Member Biography

Coach Howard Jones had lifted Iowa football fortunes to the brink of success, yet he was in need of one ingredient to make the Hawkeyes a legitimate gridiron power. Jones needed a field leader, a player of innovative thinking and unusual football ability. In 1919, he took note of a sophomore varsity candidate named Aubrey Devine, and the coach immediately determined Devine would be his leader. That season and the next, the Hawkeyes posted identical 5-2 records while Jones molded Aubrey into the leader he envisioned. Then, in 1921, the hard work and determination paid off. Devine directed Iowa to its first undefeated and untied season at 7-0, and the Western Conference (Big Ten) championship. Aubrey earned All-Conference and All-America honors as the Hawkeyes dominated the competition, out-scoring their foes, 225-36. Iowa wasted little time establishing its greatness that year, using the second game of the season to chalk up a 10-7 upset of Notre Dame, ending a 20-game Irish winning streak. Forty- nine years after his graduation from Iowa, Devine was named to the All-Time Hawkeye Team, selected in conjunction with the Big Ten's 75th anniversary celebration in 1970.