Jeff Devanney begins his 21st season as head football coach at Trinity College in the fall of 2026. Devanney owns a 135-25 record over 20 seasons, holding the program’s highest winning percentage (.844).
Devanney ranks third in program history in career wins, sitting behind Don Miller (174) and Dan Jesse (150). A five-time New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Coach of the Year, Devanney has guided the Bantams to eight NESCAC Championships, including three straight titles from 2016-2018. Devanney garnered the Gridiron Club’s Division II/III New England Coach of the Year award in 2012 and 2022, and added the 2022 New England Football Writers Division II/III Coach of the Year honor.
Last season, the Bantams registered a 7-2 record on the season en route to their 12th NESCAC Championship, ranking third in the country in first-down defense and fourth-down conversion rate (.750), fifth in third-down defense (.276) and 14th in scoring defense, allowing 14.33 points to opponents. Trinity led the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in scoring offense (30.6), total offense (385.4), total yards (3,469), total touchdowns (37), rushing touchdowns (18), punt return average (13.8), third-down conversion rate (48.2), while ranking second in rushing offense (154.2), passing touchdowns (19), red zone offense, scoring defense and red zone defense, and third in passing offense (231.2).
In the fall of 2022, Devanney led Trinity to its first ever 9-0 record to capture the NESCAC crown for the ninth time in program history and boast the most regular season wins in program history. In 2016, Trinity posted a perfect 8-0 record to win the NESCAC title, and the Bantams three-peated as NESCAC Champions with an 8-1 record in 2017 and 2018. In 2021, Devanney guided the Bantams to an eight-win season for the fourth time in the last six years and earned his 100th career victory.
Devanney has coached more than 200 All-NESCAC selections, including 30 New England Football Writers All-New England selections, 28 D3football.com All-Region selections, eight D3football.com All-Americans and seven American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) All-Americans.
Trinity hired Devanney, a 1993 graduate of the College, as its 27th head coach in December of 2005. Prior to assuming the head coaching role, Devanney served as Trinity’s defensive coordinator in 2005, its special teams coordinator from 2001 to 2004, its secondary coach from 2002 to 2005, and its defensive line coach in 2001.
A star player in football and baseball for the Trinity, Devanney was voted the NESCAC Football Defensive Player of the Year in 1992. He appears among the College’s all-time leaders in punt returns and stolen bases in baseball. Devanney earned his master’s degree in liberal studies from SUNY-Albany in 1995. Prior to Trinity, Devanney was the defensive coordinator at Central Connecticut State University from 1998-2000. He also served as a secondary coach at Georgia Tech and worked with the wide receivers and tight ends at Albany and Coast Guard. A professor in the Trinity athletic department, Devanney and his wife, Michele, along with their children Shea (Trinity ’25), Caileb (University of New Brunswick ’28) and Sean (Avon Old Farms ’27), reside in Newington, CT.
