 The Miami Hurricanes came into the 1980 college football season after an 5 – 6 season in 1979 under head coach Howard Schnellenberger . During that season , the team was nicknamed the " Jet <unk> Kids " after they traveled an NCAA @-@ record 28 @,@ 000 miles ( 45 @,@ 000 km ) , including a trip to the <unk> Bowl in Tokyo , Japan . While impressive , the season wasn 't as successful as hoped , and Schnellenberger began his second season as coach hoping to improve upon the 5 – 6 effort despite what was the toughest schedule — in terms of opponents ' winning percentage — in the country . 
