The Zeitgeist List · coaching

Bob Devaney

Followed William Jennings. Bob Devaney took Nebraska from Regional Program III to Dynasty — 2 Dynasty seasons.

The empire-builder
136–30
1957–1972 · 2 stints
WyomingNebraska
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Career arc

His real stature score, season by season, across every program he’s coached — so a stretch that stays in one tier the whole way can still climb or sink on the line, not just flatten out. Node color marks the tier reached. Which program a stretch belongs to is carried by the shaded lane behind it.

Stature score reached, by season of his head-coaching careerWYOMINGNEBRASKADynastythe sport's summitBlue Bloodpermanent top tierPower Programperennial contenderNational Programrespectable, streakyRegional Programthe building-block levelWyoming, 1957: 4-3, National Program III1957Wyoming, 1958: 8-3, National Program IIIWyoming, 1959: 9-1, National Program IIWyoming, 1960: 8-2, National Program IWyoming, 1961: 6-1, National Program I1961+8.2Nebraska, 1962: 9-2, Regional Program II1962Nebraska, 1963: 10-1, National Program IINebraska, 1964: 9-2, National Program INebraska, 1965: 10-1, Power Program IIINebraska, 1966: 9-2, Power Program IIINebraska, 1967: 6-4, Power Program IIINebraska, 1968: 6-4, Power Program IIINebraska, 1969: 9-2, Power Program IIINebraska, 1970: 11-0, Blue BloodNebraska, 1971: 13-0, DynastyNebraska, 1972: 9-2, Dynasty1972+56.5One point per coached season, in career order; dashed segments are program changes — spacing is not proportional to calendar time

Reached Dynasty in his 15th career season — faster than 20% of the 15 FBS coaches who have ever reached Dynasty (rank #12 of 15 by seasons-to-arrival).

Wyoming, 5 seasons
+8.2
National Program III → National Program I.
Nebraska, 11 seasons
+56.5
Regional Program II → Dynasty.

The big-game ledger

How he does in the games that matter most — rivalry record, performance broken out by real opponent tier, one-score games, and his toughest historical matchup.

17–1 against his rivals. Just 1–2 against Bear Bryant.

Rivalry record
17–1
94.4% · 3 rivals
One-score games
33–15–7
60.0% · margin ≤8
vs. Blue Blood or better
0–2
0.0%
Rivalry ledger
Colorado10–191%
Colorado State5–0100%
Wisconsin2–0100%
The toughest matchup
vs. Bear Bryant1–2
3 meetings, 1965–1971
’65 L’66 L’71 W
33% win rate across a real, 3-meeting series — short of the bar this site uses before badging a series “Nemesis.” Shown here as the toughest matchup on record, not an algorithmic crown.
Performance by opponent class
Dynasty
0–2 0.0%
Blue Blood
4–5 44.4%
Power Program
21–7 75.0%
National Program
42–7 85.7%
Regional Program
57–8 87.7%

Coaching career

1962–1972
Nebraskatransformer
Regional Program III → Dynasty
Bob Devaney took Nebraska from Regional Program III to Dynasty — 2 Dynasty seasons.

3rd-best Nebraska tenure of 18 by the numbers.

Followed William Jennings (1957–1961) · succeeded by Tom Osborne (1973–1997).

101–20
1957–1961
Wyomingcaretaker
National Program III → National Program I
Bob Devaney moved Wyoming from National Program III to National Program I in 5 seasons.

2nd-best Wyoming tenure of 22 by the numbers.

Followed Phil Dickens (1953–1956) · succeeded by Lloyd Eaton (1962–1970).

35–10