Well, I will tell you this…the University of Miami didn’t have a basketball team between 1971-1985 and, until the late 70s, were an absolute also-ran in football. I mean, I remember seeing them lose to Florida A&M (a then Division 2 team) in Tallahassee in 1979.
They were mediocre at best and usually bad…so bad, that the university administration seriously pondered dropping football altogether in the mid-70s. I know, because I lived it…2-9, 3-8, 5-6, etc…those were the usual records for Miami in the 70s…that is until first Lou Saban, and then Howard Schenellenberger started tapping into the local talent instead of allowing them to drift north.
Until the late 70s, every single good player from Miami would end up at Oklahoma, or Ohio State, or Michigan, or Florida, or Alabama….none of them stayed home.
Anyways, I’m rambling now, but I guess what I’m trying to say is that Utah had ample, ample opportunity to control “The U” moniker but somehow failed to make it happen. For example, the current Miami helmet symbol isn’t that old as it dates from the 1973 season, and the U hand symbol dates from when I was going to the school in the early 90s. I remember someone came up with it prior to a game versus FSU…prior to that, it didn’t exist.
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