USC is by far better. The reason Miami was so successful was because they were so revolutionary in their approach to the game. They were so far ahead of their time in terms of scheme, player development, recruiting, strength and conditioning and coaching. It wasn’t a level playing field. They were so ahead of the curve.

They ran offensive schemes that were out in front of 80% of the rest of college football. Under Erickson they ran a one back, 3 WR offense. That was heady stuff back then and Miami always ran pro style offenses. Most teams would try and defend that with a base 4-3 with OLB lined up on the Miami slot WR. Face palm. Teams played straight man-to-man the entire game and that was a reason why Miami was able to convert a 3rd and 43 against Notre Dame and a 1st and 40 against Texas. If you see their highlight clips from the ’80s you see mediocre NFL wideouts like Thomas, Randall “The Thrill” Hill and Wesley Carroll be streaking wide open down the side lines and through the middle of the field. Nobody ever saw a team with decent talent try and throw the ball. The powerhouses of the day ran the archaic wishbone so teams had no idea of how to defend a moderately complex passing scheme with above average talent. Among other things. Teams were playing high school football schematically. Most teams were football dumb. Miami was football smart. An underrated aspect of Miami’s success. It’s about the Jimmys and the Joes, but Miami never lacked for Xs and Os.

Miami was also so ahead of the curve in strength and conditioning and player development. All of college football focused on just getting bigger and stronger and were obsessed with the bench press.

I remember a much-publicized factoid that was circulated by the press when Miami played Oklahoma, Nebraska, or Texas and the teams and the media pointedout that Miami didn’t have a guy on their team that could bench 400. While OU, NU, or UT had a dozen or whatever. Most teams and the media thought it was an advantage, but Miami players laughed out loud at their ignorance and mocked them. Nebraska’s, OU’s, or UT’s or any other college S&C program was pretty much about lifting. Miami players ran, ran, ran. Up hills. Up staircases carrying irregularly shaped items (anvils, barrels, tires). Pushing cars. Boxing. Carrying teammates. Dragging tires. When they lifted, they focused on power cleans. Functional strength.

While many people like to focus on their great players like Irvin, Bennie Blades, Russell Maryland, etc as the reason for their huge success. That really wasn’t the whole story. The NFL talent gap compared to their major rivals like Notre Dame, OU, Nebraska, and FSU wasn’t that great. They had an edge certainly, but not a huge edge.The reason Miami was so great and dominant was that Miami never had really any weak players and the other teams did. Look at the ‘91 Miami team that destroyed a number 5 ranked Texas in the Cotton Bowl and look at some of their “big” players. They had a great defense filled with NFL stars but their offense was filled with guys who lived on hype and weren’t world beaters. Wesley Carroll (NFL bust), Randall Hill (straight line speed, lifetime #3 or #4 NFL WR), and Lamar Thomas (slow, lifetime #3 NFL WR) didn’t set the NFL on fire. QB Craig Erickson was a NFL bust. But in their system that talent worked even when they didn’t have Michael Irvin and Andre Johnson catching balls. That was the difference, Miami’s scrubs were alot better than everybody else’s scrubs while their stars were relatively equal to everybody else’s.

A reason for their decline was because everybody else started to emulate what they did. Nebraska, Florida, FSU, Alabama, etc. started to copy what they did. Recruit inner city black kids and create a sense of hunger. Focus on speed, speed, and more speed. Throw the ball more than 5 times a game. That is the reason why they never will retain their former glory because every major program is now “The U” in a way. Look at USC, Texas, Florida, Florida State, OU, LSU, ’Bama just switch the uniforms and you essentially have Miami Hurricanes of the ’80s. By that I mean with the type of athletes, players, schemes, coaches and playing philosophies. Just watch a USC game and they play and look like a better version of the U with on the field antics toned down to an extent and with players much better off the field. Hell Pete Carroll is a thinner and better looking version of Jimmy Johnson. This is not a knock on USC. In fact I love USC, it is just that the comparisons are somewhat valid. The other major programs of the day are really no different. Everybody has “swagger” “attitude” “speed” “athletes.”

That is why USC’s run is so impressive. It is a level playing field. Everybody plays the same game now. Everybody tries and recruits the same players and everybody focuses on speed. Its much harder to do what USC is doing then what Miami did because everybody is doing it. Also the coaching is so much better than it was back in the ’80s. If you had the better players you could win most of your games by 30 by running the same play over and over.Just a much tougher and better era than the one Miami was in.

This documentary was awesome. Was Kosar drunk or on pain killers? Miami should name their football field after Schnellenberger. That’s what was so awesome is that they came from nothing. It would be akin to SMU or Tulane or Pepperdine becoming a dynasty. Incredible story. I loved them as the underdogs coming from nowhere and then hated then as Convict U.

Although Phenom makes an interesting argument, I have to give the dynasty edge to the U. Top 2 6 out of 7 years with 3 different coaches! But, I give USC the win for best mini-dynasty/streak. Our #1, #1, #2, 33 straight weeks at #1, and 17 seconds from a 3-peat may never be matched again as the best consecutive year streak. But, sadly, our #4, #3, #3 finish with bad losses to Stanford, OSU, and UCLA keep us from matching the U on a dynasty comparison for a longer period.