By: Phil Houk of Fighting Irish Preview
In 2021, Dylan Devezin was the starting quarterback his senior year at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. Augustine is a small all boys high school known for producing pretty good athletes, and for its powerhouse academics. The 6-1, 222 lb Devezin was good enough on the field that he was offered opportunities to play at the Divison-III level. But he also had a chance to attend the University of Notre Dame, on an academic scholarship. Academics won out, but now, one year later Devezin has both.
“I had a couple of Division III offers, Belhaven College, and Milsaps in Mississippi but I bet on my education and came to Notre Dame.” He told the media after a recent practice.
He enrolled at ND in the Fall of 2022 , began his studies in the Mendoza School of business and sat in the stands last season for the football games. An initial inquiry he had made about the possibility of walking on had come up empty. The ND quarterback room was full. Devezin accepted what he believed to be his fate, but then, fate intervened. Drew Pyne transferred, Ron Powlus III medically retired. Devezin got a call, went through a try out and on the first day of spring practice, he was Notre Dame’s fourth string quarterback.
And that is where the story gets really interesting.
During the first spring practice all the quarterbacks were given a shot at being the holder for field goals and extra points. Opportunity knocked and Devezin knocked it out of the park. A holder for three years in high school, he made an immediate impression on the coaching staff, and the job quickly became his.
Initially he had figured that as the 4th string QB, he would dress for home games, and watch the road games from at home. Now he will be an on field contributor in every game, and that means traveling to road games including the August 26 opener against Navy in Ireland.
Devezin offered a clue that may help explain his ability to quickly to win the holding job. In high school Devezin pulled off the football equivalent of learning to switch hit in baseball. “I held in high school first for a lefty and then my senior year we had a righty,” an experience that required him to learn to hold essentially, backwards and forwards.
Devezine willl be the third piece of this year’s place kicking operation along with highly touted transfer kicker Spencer Shrader who arrived on campus in June and long snapper Michael “Milk” Vinson who is back for his 6th season in the program.
Since winning the job in the spring, Devezin has followed a consistent routine at each practice, “We catch 90 snaps everyday. 30 on each spot. 30 on the left hash, 30 on the right hash and 30 in the middle.”
The walk-on QB’s accomplishment impresses quarterback’s Coach Gino Guidulgi. When asked about Devezin’s fast rise to the top of the special team’s depth chart, Guidulgi paused, sat back, cracked a smile and said, “He’s going to go out there and be on the field in a critical role when we play in Dublin, Ireland! It’s awesome, it’s just a guy coming in and understanding, ‘there’s a role for me on this football team’ and embracing that role. ”
As for Devezin, he also has some insight into his accomplishment, “It’s been an unreal journey, From not playing, not even being in the building at all….to being on the travel team.”
From student watching from the stands one season, to first team on the field the next, Dylan Devezin is an the verge of etching his story into the rich history of Notre Dame football.