Bob Devaney, a raconteur and humorist whose coaching made the University of Nebraska a national football power and whose leadership as athletic director modernized the athletics program, died yesterday at the Eastment Towers, a retirement home in Lincoln, Neb. He was 82.

He had been in declining health since a stroke in March 1995. Marilyn Mecham, a family spokeswoman, said the cause of death was cardiac arrest. Mr. Devaney was hospitalized last March after a heart attack and was released nine days ago.

In 1961, a 3-6-1 record produced Nebraska's 18th nonwinning season in 21 years. The university then hired Devaney as head coach at $19,000 a year. His first Nebraska team finished 9-2, Nebraska's best record since 1905, and the success grew.

When he retired after the 1972 season after 11 years to become the university's full-time athletic director, his record at Nebraska was 101-20-2, the best among coaches at the time. In 1981, he was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.

His teams won unofficial national championships in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. They also won eight Big Eight Conference titles and played in nine bowl games, winning six. His hand-picked successor, Tom Osborne, has continued a winning tradition that has gone on for 35 straight seasons.

When Mr. Devaney arrived at Nebraska, he retained Cletus Fischer, an assistant on the previous staff. They drove all over the state in search of players, enthusiasm and money. The university car they drove had no heat or radio, and funds were so low that the coaches slept two to a room. And, Mr. Devaney once recalled, ''Cletus snored.''

Mr. Devaney's success came quickly, helped by psychology and philosophy. In one game in 1970, after Nebraska trailed Kansas by 20-10, the Cornhuskers rallied for a 41-20 victory. ''You learned something today,'' Mr. Devaney told his players after the game. ''You learned you can come back. Remember that. That's the lesson of life.''

The next year, Nebraska finished the regular season unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll. In the past, the MacArthur Bowl had been presented to the team ranked first in that poll. But this time, another poll would be taken after the bowl games, giving No. 2 Alabama, also unbeaten, a chance for that unofficial national title.

Mr. Devaney was furious, but he got even after Nebraska routed Alabama, 38-6, in the Orange Bowl. His players carried him to the showers, and when officials arrived to present the trophy, Mr. Devaney had stripped to his shorts.

As Don Bryant, Nebraska's associate athletic director, recalled: ''The bowl officials said to Bob, 'Get dressed. We need you to accept the MacArthur Bowl.' Bob said: 'You took your time making up your mind. Are you sure now, or do you want us to play the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears first?' ''

Mr. Devaney then went to the showers and the bowl officials rounded up the university chancellor and the defensive captain and presented the trophy to them.

Nebraska's model athletic plant is a legacy from Mr. Devaney and his work as athletic director from 1967 to 1993. When he became coach, Memorial Stadium seated 38,000 and was rarely sold out. Without using state funds, he presided over the stadium expansion to its present capacity of 72,700, and every Nebraska home game has been sold out since his first season. For a campus with aging athletic facilities, he encouraged the legislature to pass a cigarette tax to build a $13 million, four-and-a-half-acre indoor facility for basketball, track and field, swimming, diving, wrestling and gymnastics, with a main arena seating 14,302. It was later renamed the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Robert Simon Devaney was born on April 13, 1915, in Saginaw, Mich., and grew up there. At Alma College in Michigan, he lettered three years as a football end, and in 1939 he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in social science.

For the next 14 seasons, he coached football at four Michigan high schools. From 1953 to 1956, he was an assistant coach at Michigan State. From 1957 to 1961, he was head coach at Wyoming, where his teams had a record of 35-10-5. Then came Nebraska. In 1993, he became athletic director emeritus, concerned mostly with fund-raising. He retired in June 1996.

''I have never looked at coaching or athletic administration as a job,'' he said. ''It has always been a lot of fun for me, and that's why I never really wanted to retire.''

He is survived by his wife of 61 years, the former Phyllis Wile; a son, Michael; a daughter, Patricia, and two grandchildren.

Robert Devaney