Friday Features: Harlon Hill finalist Wingo leaves UNA with pocket full of records
By Mike Perrin
University of
North Alabama quarterback
Luke Wingo grew up in a home with a football hero for a father. His dad, Rich, is forever immortalized in the state of Alabama as a key figure in The Goal Line Stand against Penn State that secured Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s second-to-last national title. The former linebacker also holds records for tackles in two categories for the storied Green Bay Packers.
The younger Wingo isn’t counting on a professional football career, but in terms of accolades, he doesn’t have to take a back seat to his dad. The four-year starter for the Lions is a finalist for this year’s
Harlon Hill Trophy – often called Division II’s Heisman – and was voted the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year two weeks ago and Super Region 2 Player of the Year on Tuesday.
He led UNA to a share of three straight GSC championships while becoming the Lions’ all-time leader in total offense (9,532 yards) and most touchdowns responsible for (94). Wingo is second at UNA in career passing yards (8,374), career TD passes (60) and career pass completions (598). For good measure, he’s tied for fourth in career rushing scores with 34.
As a senior, he completed 67 percent of his 343 passes for 3,203 yards and 25 touchdowns. His pass efficiency rating was 162.84 – sixth-best in the country.
“It really is an honor to be nominated for the Harlon Hill Trophy,” Wingo said. “I am thankful that God has given me the opportunity to play football and to be a part of something really special here at UNA."
“I give all of the credit to my teammates because this award represents one football player that is surrounded by a lot of other great football players. We have a great team and I am blessed to be a part of it.”
Wingo didn’t expect to roll up such amazing numbers when he arrived in Florence. “It is a little surprising, I have to admit,” he said. “I have never kept up with any of that until this year because people started to mention it to me. I have been really blessed to stay healthy over the years and be able to play a lot of football, and the numbers usually just come with being a part of such a great team. It is a cool feeling to be able to look back on it now and reminisce on how it all happened.”
The 9-3 Lions finished short of their goal, losing 35-31 to
Tuskegee in the closing seconds of a second-round D2 playoff game, but Wingo said he was awed to be a part of the UNA football tradition.
“It is an awesome experience being able to play for a program that has so much history and success,” the Tuscaloosa native said. “There is always the expectation to win and to win in the playoffs and to win conference championships. Our fan base is the best in the country and it was a blast being able to play for a university with as much tradition as UNA has.”
Football tradition is something Wingo understands, although he said it wasn’t a focus in his home. “It was a blessing to grow up learning from my dad,” he said. “He never talked about his playing days much, but I always respected his advice about sports. He taught me a lot about work ethic and to give it 100 percent in whatever I chose to do. He helped me get through a lot of tough times in sports growing up, because he had many of the same experiences that I was going through. He never forced me to play football and always wanted me to do what I wanted to.”
Wingo wasn’t highly recruited, receiving offers from four or five schools only two weeks after his senior season at Hillcrest-Tuscaloosa. “UNA did not contact me until late in the process because Coach
(Bobby) Wallace’s staff was not hired until late December. I talked to Coach Wallace on the phone and decided to take a visit to Florence. From the moment I came on my visit, I knew UNA was the place for me,” he said.
He will leave UNA – either in May with his degree in Business Management or a few semesters later with a master’s – and it’s possible he will depart as the school’s third Harlon Hill Trophy winner, too.
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