Editing Dan Devine (section)

==Coaching career==

=== Early years as a coach and Michigan State ===
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Devine earned his first coaching job as head coach at [[East Jordan High School]] in [[Michigan]], reaching his interview by a combination of bus travel and hitch-hiking. Following two undefeated seasons at the school, Devine accepted an assistant position at [[Michigan State University]] in 1950 under head coach [[Biggie Munn]]. For the next five seasons, Devine helped the [[Michigan State Spartans football|Spartans]] achieve success, including winning a [[College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS|national championship]] in [[1952 Michigan State Spartans football team|1952]].

=== Arizona State ===
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On February 5, 1955, Devine accepted the head coaching position at Arizona State College, now [[Arizona State University]], in [[Tempe, Arizona]]. Joining him as an assistant was [[Frank Kush]], who would have even greater success at the school after Devine left. During his three years with the [[Arizona State Sun Devils football|Sun Devils]], Devine compiled a record of 27&ndash;3&ndash;1 (.887), including a spotless 10&ndash;0 mark during his final campaign. Devine's team led the nation in total offense and scoring in his final season, averaging just under 40 points per game in the latter category.

=== Missouri ===
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Devine's success at Arizona State resulted in an offer from the [[Missouri Tigers football|University of Missouri]], which he accepted on December 18, 1957. At first, Devine was reluctant to accept the position; his flight to Missouri had developed engine trouble. Devine also had hot chocolate spilled on him by a [[flight attendant|stewardess]] during the flight, which arrived six hours late.

Over the next 13 years, Devine would turn the once-dormant program into a consistently competitive school that finished with a Top 20 ranking nine times. His record of 93–37–7 (.704) included four bowl game victories, with his winning percentage passing that of his predecessor [[Don Faurot]]. Devine left Missouri with the second most number of wins as coach in school history, behind only Faurot. Devine is now third after being passed by [[Gary Pinkel]] in 2013.

After finishing 5–4–1 in his first year in 1958, Devine (with two years left on his contract) gained some job security when a group of Missouri alumni funded a $150,000 [[life insurance]] policy that covered him as long as he remained as head coach of the Tigers. The investment paid off as Missouri never lost more than three games over the next decade.

In 1960, the Tigers began the year unranked, but after shutting out [[Southern Methodist University|SMU]] 20–0, in the season opener, moved up to 16th and continued to head upward in the weekly rankings. Following that win with eight straight victories, Missouri became the top-ranked team in the country following a 41–19 victory over [[Oklahoma Sooners football|Oklahoma]].

Needing only a victory over [[Kansas Jayhawks football|Kansas]] to clinch a national championship, the Tigers (favored by a touchdown) instead were stunned in a 23–7 upset loss. After an [[Orange Bowl]] victory over [[United States Naval Academy|Navy]] on January 1, 1961, Missouri finished the year ranked fifth in a season which saw upwards of four teams claim a share of the national title. Kansas was later forced to forfeit two games in a vote by Big 8 schools (3–5) because the Jayhawks' [[Bert Coan]] had received a ticket to a college all-star game from a Kansas booster and was thus voted ineligible by the Conference. The Big 8 chose not to vote on the issue mid-season, though it was known prior to the game. Missouri claims the 1960 game as a win by forfeit—thus making 1960 the only undefeated and untied season in school history.

While never again reaching that level, Missouri maintained its strength throughout the 1960s, with Devine taking on the added duties of [[athletic director]] in 1967 after Faurot stepped down from that post. During his three years in the latter role, Devine made a key hire when he selected [[Norm Stewart]] to head the fortunes of the school's men's [[basketball]] squad.

After finishing 9–1 in 1969, a season capped off with a massive 69–21 win over Kansas that saw Jayhawk coach [[Pepper Rodgers]] showing the [[peace sign]] to Devine late in the game and Devine "[[the finger|return half of it]]", Missouri faced Penn State in the [[1970 Orange Bowl]]. The Nittany Lions entered the game with a 28-game winning streak and extended the string by intercepting seven Tiger passes in a 10–3 defensive battle.

=== Green Bay Packers ===
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After suffering his first losing season in 1970, Devine left Missouri on January 14, 1971, to become the head coach and general manager of the [[Green Bay Packers]] of the [[National Football League|NFL]], succeeding [[Phil Bengtson]].

Devine acknowledged the pressure of the position but had the benefit of the doubt since he did not immediately follow legendary coach [[Vince Lombardi]]. Bengtson had endured three years of unrealistic expectations following Lombardi's brief retirement after [[Super Bowl II]].

Devine's career in Green Bay got off to a painful start when he suffered a broken leg following a sideline collision in the season opener, a 42–40 loss to the [[New York Giants]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.packers.com/news/dan-devine-s-debuts-were-a-double-disaster | title=Dan Devine's debuts were a double disaster }}</ref>

After finishing 4–8–2 in [[1971 NFL season|1971]], Devine headed a brief resurgence that "The Pack is Back" by dethroning the four-time division champion [[Minnesota Vikings]] in [[1972 NFL season|1972]] to reach the [[NFL playoffs, 1972–73|playoffs]], the Packers' first post-season in five years. The Packers lost 16–3 in the first round to the [[Washington Redskins]] at [[RFK Stadium]] on [[Christmas Eve]].

The Packers did not reach the postseason for another decade, during the expanded [[NFL playoffs, 1982–83|16-team playoffs]] of the strike-shortened [[1982 NFL season|1982]] season. Green Bay would not return to the playoffs in a non-strike year until [[1993 NFL season|1993]] and would not win another divisional title until 1995. Unable to recapture the success of 1972, Devine's final two seasons at Green Bay were disappointing (5–7–2 in [[1973 NFL season|1973]] and 6–8 in [[1974 NFL season|1974]]).

Midway through his last season as Packers head coach in 1974, Devine engineered a memorable trade in which Green Bay exchanged two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a third-round pick for 34-year-old quarterback [[John Hadl]] from the [[Los Angeles Rams]]. The Packers were 3–3 at the time with lackluster play from quarterback [[Jerry Tagge]], and Devine apparently believed an experienced quarterback was the last piece of the puzzle.

However, Hadl would play only two years as a Packer, winning just seven games while throwing 29 interceptions during that span. Meanwhile, the Rams used the picks acquired in the trade to draft players who would help them dominate the [[NFC West]] in the 1970s. To this day, many Packer fans have never forgiven Devine for the trade, which is widely reckoned as the worst trade for a starting quarterback in NFL history.<ref name=PFW>{{cite news|url=http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/10/21/a-look-back-at-the-hadl-trade |title=A look back at the Hadl trade |last=Beacom |first=Mike |publisher=[[Pro Football Weekly]] |date=October 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224145017/http://www.profootballweekly.com/2011/10/21/a-look-back-at-the-hadl-trade |archive-date=December 24, 2011 }}</ref>

Devine's wife was diagnosed with [[multiple sclerosis]] during the season.

As the Packers' performance declined, Devine's relationship with the fans deteriorated, and his family started to get verbally harassed during games. An incident occurred where one of his dogs was shot by a neighbor. Devine claimed that the shooter was an angry Packers fan, but the farmer who shot the dog said that he did so because it had been constantly straying onto his property, and he had warned Devine in the past that he would shoot Devine's dog if it came near his home again.

After a three-game losing streak knocked the Packers out of the playoffs, Devine resigned on December 16, 1974, to become the head coach at the [[University of Notre Dame]]. His departure was also controversial, as the Packers' board of directors were prepared to buy Devine out of his contract, but Devine told them that he was going to return to coach the team in 1975. Devine asked for his last season's paycheck to come in advance, and after it was given to him, Devine announced his resignation.

=== Notre Dame ===
[[File:Dan Devine, 1976.png|thumb|Devine in 1976]]
Devine had been a leading candidate for the head coaching job at [[Notre Dame Fighting Irish football|Notre Dame]] in 1964 when [[Ara Parseghian]] was hired. When approached for the job following Parseghian's resignation a decade later, Devine accepted immediately, joking that it was probably the shortest job interview in history.

In his six seasons at Notre Dame, Devine compiled a 53–16–1 mark (.764). His lasting achievement came midway through this run when the [[1977 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Fighting Irish]] won the 1977 national championship, led by junior quarterback [[Joe Montana]]. The regular season was highlighted by the Irish's 21–17 come-from-behind win over Clemson at Death Valley when Devine repeatedly gave the middle finger salute to the raucous home crowd.

The championship season was completed with a convincing 38–10 win in the [[1978 Cotton Bowl Classic]] over previously top-ranked [[1977 Texas Longhorns football team|Texas]], led by [[Heisman Trophy]] winner [[Earl Campbell]]. The win vaulted the Irish from fifth to first in the polls.

Earlier in the season, before the annual game against [[USC Trojans football|USC]] on October 22, Devine changed the team's home jerseys from [[navy blue]] & white to [[kelly green]] & gold, which would remain for the rest of his time at the school.

Devine also added names to the players' jerseys on a permanent basis when he took over at Notre Dame. Previously, names had been included on jerseys only during bowl games. (The traditional navy blue & white jerseys without names returned in the 1980s under [[Lou Holtz]].)

Devine's teams won three bowl games, including consecutive Cotton Bowl Classics. In the [[1979 Cotton Bowl Classic]], the Irish trailed 34–12 with 7:27 remaining in the game. They rallied for 23 unanswered points behind ailing senior quarterback [[Joe Montana]] for a 35–34 victory over [[Houston Cougars football|Houston]]. The game, played in an unseasonal storm of freezing sleet and rain, became part of college football folklore, referred to as the [[Chicken Soup Game]].

Because Devine had the unenviable task of following a legend, he came under heavy scrutiny while at Notre Dame, and it was felt that Devine was never fully embraced by the Notre Dame community, despite winning a national championship. After a 5–2 start in his first season, rumors of incompetence were circulated and that Devine would be dismissed and replaced by [[Don Shula]] or even [[Ara Parseghian]] (who went so far as to say he would not return to coaching under any circumstances). Even on the day of the 1977 USC game, "Dump Devine" bumper stickers were being sold outside Notre Dame Stadium. Devine also lost to his old program, a shocking 3–0 defeat to Missouri at South Bend in 1978.

Devine was involved in a game while at Notre Dame whose ending resulted in a rule change still in effect today. On September 15, 1979, the Irish faced the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor in their season opener. With six seconds remaining, Michigan lined up for a game-winning field goal attempt. Notre Dame linebacker Bob Crable ran onto the backs of offensive lineman [[Tim Foley (offensive tackle)|Tim Foley]] and defensive end Scott Zettek and was able to block the kick, preserving a 12–10 Irish victory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/notre-dame/2018/08/28/notre-dame-football-1979-blocked-kick-sticks-out-michigan-rivalry/841716002/|title=A 1979 blocked field goal remains one of the defining moments of Notre Dame-Michigan football rivalry}}</ref> A new rule was implemented the following season that prohibited this tactic.

On August 15, 1980, Devine announced that he would be leaving Notre Dame at the end of the 1980 season, saying that he wanted to spend more time with his wife. Notre Dame named [[Gerry Faust]] as Devine's successor on November 24, 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1980/11/25/page/45/article/fausts-prayers-are-answered-by-notre-dame|title = Chicago Tribune – Historical Newspapers}}</ref> At the time, Devine's Irish were enjoying a surprisingly [[1980 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|successful season]], with a 9–0–1 record and No. 2 ranking in the polls, behind only [[1980 Georgia Bulldogs football team|Georgia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://collegepollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=522#.WcKebtVSxEZ|title = November 24, 1980 Football Polls – College Poll Archive – Historical College Football, Basketball, and Softball Polls and Rankings}}</ref> However, after Faust's hiring was announced, Notre Dame lost its regular season finale at rival [[1980 USC Trojans football team|USC]], 20–3 and then lost the [[1981 Sugar Bowl|Sugar Bowl]] to Georgia, 17–10, giving the Bulldogs their first national championship and spoiling Devine's final game as a head football coach.