Former Miami Hurricanes head coach, Jimmy Johnson helped continue the Canes winning tradition when the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame coach patrolled the sidelines for the University of Miami from 1984-1988. Under coach Johnson, the Miami Hurricanes won the 1987 National Championship. Johnson was a huge factor in thrusting the Canes into a program vying for New Years Day bowl games and national championships during his last three seasons at the helm.
It was during coach Johnson's tenure with the Miami Hurricanes that the Canes gained national attention and commenced to become the team and program that many college football programs loathed to play. In a recently recorded video, coach Johnson is seen talking to the current University of Miami football players about swagger and confidence.
When the Hurricanes played the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 1986 National Title game, that showdown portrayed the Miami Hurricanes image in an unfavorable way, which climaxed when the Hurricanes were dubbed by the media as "Convicts", against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the 1988 season (Johnson's last season with the Canes), in a game with national title implications. Although the Fighting Irish barely eclipse the Canes by the score of 31-30, the October game proved to become the determining factor as to which team that season would ultimately cease the national championship crown. The Hurricanes finished second in the final poll rankings after losing the game against the Irish on a controversial call.
Coach Johnson's teams won fifty-one games, while only losing nine. During the coach's famed collegiate and professional coaching career, many of his teams won with a type of confidence and swagger that few have been able to comprehend. It was unheard of and extremely rare that a collegiate football team could celebrate after recording a touchdown, sack, or creating a "big play".
Upon hearing coach Johnson's message to the team, which included why the Miami Hurricanes in season's past were able to "swag-out", it was due to the team playing with confidence by not committing mental errors and also being one of college football's least penalized teams. This current Miami Hurricanes football program has the chance to play that same brand of football by becoming technologically and disciplined sound, traits that coach Johnson are totally familiar with.