Dan Devine Jr. knows all about self-sacrifice for family.

He watched his father, the man who followed Vince Lombardi's reign in Green Bay and later coached Notre Dame to a national title, turn his back on the coaching profession forever to attend to his wife's poor health after the 1981 Sugar Bowl.

So it didn't take much for the son of such a man to turn down a head coaching offer at Rock Bridge High (Columbia, Mo.) in 1997 after 19 years as an assistant. Dan Jr. simply didn't want to short-change his family or his duties as a ninth-grade social studies teacher at nearby Jefferson Junior High.

	"I'm really happy he's done this, even if it's only for a short period of time," says Dan Devine Sr.

That commitment to doing the right thing is what makes Devine's dad most proud. But there's no doubt the old coach is downright tickled that a Devine will once again prowl a sideline this fall, as Junior agreed to rescue the Rock Bridge Bruins from a real pinch by taking the helm of the school's varsity football team.

"I'm really happy he's done this, even if it's only for a short period of time," says Dan Devine Sr., 75, who guided Notre Dame to a 53-16-1 record, four bowl appearances and the '77 national title over six seasons (1975-80). "It's a fun feeling to see him become a head coach. Still, there's a lot of junior high school teacher in him and that makes us proud. Like me, he just thinks about working with kids and the fun of coaching and putting a good team on the field. He's always shown the ability to do that."

Devine Jr. has his work cut out for him. Rock Bridge is coming off an 0-10 season under former head coach Jeff Moore and w ill have to play a grueling Central Missouri Conference schedule as one of the state's smaller schools in one of the largest state classifications (5A). There's just one other small detail: This is Devine's first scholastic head coaching position.

"So far, it's gone really, really well," says Devine, 44, a former standout at cross-town rival Hickman High and Milton College (Wis.). "Most of the team was in the weight room over the summer and the first couple weeks of practice have been good. It just hasn't felt like a new job. If it had been someplace else, I might say, 'How did I end up in this position?' because I've always felt (head) coaching would interfere with my teaching. But I know the school and I know the kids. I said, 'Let's give it a try.'"

The Rock Bridge varsity football team had secured former Southwest Missouri State (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) assistant coach Ted Monachino as its coach this year. But Boise State (Idaho) offered him an assistant's position and Monachino respectfully backed away from his late-winter agreement to lead the Bruins. That's when Rock Bridge athletic director Vicki Reimler decided to offer Devine the job for a second time.

"It was a bad situation for the players, so when they came and asked me, I was very sympathetic to the situation," explains Devine.

"Dan brings an air of expectation," says Reimler, who still marvels over the fever-pitched excitement displayed at the team's annual Green & Gold intra-squad scrimmage earlier this month. "The kids know his record. They have a lot of respect and confidence in him. They're having fun."

And there's at least one knowledgeable observer who thinks things will turn out fine. That counts plenty when the observer is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame (126-42-7 career record; .742 winning percentage) and the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, and led the Packers to the '72 division title in his second of four seasons as the team's head coach and general manager.

"Dan understands the ups and downs," says Devine Sr., who also coached at Arizona State, then 13 seasons at the University of Missouri. He is the focus of a soon-to-be released authorized autobiography by Mike Steele entitled Simply Devine: Memoirs of a Hall of Fame Coach. "He worked the sideline for me in bowl games and Green Bay games. He's in a very tough league and it will take a lot just to make them respectable again. But he'll do the right things and he's a great teacher. If I had a chance, I would have hired him. In those days, you didn't do those things."

If anyone can let bygones be bygones, it's the Devine family. And both the old coach and the new one are only looking ahead. Especially to the Bruins' Sept. 1 opener against Kirksville High (7:30 p.m.).

"I've been away from the high school game for three years, so those guys look pretty good to me right now," says Devine Jr., who assisted the Bruins' 21-year head coach, John Henage, until departing in 1997 to take over the Jefferson Junior High program. "We have to see how we do against other competition. I think the biggest thing you have to do is get a system going your kids can play within and get out there and do the things they're capable of."