A Look Back at Dennis Erickson & Frank Costa

The pressures of coaching and playing quarterback at the University of Miami can be intense. Perhaps no head coach/quarterback combination felt the weight of those expectations more than Erickson and Costa. Unlike most college programs, UM fans treat their team like a NFL franchise. If you win, they love you. If you don’t win, you get booed. Miami fans can also be fickle. Even when the Canes were winning, Miami fans would fill up only half the stadium, unless they were playing FSU, UF or Notre Dame.

Erickson and Costa went through their share of trials and tribulations. They both had to follow people who had tremendous success. Erickson is the only coach to win 2 national titles at UM. But when Miami fans mention great Canes coaches of the past, Erickson’s name is rarely mentioned. Critics will say he won with Jimmy Johnson’s players. When he exited Coral Gables to coach the Seattle Seahawks, he left the program in a mess from a Pell Grant scandal and impending NCAA sanctions. Good or bad, Erickson would leave Miami with the highest win percentage of any Canes head coach.

Frank Costa faced even more scrutiny. He had to carry the heavy burden of maintaining the legacy of Quarterback U, following in the huge footsteps of his predecessors Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson and Gino Torretta. Costa physically had the tools and the look of a UM quarterback. But he struggled with his consistency and lost his starting job to Ryan Collins in 1993. Everywhere he went, Costa heard the criticism. He couldn’t listen to the radio or watch TV. At one point, he got so depressed, he drove in his car all night just to get away from everyone. But Costa didn’t give up. He worked hard and regained his job in 1994 and led the Canes to a 10-2 season. He’s never mentioned in the pantheon of great Miami quarterbacks. But of all the quarterbacks recruited by Erickson, he would be the most successful. To read more about the history of the Orange Bowl, visit us at https://www.facebook.com/ghostsoftheorangebowl