When it comes to head coaches in college football, the third season is a pretty big evaluation point. The 2-season honeymoon period is usually over from the perspectives of the administration, analysts, fan bases and most importantly these days: the funders. As Marcus Freeman embarks on his 3rd season heading up the Irish football program, I ran some analyses of ND coaches’ historical third seasons for comparison/prediction purposes.
First up is Dan Devine.
Devine’s 3rd year as head coach in South Bend was 1977. He would ultimately coach six seasons and the 3rd season marked his halfway point.