Erickson is the only Miami Football Coach to ever win two National Championships. Under Erickson, Torretta became the only Miami player to ever win a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy. In addition to the best winning percentage in school history, Erickson’s 63 wins at Miami are second only to Gustafson.
In Erickson’s six seasons in South Florida, the Hurricanes only had one season with three losses and two with two losses. 1991 Miami team finished the school’s second undefeated season and undefeated National Championship season in school history.
Miami Hurricanes Football
The criticism and one of the reasons that Erickson is not as lauded as Johnson and other former Miami Football Coaches Howard Schnellenberger and Butch Davis is for the mess he left behind. Following Erickson’s departure to the Seattle Seahawks after the 1994 season, Miami went on probation for a Pell Grant scandal.
It put the Hurricanes back a few years and Davis did an incredible job getting Miami back among the Nation’s elite teams. Erickson’s legacy should be more focused on the unenviable task of having to follow a beloved and legendary coach like Johnson.
Erickson not only continued Schnellenberger and Johnson’s heritage he took it to another level. While some unfairly say that Erickson won a National Championship with Johnson’s players in 1989, the Hurricanes won the 1991 title mostly with players Erickson recruited.