| Coaching record |
| Year | School | W-L-T | Pct. | | Bowl |
| 1957 | Wyo | 4-3-3 | .550 | |
| 1958 | Wyo | 8-3-0 | .727 | Sun |
| 1959 | Wyo | 9-1-0 | .900 | |
| 1960 | Wyo | 8-2-0 | .800 | |
| 1961 | Wyo | 6-1-2 | .788 | |
| Wyo. totals | 35-10-5 | .750 | |
| 1962 | Neb | 9-2-0 | .818 | Gotham |
| 1963* | Neb | 10-1-0 | .909 | Orange |
| 1964* | Neb | 9-2-0 | .818 | Cotton |
| 1965* | Neb | 10-1-0 | .909 | Orange |
| 1966* | Neb | 9-2-0 | .818 | Sugar |
| 1967 | Neb | 6-4-0 | .600 | |
| 1968 | Neb | 6-4-0 | .600 | |
| 1969** | Neb | 9-2-0 | .818 | Sun |
| 1970*+ | Neb | 11-0-1 | .958 | Orange |
| 1971*+ | Neb | 13-0-0 | 1.000 | Orange |
| 1972* | Neb | 9-2-1 | .792 | Orange |
| Neb. totals | 101-20-2 | .829 | |
| Career totals | 136-30-7 | .806 | |
*Big 8 champions
**Big 8 co-champions
+National champions. |
 |
More on Devaney
Time magazine, 1965
Daily Nebraskan profile
Athletic Dept. bio | photo
|
|
Bob Devaney
April 13, 1915 -- May 9, 1997
NU head football coach, 1962-1972
101-20-2 record at NU
Eight Big 8 championships
Two national championships
NU athletic director, 1967-1992
College Football Hall of Fame inducteeTo understand what Robert S. Devaney did for Nebraska football, one must look at the state of the program he inherited in 1962. It was, undeniably, one of the worst in the nation. The Huskers had managed just three winning seasons since 1940 and were mired in the bottom 10 in winning percentage during that stretch (.368). What's worse, there were no signs of a turnaround. In the five seasons leading up to his arrival, NU posted a 15-34-1 record, with more than a third of those losses coming by shutout. In only four games during that five-year stretch did the Huskers ring up more than 17 points. Dismal stuff indeed.
 Then along came Bob. His first team went 9-2, including a Gotham Bowl victory over George Mira and the Miami Hurricanes. Suddenly, Nebraska football was fun to watch: Point production was nearly triple what it used to be, and every game was a sellout. Soon, NU would be a contender for the national championship.
Seven years after his arrival, Devaney engineered another transformation. After back-to-back 6-4 seasons in 1967 and '68, he realized his offense had fallen behind the times. At the suggestion of his assistant Tom Osborne, he switched to an I formation with an unbalanced line. Again, the results were immediate -- a 9-2 season in '69, and national championships in '70 and '71.
Devaney played end at Alma College in Michigan (class of '39). He coached high school football in Big Beaver, Keego Harbor, Saginaw and Alpena, Mich., before joining Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty as an assistant at Michigan State. From there, he became head coach at Wyoming in 1957. |
