I first met Dan Devine when he was the coach at Missouri. Frank Broyles only stayed at Missouri for one year before going to Arkansas and Missouri hired Devine in 1958. Devine would go on to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Devine made Missouri a strong team. The Tigers were 9-1 in 1960 and beat Navy in the Orange Bowl. He had a winning record against Bear Bryant, which is impressive.

	Remembering Dan Devine
	ESPN Classic will present Notre Dame's 38-10 win over Texas in the 1978 Cotton Bowl on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.

But Devine achieved his greatest success at Notre Dame, where he led the Irish to the 1977 national championship. A quarterback decision made by Devine in '77 impacted not only the Irish title hopes that season but also, arguably, the course of NFL history.

The Irish lost to Mississippi on the road in their second game in '77, dropping their record to 1-1. In the third game, Notre Dame was losing 24-14 in the second half to Purdue. So Devine changed QBs ... to Joe Montana.

Notre Dame won that game and of course went on to win the national title.

In 1980, Devine and the Irish were again in the running for the national championship, but they were knocked off by USC (USC has a habit of knocking off Irish teams with title potential).

How does Devine measure up against other coaches in the history of Notre Dame?

He isn't in the same category as Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy. They're in a category by themselves. None of the Notre Dame coaches after them are in the same category. I doubt if anyone ever will equal their success -- unless God decides to coach at Notre Dame.

But Devine, who was at Notre Dame for six years, is right there after Rockne and Leahy. He was darn good, and he has a national title to prove it.