The University of Miami football program began with just a freshman team in 1926 . Its first game was played on October 23 , 1926 , a 7 – 0 win over Rollins College before 304 fans . Under the guidance of head coach Howard " Cub " Buck , the freshman team posted a perfect 8 – 0 record in its inaugural season . Two of the wins were against the University of Havana , one on Thanksgiving Day in Miami and one at Havana on Christmas Day . Miami 's last home game of the season featured a first : the first Hurricane football game played on New Year 's Day against Howard at Miami 's University Stadium . Around this time , the team adopted the official nickname " Hurricanes " , though the exact timing and origin of the name is unclear ; some reports suggest it was in reference to the devastating power of the 1926 hurricane that postponed the program 's first game by a month , and others that it was suggested by a player in response to rumors that university officials wanted to name the team after local flora or fauna . Varsity competition began in 1927 , with Miami beating Rollins , 39 – 3 , in its first game and going on to a 3 – 6 – 1 record . The team improved to 4 – 4 – 1 in 1928 , but it was not enough for Buck to keep his job , and he was replaced prior to the 1929 season with J. Burton Rix , previously head coach at Southern Methodist . Rix 's arrival was funded by a group of local businessmen . That off-season , the program , which competed as an independent during its first two years of existence , joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( SIAA ) . 1929 saw Miami play its first varsity road game ( a 14 – 0 loss at Southwest Louisiana ) , and Rix led the team to its first winning season , going 3 – 2 . His tenure , however , was short-lived ; off-campus financing for the program dried up in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash , and he resigned after one season . Ernest Brett replaced Rix , and in 1930 , Miami played Temple in its first game outside the South , losing 34 – 0 to the Owls in Atlantic City , New Jersey . On October 31 , 1930 , the Hurricanes played in one of the nation 's first night games vs. Bowden College in Miami . Brett only lasted one year , and Tom McCann became the program 's fourth head coach in 1931 . Under McCann , the football program experienced its most successful seasons to that point . After a difficult first year , Miami put together a winning record in 1932 and served as host to the inaugural Palm Festival ( later to be known as the Orange Bowl ) , defeating Manhattan College 7 – 0 at Moore Park in Miami . A 5 – 1 – 2 campaign and another Palm Festival berth followed in 1933 , and in 1934 , the program played in its first official bowl game , losing to Bucknell in the first Orange Bowl , 26 – 0 . In 1935 , a group of Miami football supporters sought to hire Red Grange as coach . However , the move was vetoed by President Bowman Foster Ashe , in part because of the $ 7,500 salary that Grange had requested . Instead Irl Tubbs took over as head coach in 1935 , and though Miami compiled an 11 – 5 – 2 record in his two seasons , it did not play in a bowl in either year
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NCAA Division I FBS independent schools
Miami Hurricanes football