What New Ring of Honorees Mean To Miami Football

The Miami football program recently announced five new inductees to the Ring of Honor. Michael Irvin, Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, Warren Sapp and Sean Taylor will be inducted on Thursday, October 12 against Georgia Tech in a nationally televised game on ESPN. Kickoff is set for 8 PM.

All five of the Miami football alums had different impacts during slightly different eras. All are highly beloved players in the history of the U. Amazingly despite their greatness, only Irvin and Reed won national championships at Miami.

Miami football exceeds the iconic U logo and the five national championships. The U became iconic for their swagger, excessive celebrations by some accounts and the aggressive nature they played the game.

Howard Schnellenberger brought the U to prominence and created the State of Miami blueprint of recruiting. Jimmy Johnson succeeded him as the coach and took the Hurricanes to another level.

Johnson made Miami a national brand. He brought swagger, aggressiveness and made speed on the field a priority.

Irvin was one of the most iconic players during the Johnson era. No one epitomized Miami confidence more. Irvin helped assert the ideal that the Miami Hurricanes would back down to no one.

During Johnson’s five years at Miami, the Hurricanes went 52-9. In his last four seasons, the Hurricanes went 44-4. The Johnson era set the standard for how the game would be played at Miami.