Miami was previously a small poor local school with no conference, no tradition and nearly no football team altogether... and in the 70's actually considered dropping the sport because of funding and lack of overall interest. Then Schnellenberger led them to the 1983 national championship as an independent with a very weak schedule. Subsequently, the arrival of coach Jimmy Johnson (who was fleeing to Miami from Stillwater, Oklahoma), and his 58-7 thrashing of a once-proud Notre Dame in 1985, changed both programs. Johnson was able to corner a talent-rich region of South Florida, recruited young men from poor neighborhoods... because he had a TV national rival. Without ND Miami would have been practically invisible and its National Championship as great an anomaly as that of BYU in 1984.