Shatel: What about Bob?

Whatever happened to Bob Devaney?

The late, great Nebraska football giant has been gone for more than a decade now. But the question came up last week when the Sporting News released a list of the “Top 50 Greatest Coaches of all time.''

Some folks were miffed that you had to look all the way down to No. 34 to find Tom Osborne. One reader was more peeved about the absence of Devaney.

Where's Bob? He didn't have the longevity. That's the easy answer. You can argue that Devaney could coach with the other college football names on that list: Bear Bryant, Knute Rockne, Joe Paterno, Eddie Robinson, Bobby Bowden, Woody Hayes, Bud Wilkinson, Osborne, Bo Schembechler, Amos Alonzo Stagg and Ara Parseghian.

Devaney was a head coach 16 years, including 11 at NU. He won 136 games, 101 at Nebraska with eight Big Eight titles and two national championships. The others coached longer and won more games.

You could argue Devaney against Parseghian, who coached 11 years at Notre Dame, was 95-17-4 and won two national titles. Bob beat Ara in their only head-to-head meeting, 40-6 in the 1973 Orange Bowl, Devaney's last game. But Parseghian coached at Notre Dame. In history's memory, advantage, Ara.

• The Devaney “oversight'' brought up two interesting points.

1. Do you think Osborne ever imagined he would overshadow Devaney's career and legacy?

2. If Devaney has fallen through the cracks of history on the national level, what about here at home? Do a generation of Husker fans know his story? It makes the inclusion of a Husker football history museum or area in Memorial Stadium all the more necessary.

• Timing is everything, and I hope the news of an entertainment tax in Omaha doesn't impact the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority's bid for future NCAA basketball regionals. It shouldn't, but you never know. The NCAA will get its cut, no matter what.

The bids will be revealed in late September. The Omaha/MECA group is privately optimistic about getting at least one regional after 2010.

• One of the questions for Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson at last week's Football 202 was how he thought quarterback Zac Lee would do this year. Watson said, “We'll see. He's got to be tested and that comes in a game. Right now, he is one of two players with the most arm talent I've been around.''

• I know it's a rebuilding year, but UNO football was picked to finish sixth by the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association coaches and fourth by MIAA media. That never used to happen in the North Central Conference.

• When the news broke about Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz allegedly using steroids in 2003, the first thing I thought about was Barry Bonds. He's going to end up with the last laugh in this sorry episode.

Seriously, if you give Bonds an asterisk, don't you give the 2004 Red Sox one? The media won't. Nobody will get asterisks. And the fans don't care. They would rather pay attention to the terrific pennant races going on. Can't say that I blame them.

• I'm glad the Brett Favre soap opera is over. I'm not glad he stayed retired. I wanted to see him go back to Green Bay in purple.

• My sources around Omaha tell me that there is a Chick-fil-A in the Mutual of Omaha dome food court, but you have to be a Mutual of Omaha employee or a guest of someone who is.

Contact the writer:

444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

« Sports - Main

Share