Jeff Devanney begins his 20th season as head football coach at Trinity College in the fall of 2025. 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. The Bantams have outscored their opponents, 4,677-1,959, in his 19-year tenure as head coach.
Last season, the Bantams registered a 7-2 record on the season, ranking second in the country in redzone offense, sixth in completion percentage (72.1), tenth in first down defense and 10th in passing efficiency (175.31). Trinity led the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) in scoring offense (31.1), total offense (394.6), total yards (2,448), total touchdowns (36), passing yards (272.0), passing touchdowns (24), and ranked second in scoring defense (16.0).
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 2018 and 2017. 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 a 128-23 record as a head coach, including a perfect 9-0 record in 2022 and 8-0 records in 2008, 2012 and 2016, giving him the best winning percentage in the history of Trinity football at .847. The Bantams won or shared the NESCAC title from 2002 to 2005, in 2008 and 2012, from 2016 to 2018 and in 2022 and 2023. Devanney was honored as the NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2008, 2012, 2016 2018 and 2022, 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. He has seen 194 All-NESCAC selections from his teams the last 16 years including the NESCAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year in 2008, the Defensive Player of the Year from 2010 to 2012 and again in 2016, Offensive Player of the Year in 2018 and 2023 and the NESCAC Rookie of the Year five times since 2013.
In Devanney’s 23 years on the Bantam staff, Trinity has been ranked No. 1 in total defense in the country five times and posted 29 shutouts. In 2022, Trinity led the nation with the least amount of first downs allowed (110) and ranked second nationally in rushing defense (49.1 ypg), ninth in scoring defense (10.9 ppg), and 14th in total defense (240.8 ypg). In 2021, Trinity ranked fourth in the nation in red-zone defense and seventh nationally in offensive pass efficiency, while the Bantams were among the top five nationally in fewest first downs allowed in both 2019 and 2021. The Bantams led the league and were ranked among the top 15 nationally in scoring defense, scoring offense, pass efficiency defense, and passing yards allowed in both 2017 and 2018. In 2015, the Bantams ranked No. 1 in the nation in red-zone defense (.458), and Trinity led the country in kickoff return average with 28.1 yards per attempt in 2014. In 2012, Trinity yielded NCAA Division III-lows of 195.5 yards per contest, 8.1 points per game, and 53.6 yards per game on the ground. Trinity also led the nation statistically in rushing defense (63.5 ypg), total defense (195.5 g), and scoring defense (8.13 ppg) while posting four shutouts in 2011, and finished first in the nation in rushing defense (45.50 ypg) in 2010. In 2006, Trinity led the country in scoring defense and total defense.
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.
