UNA’s football coaching staff is set for a challenging selection after graduates leave starting positions to be filled.
The Spring Game 2025, a scrimmage where the University of North Alabama football team plays against each other, happened on April 12. The game is a way for coaches, players and the audience to see where the team is currently at.
Football Head Coach Brent Dearmon said the Spring Game tells the staff what decisions need to be made moving forward, and a “negative” side of it is one side of the ball dominates sometimes.
“That’s when the other side has to sit on it for three months, four months sometimes,” said Dearmon. “And I thought that we did a pretty good job on both sides of the ball being pretty successful at times. So that kid’s gonna carry momentum really in the spring and in the summer.”
The choice for the next TJ Smith, main quarterback of the 2024 season, is hard, but it has to be done. Dearmon said spring practice is filled with “one-on-ones” and “good-on-goods.” The main defense team plays the main offense, and there the coaches can find gaps in performance.
Dearmon and his staff are under the “nobody’s safe” mentality, and that is increasing the competitiveness of spring practice. There are “very few” positions already set.
“What we wanna do is just continue to have that competition go all the way into the summer,” Dearmon said. “So those guys who are competing at those spots like Ari [Patu], Destin [Wade] and DC [Tabscott], for example, the quarterback spot. We’re not naming a starting quarterback because I don’t think anyone’s truly, fully earned it yet.”
True freshman rising star Josh Anglin, United Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, entered the transfer portal after a fantastic first season. Dearmon said he is excited for Anglin, and believes that is an opportunity for him to show he can “play at the next level.”
Still, “It’s tough for us. You build a connection and a relationship with these kids,” Dearmon said. “But you also know that he had a phenomenal year for us. So I want guys to be able to chase the dreams that they got in front of them.”
Dearmon is entering his third season as head coach. For the fall of 2025, he wants the football program to be tough. He is focusing on beating adversity, not allowing anything to affect the team and not letting a bad play lead to another.
