Editor’s note: Watch the Original Series “Decades in Sports” on the app. Across six episodes, the series explores the defining moments, athletes, and cultural shifts that shaped sports over the past six decades, from the television revolution and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s to the profound impact of social media on today’s athletes.
There have been plenty of dominant teams in the 150-plus-year history of college football, but few have left a mark as indelible as the Miami Hurricanes did during the 1980s. The Hurricanes were not just a team; they were a cultural phenomenon that challenged the traditional decorum of the sport. They were a group that went against the grain, trash-talking in a way that constantly got under their opponents’ skin, celebrating wildly after big plays, and dancing in the end zone. Their bold, brash, and arrogant style transformed the landscape of college athletics.
“That made them such a phenomenon,” says John U. Bacon, author of ‘Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football.’ As Bacon highlights in the series, “The Hurricanes were the bad boys of college football.” Their impact was felt far beyond the gridiron, as the 1986 squad was famously labeled the most hated team of all time by Sports Illustrated. This list, which featured 25 of the most polarizing teams in US sports history, included legendary squads like the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons—also known as the “Bad Boys”—and the 2010-11 Miami Heat. Yet, the Hurricanes topped them all. Bacon notes, “They were more popular in Miami than the Dolphins, and the Dolphins had 1984 NFL MVP Dan Marino.”
The Hurricanes’ boisterous antics were not merely empty gestures; they backed up their bravado when they stepped onto the field. Like many polarizing sports teams throughout history, Miami garnered attention because it won. Winning made the Hurricanes easy to root against, but also impossible to ignore. What truly set them apart was how they embraced the role of the villain. Before facing defending national champion and top-ranked Oklahoma in September 1986 in front of over 70,000 fans at the Orange Bowl, the Hurricanes famously defied protocol and refused to shake hands with the Sooners, sparking a heated exchange between the top-ranked programs. Game officials intervened and threatened to throw a penalty flag if Miami snubbed the pre-game handshake, but the Hurricanes did not budge. They backed up their pre-game antics by beating the Sooners 28-16.
Their “style ruffled a lot of feathers,” says Dr. Todd Boyd, Professor of Cinema and Music Studies at USC. The more people disliked Miami, the more the team seemed to embrace it. Later that same season, they took it a step further. When landing in Tempe, Arizona, for the 1987 Fiesta Bowl against Penn State, which served as the national championship game, the Hurricanes famously stepped off their plane wearing full camouflage military fatigues in an attempt to intimidate the Nittany Lions. While it did not work on that occasion, as Miami fell 14-10 in the title game, the following year the “Bad Boy” Hurricanes came out on top, going unbeaten and taking down the Oklahoma Sooners to claim the national title.
When Jimmy Johnson arrived in South Florida in 1984, he had massive shoes to fill. Howard Schnellenberger, who helped build Miami’s program into an elite powerhouse over five seasons, had just departed after leading the Hurricanes to their first national championship by upsetting the unbeaten, top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers. Johnson maintained the momentum; after going 18-7 in his first two seasons, Miami went 34-2 in his final three. This included winning the national championship in 1987 and narrowly losing 14-10 to Penn State in 1986 after Johnson led the Hurricanes to the first undefeated regular season in program history.
There was a significant shift happening in sports in the 1980s, with players becoming more brash and expressive. As Van Lathan, a journalist and podcaster at The Ringer, says in the series, “The 80s were an anti-hero decade.” Lathan highlights that during that time, society was re-examining what was acceptable in the name of winning. “This is a post-Watergate America… and whatever it takes, we are going to win.” No one embodied that shift more than this group from South Florida. It was a philosophy of winning by any means necessary. As one player recalled of Johnson’s leadership style, “He’s like, ‘As long as we win, you can do whatever you want.’” Ultimately, no one will forget the 1980s Miami Hurricanes, the true “Bad Boys of college football.” The report also notes that the “Bad Boy” Hurricanes came out on top, going unbeaten and taking down the Oklahoma Sooners – again – 20-14 to win the national championship, but the following year. The report also notes that for context, the 25-team list devised by Sports Illustrated featured some of the most polarizing teams in US sports history, such as the 1988-89 Detroit Pistons (widely known as the “Bad Boys”), the 2010-11 Miami Heat (universally recognized as the team that kickstarted the “superteam” era in the NBA ) and the 2007 New England Patriots (who became the ultimate villains of the NFL after the infamous “Spygate” scandal. The report also notes that howard Schnellenberger – who helped build Miami’s college football program into one of the elite programs over five seasons – had just departed after leading the Hurricanes to their first national championship, upsetting the unbeaten, top-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers 31-30 at the Orange Bowl. The report also notes that it is something that is celebrated today but was highly frowned upon at the time. The report also notes that “Normally, when you get a lot of players who like to dance when they score a touchdown and like to talk a bunch of sh*t when they play, you have a coach who is trying to tamp that down and get them to behave a little bit more respectably…. The report also notes that on its face, it sounds simple, but it was highly effective and it was an era that redefined what a college football powerhouse could look like.
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