Noel Devine
Noel Devine is an American former football running back. He is currently an offensive analyst and assistant running backs coach for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He played college football for the Mountaineers and holds the record for career-all purpose yardage.
Devine was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League as an undrafted free agent in 2011, but was released four days later after departing the team due to personal matters. Devine spent several years playing in the Canadian Football League and helped guide the West Virginia Roughriders of the American Arena League to the 2019 championship.
Devine currently owns and operates DevineSpeed, LLC, a speed training business where he trains young athletes at all levels. Devine, the highest rated recruit in Mountaineer football history, was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame on October 30, 2021.
Early life
Devine went to North Fort Myers High School, the same high school attended by NFL stars Deion Sanders and Jevon Kearse. Devine rushed for 627 yards and averaged 8.6 yards per carry as a freshman. In his sophomore year, Noel had 1289 yards and 23 TDs on 206 carries, for an average of 6.3. One of the most impressive games of his 10th grade year was in the 63–7 victory over Estero High. Devine rushed for 365 yards and six touchdowns on only nine carries. Devine also returned a kickoff 84 yards for a touchdown. As a junior, Devine rushed for 1,986 yards and 24 touchdowns on 173 carries, averaging 11.5 yards per carry. In his senior year, Devine totaled 2,148 yards and 31 touchdowns.On October 20, 2006, Noel became the all-time leader in rushing yards for Lee County, surpassing former Mariner High School student and Tampa Bay running back Earnest Graham. Coincidentally, it was Graham's alma mater against which Devine was playing when the record was broken - he scored on a 65-yard touchdown run late in the 3rd quarter. He finished his high school career with 92 touchdowns, another Lee County record.
In the U.S. Army All-American Bowl game, he amazingly took David Green's kickoff back 88 yards before catching his big right toe on the turf and falling just short of the end zone.
Devine was the #3 ranked running back in the nation by ESPN's . Before signing with West Virginia, he was recruited by coaches from some of the nation's other top collegiate programs, such as the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, University of Alabama and Florida State University.
Collegiate career
Freshman season
Devine got his first chance to play in the 4th quarter of West Virginia's season opener against Western Michigan. Devine showed his speed as he beat the defense to the corner as he went 23 yards after spinning off of a defender. Devine scored his first collegiate touchdown on an 8-yard run to score WVU's final score, as the #3 ranked Mountaineers beat Western Michigan 62–24. Devine finished the game with 7 carries for 44 yards and a reception for 19 yards.In the second game of the season, Devine helped the WVU seal a 4th quarter victory over in-state rival Marshall. Devine only had 5 carries, but managed to rack up 76 yards and 2 touchdowns to help the third-ranked Mountaineers beat the Thundering Herd 48–23. Devine also had two kickoff returns for 40 yards. His longest run of the day was 39 yards.
File:NoelDevine&Jock Sanders.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Noel Devine and Jock Sanders stand on the sideline during the Mississippi State game
In the third game of the season, against Maryland, Devine had the best game of the season to that point. In the 31–14 win, Devine rushed for 136 yards on just 5 carries; a 27.2 yards average. His biggest run of the day was a 76 yards dash down the sideline to the one-yard line. On his next carry he juked out a number of defenders and spun off a facemask grab to cap off the 18-yard gain. He also had one reception for two yards and two kick returns for 47 yards. Devine took only two carries to reach 100 yards against Maryland.
In the next game against ECU, Devine had 7 rushes for 11 yards, a reception for 7 yards and a kick return for 25 yards. In the Mountaineers' first loss of the season against USF, 21–13, Devine had 4 carries for 36 yards. He also had 36 yards on two kick returns. In the 55–14 win over Syracuse, Devine was held to 13 yards on 4 carries, with 33 yards on two kick returns. Devine sat out the Mississippi State game. Against twenty-fifth-ranked Rutgers, Devine had 6 carries for 40 yards.
Against Louisville, Devine had 2 rushes for 11 yards and one reception for 4 yards. He also had 4 kick returns for 97 yards, including a 41-yarder. After the 38–31 Louisville win, rumors circulated that Devine was mad about lack of playing time and had supposedly "torn up his locker" in a fit of anger. In an article with Rivals.com, Devine dismissed the rumors saying, "If I really wanted to play I would have gone to a sorry team...I didn't expect a lot of playing time." Devine also said, "I think I have played fairly. There's people that are not playing and they're on the team and they're happy. You got a great running back ahead of you. Really, I'm not expecting a lot."
In the 28–23 road win against twenty-second-ranked Cincinnati, Devine had only 23 yards on 2 carries, including a 17-yard rush. However, had four kick returns for 86 yards, averaging 21.5 yards per return. In the Big East Championship-clinching 66–21 win over twentieth-ranked Connecticut, Devine rushed for 118 yards and a score on 11 carries, which ranked second-best on the team, trailing only quarterback Pat White.
Subsequently, the then second-ranked Mountaineers were upset 13–9 by Pittsburgh in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl. Devine had only 11 yards on 7 carries; a 1.6 average. However, in the 4th quarter, Devine returned a kickoff 48 yards in the final minutes of the game. But, ultimately, the Mountaineers were stopped on fourth down to end the game.
Devine would finish his freshman season in West Virginia's Fiesta Bowl win over Oklahoma. After losing Steve Slaton to a leg injury in the first quarter, Devine filled in for WVU with 105 yards on 12 carries and 2 touchdowns, including a 65-yard run which provided the final score of the game. The run broke a West Virginia bowl record for longest rush and was the second longest play from scrimmage for the Mountaineers in the season. He also returned 4 kickoffs for 88 yards, a 22.0 yards average, and pulled in two receptions for 47 yards.
Devine was given honorable mention for the Freshman All-American team by various sources, including SportingNews, and was awarded the team's Danny Van Etten Rookie of the Year Award by head coach Rich Rodriguez. After Rodriguez left the team before the 2008 Fiesta Bowl that offseason Devine thought about transferring. He finished his freshman season with 73 carries for 627 yards and 6 touchdowns. He also added 7 receptions for 90 yards and 26 returns for 599 yards. Devine ended the season with 1,316 all-purpose yards, the 21st most in a single-season in school history. Devine also finished the year ranked tenth in the Big East in rushing yards per game and #5 in the conference in kickoff return yards.
Sophomore season
After former head coach Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia and announced his decision to accept the head coaching job at the University of Michigan, Noel Devine considered transferring, but decided he would finish his career at West Virginia. On January 14, 2008, West Virginia starting running back Steve Slaton announced his desire to enter the NFL draft instead of returning for his senior season. Slaton's departure meant Devine would be the probable starter for the 2008 season.Devine and quarterback Pat White were named the #1 "scary star" of the 2008 by Rivals.com. Shortly afterwards, the Mountaineers began their first spring practice. West Virginia running backs coach, Chris Beatty, said of Devine, “He’s as quick as he looked on television...So quick and yet he has great patience and things like that. My goal is to just let him run fast and do the things he does so well.” Devine also commented that he could handle at least 30 carries a game as the feature back, despite his size; which he said he wanted to jump up to 180 pounds. Head coach Bill Stewart also said that Devine maxed out at 405 pounds at the bench press during the spring.
To begin the 2008 season, Noel Devine rushed for 47 yards on 9 carries and also had 37 yards on 6 receptions in the season opening victory against the Villanova Wildcats, 48–21. In the following 24–3 loss to the ECU Pirates, Devine rushed 12 times for 94 yards and returned two kickoffs for 47 yards. In West Virginia's following 14–17 overtime loss to Colorado, Devine rushed 26 times for 133 yards and also had 11 yards on three receptions.
In the 27–3 victory over Marshall, Devine rushed 14 times for 125 yards and his first touchdown of the season. To begin Big East play, Devine rushed 19 times for 55 yards, a 2.9 yard per carry average, in the 24–17 victory over Rutgers. In the following 17–6 victory over Syracuse, Devine rushed for 188 yards on 18 carries for a touchdown. His 188 yards was a career-high, and his 92-yard rushing touchdown in the 4th quarter not only was a career-long, but also was the second-longest rush in school and stadium history. Devine's performance in the Syracuse win won him the Big East Offensive Player of the Week honors. Following the 188-yard performance against Syracuse, Devine totaled a career-high 207 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries in the Mountaineers' 34–17 victory over Auburn. For the game, Devine recorded six runs of at least 20 yards. The two-game stretch totaled 395 yards and two touchdowns.
West Virginia then defeated #25 UCONN 35–13, the team's first road win of the season, in which Devine rushed 17 times for 60 yards - a 3.5 yard per rush average. However, West Virginia was then defeated by Cincinnati in a 26–23 overtime loss, as the Mountaineers rallied from being down 20–7 with under two minutes left in the game to tie it and send it to overtime. Devine, however, finished the game with 19 rushes for 58 yards and 6 receptions for 48 yards - a total of 106 yards of offense.
Devine and West Virginia bounced back in the following 35–21 victory over Louisville in their annual series. Devine posted his fifth 100-yard rushing game on the season with 154 yards on 13 carries. The performance included a 79-yard run, which was a school record for the longest non-touchdown run in school history. However, the Mountaineers then lost in the Backyard Brawl to Pittsburgh 19–15. Devine carried the ball 12 times for 17 yards - a 1.4 yard per carry average - and caught 3 passes for 6 yards in the loss.
Devine finished out the regular season with 17 carries for 90 yards and 3 receptions for 21 yards - 111 total yards of offense - in the 13–7 win over South Florida, however Devine did not start as head coach Bill Stewart said he was disappointed in his performance the prior week. However, Devine was named a second-team All-Big East selection following the victory.
In the Meineke Car Care Bowl victory over North Carolina, Devine rushed 13 times for 61 yards and a touchdown. He finished his sophomore season with 1,289 yards and 4 touchdowns.