his time in Dallas, Homan said, “I tried my best and did everything I could do”.  His 1969 season with the Cowboys was his most productive on the field with 12 catches and 240 yards.  While Homan was in Dallas, another familar Alabama name, Lee Roy Jordan, was there as well.  Homan said, “Lee Roy was a great friend in Dallas and took me under his wing.  He showed me what I needed to do and what I didn’t need to do.”  Homan went on to say, “It was great having someone out there who came from the same place I came from.  Lee Roy Jordan and his wife were good to both Charlotte and I.”  On his years of playing football, and his life in general, Homan said, “The Lord has blessed me”.  He went on to say that he wouldn’t take anything for the relationships made at Alabama, Dallas, and the Kansas City Chiefs.  For his success on the field Homan was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1999.  On or off the field, Homan said that he lives by the “Four F’s”.  They are faith, family, friends, and football (in that order).  Being able to use his success as a platform to share his faith is important to him.  He said, “I’ll be stopped by someone in a store and it gives me an opportunity to share my faith with them.”  Looking back, Homan said, “I wouldn’t change my life.  I don’t believe I could’ve planned it any better.  I’ve got the most beautiful wife, I’ve got a beautiful daughter, and I have a great son.  When talking about the grandchildren, Homan said that they are all great athletes as well, but they don’t have to play sports to make him happy.  In 2015, Homan’s wife, Charlotte, was included in Bill Norvell’s book “Inspiration From Anytown, USA.”  Appropriately, her story was placed in chapter 25 of Norvell’s book which was Homan’s football number.  As for his thoughts on Coach Nick Saban and what he’s done at Alabama, Homan said, “He has a great philosophy in what he’s doing.  He’s bringing in great players and teaching them what it takes to win.”  Having been coached by Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant himself, Homan is certainly no stranger to coaches who know how to win.  Speaking of people who know how to win, it was Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant who famously said, “I ain’t never been nothin’ but a winner”.  Well, Mr. Dennis Homan is among those winners.  You can “Mark It Down”.
image

As UNA Moves To Division I, Harlon Hill's Legacy Lives On

harlon-hill
Harlon Hill speaking at a previous Harlon Hill Trophy ceremony (Photo Courtesy HarlonHill.com)

Florence, Ala. – In 1995, an effort began to move The University of North Alabama athletic program from Division II to Division I.  Next season, that effort becomes a reality as UNA football will join the Big South Conference.  With that move comes many changes.  One of those changes is the opportunity for UNA football players to win The Harlon Hill Trophy.  The Harlon Hill Trophy, first awarded in 1986, was named for former Lauderdale County High School, UNA (Florence State), and NFL player Harlon Hill.  It is an award given to the individual selected as the most valuable player in NCAA Division II.  The Harlon Hill Trophy is considered the Heisman Trophy of Division II football.   Former winners from UNA have been Ronald McKinnon (1995) and Will Hall (2003). This year, UNA quarterback Jacob Tucker, who will be playing in the Division II National Championship on Saturday against Northwest Missouri State in Kansas City, is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.  Because of the transition from Division I to Division II, beginning in the 2017-2018 season,  Jacob Tucker will be the last UNA player to have an opportunity to receive this special honor. While the move to Division I is very exciting, it is a bittersweet moment when thinking about The Harlon Hill Trophy.  As Harlon Hill’s daughter, Teresa Hill Robertson, put it, “it is the end of a bygone era”.  Upon the passing of Harlon Hill in 2013, Assistant Athletic Director/Communications Jeff Hodges said, “Harlon was always very gracious and humbled that his story and legacy could be used to inspire new generations of student-athletes to excel and dream of what they could accomplish.”  The Harlon Hill Trophy will always be a special part of North Alabama Football even as they begin this new chapter in their storied football history.  Harlon Hill will always be an integral part of UNA football history and his story and legacy will continue to be used to inspire new generations of student-athletes as they excel and dare to dream of what they can accomplish.  You can “Mark It Down”.  Roar Lions!
cdi1