First of all, let's call Dan Devine for what he was , a very good football coach who compiled a very good record at Arizona ST, Missouri, and 53-16 at ND including a nat'l title..
BTW, a bit of revisionist history..ND came into the '77 season ranked NO. 3 AND A LEGIT NATIONAL TITLE CONTENDER WITH A STAR STUDDED TEAM BACK...I was at the opener, a lack lustre 19-9 win over Pitt in the old Pitt Stadium..Pitt QB Matt Cavanaugh brilliantly led the Panthers to a 7-0 lead on an opening drive; then driving again was knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury after being tackled by star end Willie Fry, part of our bookend DE's with Ross Browner..The Panthers may have fumbled 5-6 times after Cavanaugh's exit, and the 2nd string QB was horrible..Rusty Lisch QBed the Irish, impressing no one but Devine..Irish fans wondered where was Joe Montana, thus the Devine was an idiot emerged..
Next week, a heavily favored ND team is defeated on road by Ole Miss, 20-13, Lisch all the way and impressing no one..Following week, Purdue leads 24-14, Lisch gets yanked, 2nd string Gary Forystek gets injured leaving Devine with no choice but Joe Montana..Joe rallies ND to 31-24 win, they then roll undefeated including the 49-19 green jersey win over USC,and 38-10 win over Texas for the title..The criticism of Devine proved warranted..and Montana was never called mediocre, he was the darling of ND Fans..and the QB they wanted from day 1..