Watching Huskers Believe Chokes Up Mike Devaney

Randy York’s N-Sider

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Last Saturday evening, Mike Devaney, the 74-year-old son of the late Bob Devaney, stood inside the Ndamukong Suh Strength and Conditioning Complex to hear Mike Riley describe Nebraska’s gutty comeback win over Oregon, 35-32.

A week earlier, after watching the Huskers explode for 28 points in the fourth quarter to flatten Wyoming, Devaney attended the postgame press conference that involved the only two college football teams his dad ever served as head coach. It was a riveting moment and Mike Devaney choked up watching his beloved Huskers celebrate.

This Saturday night, Nebraska plays at Northwestern in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams. It’s an obvious trap door road game for the Huskers, but for an intuitive reason, Mike Devaney believes the Huskers will prevail.

Well aware that four of the five Big Ten Conference meetings between Nebraska and Northwestern since 2011 have been decided by three or fewer points, Devaney’s belief in the Huskers is based on last week’s win over Oregon, a pivotal point to Nebraska’s present and its future because it reminded him so much of the Huskers’ past.

“I had a feeling the Oregon game would be like the Michigan game when my dad was coaching his first season at Nebraska in 1962,” Mike said. “Dad told his guys that they could win that first season at Michigan. He always thought, in the back of his mind, that if his guys could win in Ann Arbor, they would have confidence to have a great season.”

Winning at Michigan Became Impetus That Gave Huskers Confidence, Swagger

The Huskers beat Michigan, 25-13, 54 seasons ago, and Mike Devaney (pictured above at the unveiling of Bob's statue) still remembers how emotional the outcome was for the team and the state. Looking back at that precious triumph, Mike believes it became the impetus that gave the Huskers the confidence and the swagger to finish 9-2 and beat Miami in the Gotham Bowl.

“My dad always thought if we could beat Michigan in their own stadium, our guys would start to believe in themselves,” Devaney said. “Dad knew we had the talent. They just needed to believe what they can do when they put it all together. Back in those days, my dad believed in a saying that if you ‘won’t be beat, you can’t be beat.’”

Talk about the intersection of eras in college football. The last two lines in Nebraska’s Tunnel Walk prayer harkens back to that same thought which has become a meaningful chant – Day by day, this team gets better and better! ‘Til we can’t be beat...WON’T BE Beat!

To salute Nebraska’s connection to the past that resonates more than half a century later, Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst wanted Mike Devaney to commemorate the Huskers’ record 350 consecutive home game sellouts during a timeout in last Saturday’s game.  

“I’m proud of the tradition, and I think they’ve done a great job of keeping it going here,” Mike Devaney said. “I really think Coach Riley is going to get it done. He’s a great guy and the right kind of guy in the right situation.”

That comes, of course, from the son of another great, right kind-of-guy who arrived in Lincoln dreaming of winning championships.

Mike’s Take on His Dad’s Success: Getting the Kids to Believe in Themselves

Mike Devaney lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., but spent the past two weeks in Omaha and Lincoln. I asked him about his father’s influence on a state that he still visits regularly.

“My dad always said if you can get kids to believe in themselves, that was the biggest factor,” Mike said. “My dad was always a winner, even when he was a young kid. He was a boxer and talked about going pro. People told me they don’t know anyone who beat him in a boxing ring.

“Dad was a very intense competitor. He loved kids and loved working with them,” Mike said. “He brought out the best in everyone because he believed in them and got them to believe in themselves.”

That same trait, of course, is inherent in Riley, who, like Devaney, is always instantly available.

Mike was a high school defensive end/fullback when the family moved to Laramie, Wyo. “My dad thought I might be able to play college football, so he gave me a tryout at spring practice when I was still a senior in high school,” Mike said. “He told me I could play so I went out in the fall.”

Unfortunately, Concussions Roadblocked Mike's Goal to Play College Football

Unfortunately, Mike experienced a series of concussions that triggered amnesia. “When I couldn’t play anymore, I had some tests done in Denver, and they came back saying I was good to go again.” He should have known better. “Did you see the results of those tests?” his dad asked. “Yes,” Mike replied.

“You’re not playing football anymore,” Bob told his son. "What are you thinking?”

“I ended up swimming in college and focusing on a career,” Mike said.

After two years at Wyoming, Mike transferred to Nebraska when his father became head coach in 1962. He received a degree in Chemical Engineering, then earned an MBA.

Watching Huskers Every Week, Mike Shares How His Dad Became Head Coach

For most of his life, Mike was involved in plastics and chemical industries. In the last few years, he’s owned a business in telecommunications field, headquartered in New Hampshire. Even though he’s not active in the business, Devaney still owns part of it and has lived in Scottsdale, Ariz., for the past 14 years.

He still watches football, but not as much as he did when his legendary dad was coaching. “I still watch Nebraska, of course, every weekend,” he said, “and if I’m not playing golf, I’ll watch football of some kind.”

Looking back, Mike Devaney said his dad never thought he was going to be a head coach until the Wyoming opportunity opened. “He thought it would be a good school to have his first head coaching job and when he went out there, people were very supportive," Mike said. "I enjoyed living in Wyoming and going to school there. It’s a great place, especially if you like the outdoors. When he came to Nebraska to look at this job, Duffy Daugherty basically talked him into doing it. Duffy said Nebraska really wanted to win and if you do win, you’ll be very successful there.”

Bob Devaney Told Mike Nebraska Had Better Kids Than Michigan State Had

Mike remembers his dad interviewing with three or four men about what was needed to make Nebraska a winner. He remembers his dad looking at film and wondering why Nebraska wasn’t winning because “they have better kids than we had at Michigan State,” he told his son. “It baffles me. Nebraska’s a good opportunity to win.”

Devaney watched countless film before visiting Lincoln. “He was a watcher of films to the nth degree,” Mike said. “When he was at Michigan State, I remember watching film with dad for hours and hours and hours.”

After he inspected Nebraska’s program and studied film, Bob Devaney told his son “I think we can win there pretty fast.”

Bob Devaney’s first year at Nebraska “turned things around dramatically,” Mike said. “He had about a dozen players in the next couple of years who were drafted in the NFL. The athletes there were good. That’s why he won immediately.”

Bob Devaney Loved Nebraskans, Called Husker Fans the Most Loyal He’d Seen

Bob Devaney’s influence was instant and successful. “He always loved the people who lived in Nebraska and thought the fans were the most loyal fans he’d ever seen,” Mike said. “He also thought Nebraska had the most intense following in the country.”

Mike remembers his dad contemplating going into school administration. “At the time, he didn’t know if he was going to make big-time coaching,” Mike said, “and then Duffy called him and wanted to know if he wanted to come down to Michigan State to be his assistant.”

Mike Devaney smiles when he thinks about his dad’s career that snowballed into College Football Hall-of-Fame status. To this day, Mike struggles to find the right words to describe his dad’s impact on a small state with a big-time reputation.

“It can’t be compared to anything else he’s ever done,” Mike said. “The loyalty of Nebraska fans and the dedication here is certainly a keystone to what makes this program successful. I think dad saw in the losing seasons that Nebraska still had a fairly decent fan base."

Huskers’ Intense Interest Created Confidence and Nebraska’s Unique Spirit

“People wanted to win back in the early ‘60s, and they wanted to come to the games,” Mike said. “Dad wanted to make the players feel a certain amount of pride and a certain amount of confidence in themselves. I think fan interest created a lot of confidence and a lot of spirit into the people in the state of Nebraska.

“It gave them something to look forward to and be proud of,” Mike Devaney said. “I think it all just kind of mushroomed together. Once you get a ball rolling like that, it tends to keep the people going. Dad loved the fans, and he was always active in going out and talking to them. He went everywhere, and I mean everywhere. I remember people telling me that he would talk to a room of 50 people and every person would feel like they had a personal conversation with him.”

Devaney’s impact was so dramatic that countless die-hard Husker fans, who couldn’t buy tickets to sit inside sold-out Memorial Stadium, bought tickets to watch Nebraska play on the road or in a bowl game. That tried and true fact became the essence of Nebraska football fans who will be on display once again Saturday night in Evanston, Ill.

And now you know the roots to the rest of an amazing story that once again proves why there really is no place like Nebraska.

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Voices from Husker Nation

I loved reading this blog. It's kind of fascinating to think what would have happened if Bob Devaney hadn't come here, or would have gone into administration sooner, or become a boxer! GBR!! Chuck Johnston, Omaha, Nebraska