Sean Devine is in his ninth season on the Villanova coaching staff in 2025. He coaches the Wildcats offensive line and is the team’s Offensive Run Game Coordinator.
In addition to recruiting several local schools in the greater Philadelphia area, Devine’s recruiting territory includes South and Central New Jersey locally as well as Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas on the national front.
At least one Villanova offensive lineman has been a CAA Football All-Conference selection in each of Devine’s first eight years on the coaching staff. The current unit is highlighted by center Jake Picard who was a first team all-conference pick last year and is garnering preseason All-America recognition entering the 2025 campaign. In addition to Picard’s first team selection in 2024, left tackle Stephane Voltaire earned honorable mention All-CAA accolades. There has been due recognition for the Wildcats on a national level as well, as Michael Corbi (2021, 2023) developed into a two-time Stats Perform All-American under Devine’s watch.
Devine coordinates Villanova’s offensive run game which featured the reigning CAA Football Offensive Rookie of the Year in David Avit, a breakout player last season who is on the preseason watch list for the Walter Payton Award entering his sophomore campaign. Avit ranked third nationally among FCS freshmen with 923 rushing yards last season and he scored nine rushing touchdowns while amassing over 1,000 yards from scrimmage on the year (923 rushing yards, 175 receiving yards, 1008 all-purpose yards).
In 2023, the Wildcats had one of the top running games in the country and topped 225 yards on the ground seven times. Villanova scored multiple rushing touchdowns nine times in 13 outings in 2023 and ranked 10th nationally for the season with an average of 214.5 rushing yards per game.
The offensive line has enabled the Wildcats to be a high-powered offense in recent years. In 2022, the team ranked among the top 25 teams nationally with an average of 189.6 rushing yards per contest. The offense recorded 49 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or longer during the season, including 32 pass plays and 17 rushes. Villanova’s offensive line has been ranked in the top 10 nationally in fewest sacks allowed in three of the past five seasons.
In 2019, Villanova led CAA Football by giving up just 14 sacks in 13 games played. Starting left guard Paul Grattan earned first team All-CAA honors and Gamroth was a third team selection in his first year as a starter. Following the 2018 season Ethan Greenidge was a second team All-CAA selection. He and teammate Brandon Hitner each went on to sign NFL free agent contracts with the New Orleans Sains and the Los Angeles Rams, respectively.
A veteran of more than 20 years in the collegiate coaching ranks, Devine spent four seasons as the Offensive Coordinator and offensive line coach at Delaware before coming to Villanova. He made an immediate mark on the Blue Hens in his first season in 2013 when he worked with one of the top offensive units in CAA Football. Delaware tallied a 7-5 record and ranked in the top half of the league in nearly every statistical category, including second in scoring offense (32.8 points per game), third in passing offense (240.0 yards per game) and fourth in rushing offense (177.0 yards per game).
Delaware won six games in 2014 and placed both junior tackle Ben Curtis and senior guard JD Dzurko on the All-CAA squad. Curtis went on to be an All-American in 2015 for a Blue Hens team that ranked second in the CAA and 17th in FCS football in rushing offense (219.4 yards per game). Delaware was also second in the league and 13th nationally in time of possession per game (33:04) in 2015. Devine worked with a pair of offensive linemen, Connor Bozick and Brody Kern, who were All-CAA selections for both the 2015 and the 2016 seasons.
Devine coached for 14 years (1995-08) at New Hampshire, where he served as defensive line coach (1995-01), offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator (2002-06), and offensive coordinator and offensive line coach (2007-08). Devine was a part of five consecutive FCS playoff berths from 2004-08, and during his time on the Wildcats coaching staff he saw New Hampshire gain a No. 1 national ranking and capture three conference titles. Among the players he coached was quarterback Ricky Santos, who won at least a share of the league’s Offensive Player of the Year award three straight years from 2005-07.
He began his coaching career at his alma mater, Colby College, in 1994 and also coached for four years at Boston College (2009-12) prior to his stint at Delaware. He served as the offensive line coach at Boston College for three seasons and was also the tight ends coach in 2012. Devine helped lead the Eagles to berths in the Emerald Bowl (2009) and the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl (2010), and he coached two-time All-ACC performer Anthony Castonzo who was a 2011 first round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts.
Devine was a four-year starter at linebacker at Colby College, where he was a team captain. He was an All-East selection as a senior and earned his degree in Physics in 1994. He was Colby’s defensive line coach for the 1994 football season.
Devine and his wife, Nicole, are the parents to daughters Amelie and Maelle. Amelie graduated from Villanova in 2023.
