Bob Devaney Robert S . " Bob " Devaney ( April 13 , 1915 – May 9 , 1997 ) was a college football coach . He served as the head coach at the University of Wyoming from 1957 to 1961 and at the University of Nebraska from 1962 to 1972 , compiling a career college football record of 136 – 30 – 7 ( ) . Devaney ' s Nebraska Cornhuskers won consecutive national championships in 1970 and 1971 . Devaney also served as the athletic director at Nebraska from 1967 to 1993 . He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1981 . He died of a heart attack on May 9 , 1997 . Playing and early coaching career . Devaney graduated from Alma College in 1939 , where he played end on the football team . Devaney coached high school football in Michigan at Big Beaver , Keego Harbor , Saginaw , and Alpena , before joining the Michigan State Spartans staff as an assistant coach under Biggie Munn and continuing under Duffy Daugherty . Head coach . Wyoming . Devaney ' s first college head coaching job was at the University of Wyoming , where he went 35 – 10 – 5 ( . 750 ) in five seasons between 1957 and 1961 . The Cowboys won the Sun Bowl in his second season and won or shared the Skyline Conference title in his final four seasons in Laramie . Following the 1961 season , he was hired at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln at an annual salary of $ 17 , 000 . Nebraska . Devaney was the fourth choice of Nebraska ' s athletic director , Tippy Dye . Utah ' s Ray Nagel and Utah State ' s John Ralston had turned down the job . Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty also turned down Dye , but recommended Devaney , his former assistant , for the Cornhuskers . When Devaney balked at leaving Wyoming for Nebraska , it was Daugherty who convinced him to accept the position because he could potentially win a national title at Nebraska ; a goal that Wyoming could not obtain . Devaney joined Nebraska in 1962 and immediately reestablished the program as a force in the Big Eight Conference . Prior to Devaney ' s arrival , Nebraska football had fallen on hard times with seven consecutive losing seasons . The 1961 team under Bill Jennings went 3 – 6 – 1 overall and 2 – 5 in conference . After a winning tradition up until the early 1940s , Nebraska had only two winning seasons in the two decades preceding Devaney ' s arrival . Devaney engineered an immediate turnaround with a 9 – 2 record in 1962 that included a victory in the Gotham Bowl at Yankee Stadium over the Miami Hurricanes . It was the first of forty consecutive winning seasons for Nebraska . Devaney followed this up with an even better 10 – 1 season the next year , including a perfect 7 – 0 record in the Big Eight to claim the conference title and an Orange Bowl victory over Auburn . His success continued through 1966 , with records of 9 – 2 , 10 – 1 , and 9 – 2 , bringing his record at Nebraska to 47 – 8 ( ) . This had so revived Nebraska football that Memorial Stadium was enlarged significantly by enclosing both ends . For the first time , Nebraska was on television once or twice a year and fans all over the state sat down to watch the Bob Devaney TV show each week , in which he used his folksy manner to review the tape of the game for all of the fans who hadn ' t seen it in person . Consecutive 6 – 4 seasons followed in 1967 and 1968 . Allegedly known as a drinker , Devaney became subject to a whispering campaign about whether he had peaked . However , he had brought in an innovative offensive thinker as an assistant coach , Tom Osborne . Devaney and Osborne revamped the offensive scheme , an I formation with an unbalanced line , and upgraded the recruiting effort . Nebraska began the 1969 season with just a 2 – 2 start and in its fifth game needed a last - minute comeback at home to beat a Kansas team that finished the season 1 – 9 . But the 1969 Huskers kept winning and concluded the season with a 9 – 2 record , including a 45 – 6 rout of Georgia in the Sun Bowl . This set the stage for the highlight of Devaney ' s coaching career . National championships . The 1970 Nebraska team returned most of the key offensive starters from the previous year , and added sophomore Johnny Rodgers , an explosive punt returner and wide receiver , who won the Heisman Trophy in 1972 as a senior . Nebraska tied USC in Los Angeles early in the season and was ranked # 3 going into the 1971 Orange Bowl against LSU . A late touchdown by quarterback Jerry Tagge gave the Huskers a 17 – 12 victory to finish the season at 11 – 0 – 1 . This secured a share of the national championship , after the other two undefeated teams in the nation , Texas and Ohio State , lost their bowl game s earlier in the day . The final AP Poll , conducted after the bowl games were played , picked Nebraska as champion , while the final UPI Poll , released in early December before the bowl games , had Texas first with Nebraska third . With most of its key players back and its defense vastly improved , the 1971 Nebraska team rolled through its first 10 games . The top - ranked Huskers met unbeaten Oklahoma in Norman on Thanksgiving Day in the Game of the Century , one of the most celebrated games in college football history . A late touchdown by tailback Jeff Kinney gave the Huskers a hard - fought 35 – 31 victory . When Nebraska crushed unbeaten Alabama 38 – 6 in the 1972 Orange Bowl to finish 13 – 0 , the Cornhuskers were said by many to be the greatest team in college football history . In fact , the Huskers defeated the teams ranked second , third , and fourth in the final AP Poll : Oklahoma , Colorado , and Alabama . Final season . Devaney coached one more year in 1972 and expecatations were high for third straight national title . Although a disappointing loss to UCLA at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum opened the season , the Huskers finished with a 9 – 2 – 1 record . The loss to UCLA ended Nebraska ' s 32 - game unbeaten streak , which dated back nearly three years to October 11 , 1969 , when they lost at Missouri . Although the Cornhuskers tied Iowa State and lost by three points to Oklahoma in Lincoln in November , the season ended with a 40 – 6 victory over Notre Dame in the 1973 Orange Bowl , the Huskers ' third consecutive victory in that bowl game . Nebraska finished the 1972 season ranked # 4 in the AP Poll . In addition , Johnny Rodgers was selected as the winner of the Heisman Trophy . The UPI Coaches ' Poll , released before the bowls , had Nebraska at # 9 . Following the 1972 season , Devaney stepped down as head coach at age 57 and hired his protégé to succeed him , offensive coordinator Tom Osborne . Devaney ' s overall record at Nebraska was 101 – 20 – 2 ( ) in 11 seasons , with nine bowl appearances and two national championships . His teams won or shared eight Big Eight Conference titles . His record in his final three seasons was 32 – 2 – 2 ( ) , and his career college head coaching record at Wyoming and Nebraska was 136 – 30 – 7 ( ) in 16 seasons . Nebraska athletic director . Devaney served as athletic director at Nebraska from 1967 to 1993 and as athletic director emeritus until 1996 . The university ' s indoor arena , the Bob Devaney Sports Center , is named for him .