It was 60 years ago this season that the new head football coach for the University of Nebraska took the sidelines for the first time. The school had dismissed head coach Bill Jennings who accumulated a 15-34-1 record after five seasons on the job. He would be replaced as head coach by the man who would make Nebraska Football a household program. That man would be College Football Hall of Famer Bob Devaney.
Devaney would begin his career coaching high school football in Michigan at spots like Alpena, Big Beaver, Harbor, and Saginaw. His success at that level would lead to him being hired as an assistant coach at Michigan State under head coaches Biggie Munn and Duff Daugherty in 1953. Devaney would remain in East Lancing until 1956, when he would be hired to lead the Wyoming Cowboys. In five seasons, he would finish with a 35-10-5 record and would win a Skyline Conference title his last four years in Laramie.
Following the 1961 season, Devaney would leave Laramie to become the head coach at the University of Nebraska. The Wyoming head coach would only be offered the job after Utah’s Ray Nagel, Utah State’s John Ralston, and Devaney’s former employer, Michigan State coach Duff Daugherty turned down the job. Daugherty would recommend his former assistant to Nebraska athletic director Tippy Dye for the job.
In his first season as the head coach of the Cornhuskers, he would finish with a 9-2 record and a victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the Gotham Bowl. Devaney would finish with nine wins or more each of his first five seasons on the job. Then, after back-to-back, 6-4 seasons in 1967 and 1968, Devaney would promote one of his assistants, Tom Osborne, to become the team’s offensive coordinator. The next four years would see Devaney finish with 42 wins, four losses, and two ties. He would also secure a share of the 1970 National Championship and the outright title in 1971.
Devaney would retire as head coach in 1972 but would continue as Athletic Director, a position that he held since 1967. He remained the school’s AD until his retirement in 1992 and would serve as AD Emeritus until retiring from public life in 1996. His career record was 136-30-7 with a 7-3 make in bowl games. He would end his Nebraska career with a 101-20-2 mark with eight Big Eight titles (1963-1966, 1969-1972) and two National Championships (1970, 1971).
Below is just a small collection of some of Devaney’s big moments as Nebraska head coach.