Dan Devine Dies At Age 77

May 9, 2002

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Dan Devine, head coach of the University of Notre Dame’s 1977 national championship football team and a member of the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame, died this morning at the age of 77 at his home in suburban Phoenix (Ahwatukee), Ariz., following a year-long illness.

The Augusta, Wis., native spent six seasons as Irish head coach beginning in 1975. He announced his resignation prior to his final season as head coach in 1980. His half-dozen Notre Dame teams combined for a 53-16-1 record (.764), headlined by the ’77 team that finished 11-1 and claimed the national title on a consensus basis. The Irish that year ranked number-three nationally heading into the season, dropped their second game at Mississippi, then reeled off 10 straight wins. Most noteworthy of those was a trademark 49-19 victory over fifth-rated USC in which Notre Dame warmed up in its traditional blue jerseys, then reappeared just prior to kickoff in green jerseys that were worn through the remainder of the Devine era.

Notre Dame claimed that ’77 national title with a resounding 38-10 Cotton Bowl triumph over a top-ranked Texas team that came into that contest as the lone remaining unbeaten team in the nation. The Irish victory propelled them from the fifth spot in the polls into the top slot. That marked Notre Dame’s 10th consensus national championship, with Irish quarterback great Joe Montana starting the last nine games of that season.

Devine’s Notre Dame teams also claimed a 1976 Gator Bowl victory over Penn State – and a 1979 Cotton Bowl triumph over Houston in a game in which Montana led the Irish back to victory from a 34-12 deficit in the Notre Dame signalcaller’s final collegiate contest. That game has been labeled the greatest comeback in Notre Dame football history.

Consensus All-Americans who played under Devine at Notre Dame included defensive tackle Steve Niehaus, defensive end Ross Browner, tight end Ken MacAfee, defensive back Luther Bradley, linebacker Bob Golic, center David Huffman, halfback Vagas Ferguson, center John Scully and linebacker Bob Crable. Devine’s six-year tenure in South Bend featured 17 victories over ranked opponents – against traditionally challenging schedules including the ’78 slate that the NCAA rated the most difficult in the country. Among the most dramatic successes were a 29-27 1980 home win over 14th-ranked Michigan on a record 51-yard yard Harry Oliver field goal as time expired – and a 7-0 win over fifth-rated Alabama in Birmingham in a 1980 game that clinched a Sugar Bowl berth for the Irish.

A former assistant coach at Michigan State, Devine began his head coaching career at Arizona State, where he was hired in 1955 at age 31. In his inaugural season, the Sun Devils finished 8-2-1, then improved to 9-1 in ’56. The following season (’57) Devine’s Sun Devils recorded the first perfect season in school history, finishing 10-0 in a year that included four shutouts.

After the ’57 season, Devine packed up his 27-3-1 (.887) record and moved to Missouri where he would remain until 1970. Going 93-37-7 (.700) over that 13-year span, Missouri never lost more than three games in a single season while accumulating victories in the 1961 Orange Bowl, 1963 Bluebonnet Bowl, 1966 Sugar Bowl and the 1969 Gator Bowl. He was named athletic director at Missouri in 1966.

After his term at Missouri, Devine enjoyed a stay in the professional ranks, serving as head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers from 1971-1974. Of those seasons, the Packers’ finest was 1972, when they tallied a 10-4 record en route to the Central Division title and coach-of-the-year honors for Devine from the Pro Football Writers of America and United Press International.

After resigning from coaching in 1980, Devine returned to Arizona State as executive director of the Sun Angel Foundation where he remained for seven years. In 1987 he left the Sun Angels to direct a start-up Arizona State program designed to combat substance abuse.

Devine returned to another of his former schools in 1992, when he succeeded Dick Tamburo as athletic director at Missouri. He held that position until his retirement at the conclusion of the 1993-94 academic year.

Devine was elected to the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame in 1985. He joined other former Irish head coaches Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy and Ara Parseghian as inductees into the Hall of Fame – and joined that trio along with Lou Holtz as head coaches who led Notre Dame football teams to one or more national championships.

Born Dec. 23, 1924, Devine was married to the former Joanne Brookhart, who died in December 2000. He is a 1948 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth. He is survived by seven children – Jennifer (Husain) and Dan, Jr. (he’s football coach at Rock Bridge High School), both living in Columbia, Mo.; Mary Jo (Carver), Diana, Sarah (Avery) and Jill, all living in the Phoenix area – and Lisa (Creagan) of Decatur, Mich.

Visitation will be from 5:00-8:00 p.m, Thursday, May 16, at the Carr-Tenney Mortuary, 2621 S. Rural Road, Tempe, Ariz., 85282, 480/967-2104

The funeral will be at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, May 17, at Corpus Christi Catholic Church, 3550 Knox Road, Phoenix, Ariz. (in Ahwatukee).

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Dan Devine Memorial Fund, 1100 Grace Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind., 46556.

Dan Devine Coaching Timeline:

Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White:
“Dan (Devine) is a classic example of a coach that emanated from humble beginnings, only to realize his dream of coaching at Notre Dame. He clearly was a devout Catholic, with strong family values – and he loved his six-year tenure in South Bend. During my time at Arizona State, Dan often reminisced about his dream come true relative to coaching the Fighting Irish. Dan was a great man, a great coach and a great friend, who also has been a highly-valued member of the Notre Dame family.”