Luther Campbell keeps a relic parked in the garage of his South Florida home. A 1986 BMW convertible, a 30-year-old symbol of what used to be at Miami, sits mostly unused.

"Jerome Brown told me to buy it. I don't know why I bought it," said Campbell, the 55-year-old "Uncle Luke" of bygone times with his beloved Miami Hurricanes. "It's got 26,000 [miles] on it. That was my guy. Jerome was the innovator. Whatever you told him to do, he did."

Campbell can't tell you why he doesn't drive the Beemer, only that it wouldn't seem right to do so. Images of Brown, a consensus All-American defensive tackle in 1986, still swirl in his head. Brown was the ringleader of an iconic team during an iconic time.

Those 1986 Hurricanes were ranked No. 1 for 11 weeks that season. They were chugging toward their second national championship in four years. Thirty-four of the 91 players on the roster for that season's Fiesta Bowl were drafted. Twenty-eight played in the NFL.

Thirty years later, the conclusion to that season is almost secondary. Penn State intercepted Vinny Testaverde five times en route to a monstrous 14-10 upset in the Fiesta Bowl. But the game, the time might as well be remembered for what it wasn't: same old, same old.

It was, in fact, the Birth of Swag.

From the way Miami dressed, played and conducted itself that year, a new sports culture emerged. It wasn't limited to college football. It went beyond yapping and preening and running up the score. Whatever it is, it has reached across the sport to this moment three decades later.

Saluting the impact

The Miami-Penn State Fiesta Bowl that season was the first arranged No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in history. In a system ruled by old-boy backroom bowl deals, the excitement generated by the first winner-take-all bowl game was revelatory.

"It was more hyped than any college game in modern history," said former Miami defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt.

NBC's 25.1 rating was a college football record at the time. Considering its TV and on-field success, the game can now be seen as a precursor to -- if not inspiration for -- the BCS and College Football Playoff.

"That game started the whole thinking of a championship and having one game on one night," former Miami athletic director Sam Jankovich.

The NCAA rule book is littered with regulations that trace their roots back to the dancing, trash-talking, ball-spiking Hurricanes. Coincidentally, that year Miami became the first school to have a department-wide apparel deal (Nike).

Suddenly, being "all about The U" became being all about the brand -- an attitude that could be monetized.

"We were such a national school," Jankovich said, "whether you loved us or hated [us]."

But you had to pick a side.

Going to war

Brown stepped off the team plane in Phoenix that Fiesta Bowl week wearing battle fatigues. It was a reflection of coach Jimmy Johnson's message to the team before he left them a couple of days early for TV obligations.

"We're going to treat this like a war," then-defensive assistant Tommy Tuberville recalls his boss saying. "Fighting for the national championship. We're going to battle."

Brown and his Hurricanes teammates took it to heart. They walked out of a team dinner with the Nittany Lions declaring, "Did the Japanese sit down and eat dinner with Pearl Harbor before they bombed it?"

Never mind the fractured historical reference, those Hurricanes indeed adopted a warrior stance. They squawked, preened, intimidated. They were politically incorrect almost before the term was invented.

So what if they lost that night in Tempe? Looking back, it was a hiccup in a dynasty. The game was changing both on and off the field. If Miami in 1983 announced itself loudly as a new-wave national champion, in 1986 we were witnessing something different and refined.

They knew exactly what they were doing. For the first time that season -- it can be argued -- one team began to define the game with attitude as much as talent.

"The only theme behind it was, we're kind of on a mission," Wannstedt said of the Fiesta Bowl. "We're not just there to enjoy a bowl game. ... There was an edge about the entire week."

By then, Brown had become a singular leader. The product of tiny Brooksville, Florida, arrived in 1984 gaining respect for his dominating play at defensive tackle.

It was Brown who broke quarterback Troy Aikman's leg at Oklahoma in the fourth game of the 1985 season, altering the college football landscape. True freshman Jamelle Holieway took over, leading the Sooners to that year's national championship.

Meanwhile, Aikman went on to transfer to UCLA, where his passing skills flourished on his way to three Super Bowl wins with Dallas.

"From that point on," Wannstedt said of Aikman's injury, "Jerome became the ring leader. He was the biggest, baddest guy on the team."

In those days, Campbell -- an unabashed Hurricanes supporter/rap impresario -- roamed the sidelines urging coaches to "blitz, blitz, blitz." Michael Irvin was high-stepping into the end zone. Helmets were stripped off in celebration.

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Michael Irvin dripped swag like many of his Canes teammates. Getty Images

The year before, there were accusations Miami was running up the score in a 58-7 dismantling of Notre Dame. Actually, they weren't just complaints. They were fact. In Gerry Faust's last game, the Canes were passing in the fourth quarter, running a reverse with less than two minutes to go. Miami blocked a punt with only 10 Hurricanes on the field. They did it all because they could.

Tradition, decorum and sportsmanship were out the window but, good God, was it fun.

"It was the integration between black college [culture] and white college," Campbell said. "Black colleges, they got swag -- to the band, to the cheerleaders to the players. Bring that into the traditional colleges, it's like a culture shock."

Years later, the Hurricanes would sit around and snicker at NCAA rules changes videos sent around to teams. It seemed every video example of rules breaking included Miami.

"It was almost a [expletive] it attitude," Campbell added. "Then it became a [expletive] it attitude from a team standpoint. 'We ain't Notre Dame. We ain't Alabama.'"

They were setting a new standard.

"That team basically started swag," said Tuberville, now Cincinnati's head coach.

What 'swag' looks like today

The recollections aren't meant so much to observe an anniversary but as a jumping off point. The swag that Miami refined that year is totally different today. It's not just an attitude. It's, well, everything -- from the fashion runway to the internet superhighway.

"You know it," said former Stanford player and ESPN analyst Rod Gilmore, "when you see it."

Central Florida first-year coach Scott Frost grew up on it. The 40-year-old knows nothing but mind-blowing uniform combinations. He spent seven years at Oregon, mostly as an offensive coordinator with Nike CEO Phil Knight literally at this side. Knight could be seen in the coaching booth wearing a headset.

With a program of his own, Frost has embraced the impact of flashy uniforms. In the first 24 hours after UCF revealed its new unis on its website, the program got 100,000 page views.

"If you're Nebraska and Michigan, I understand wanting to run out in the classics," Frost said. "UCF was built as a technological school to support NASA. We are one of the schools maybe with less traditional but an innovative and young vibe."

Whatever, swag goes way beyond the end zone in 2016. You know, the one those Hurricanes used to dance in? Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy played in that era. Now he has regular meetings with a social media team trying every day to elevate the Cowboys above the surrounding noise.

"It's the presence of who you are," Gundy said, "who we are, the organization, the athletic department, the brand, which is now the hash tag, which is what you stand for. It's so different than it was two years ago.

"If you fall behind, it's going to go right by you."

Merriam-Webster traces references of "swag" back to 1640. Jim Harbaugh probably traces it back to his tweet.

Yeah, that one rocked the offseason as Michigan's coach made a habit of tweaking the college football establishment. If it wasn't lashing out at Ohio State AD Gene Smith for some innocent comments, it was finding a loophole in the NCAA rules to conduct spring practice at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

"I think he's become -- on social media -- like Donald Trump, on a much smaller scale," said one head coach who didn't want to be identified for fear of centering himself in Harbaugh's Twitter crosshairs.

"You can get as mad as you want about him but he doesn't care. ... Either way, you have to give him credit for coming into a very tradition-rich strong program where you can make it happen very fast."

A lot of it deflects from Harbaugh landing two excellent recruiting classes (or maybe it's because he landed two excellent recruiting classes).

But all we can concentrate on is quirks, the weird, the ... swag.

"Harbaugh mixes it up," Campbell said with delight. "He starts talking [expletive] about another coach. I love Harbaugh. He's going to let you have it, tell it like it his and he don't care."

Not many have drawn a line connecting 2 Live Crew and the Michigan coach but these are the times we live in. The SEC (and ACC) ganged up on Harbaugh quickly in the offseason, developing NCAA legislation that banned those "nasty" satellite camps.

One man's swag is another man's recruiting advantage.

So what is swag today: Stylish confidence? Stolen goods? Gift bags at the Oscars (Stuff We All Get)? Wardrobe? It might be as simple as Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright mouthing "Bang" as Kris Jenkins won him a national championship.

"It means the same as it did then," said Mark Blaudschun, a Miami graduate who covered some of those rambunctious Hurricanes teams while at the Boston Globe. "[It's] an attitude of confidence bordering on arrogance."

Not many still flaunt convention today. Alabama is guided by the stern Nick Saban. The most gangster move of his career may have been that onside kick he called against Clemson in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.

"That," Campbell said, "took balls."

That was swag, too.

Dabo Swinney had been dancing and juking after big wins long before last season's championship chase. Marrying it all to the likes of Instagram took the Tigers' brand to a new level.

Oklahoma got to the playoff last season because of a swashbuckling Heisman-candidate quarterback named Baker Mayfield -- a Manziel among men. Even The Boz approved.

"It's the infectious energy that he brings. He gets knocked down, gets up and sprints back to the huddle," Brian Bosworth said. "Instead of having to defend Oklahoma for the way they're winning, now people are commending them on the style of play."

Arkansas' Bret Bielema has supreme confidence in his abilities. Beating Texas in a bowl game was "borderline erotic." He started a "shoe war" with Mississippi State's Dan Mullen at last year's SEC media days. (It's not as bad as it sounds. The two coaches wore swagged-out shoes from their apparel providers. Who wins? The shoe companies, obviously.)

Bielema didn't just begin talking out of turn -- or even trash -- when he got to Fayetteville. That confidence had been backed up by 68 wins and three Rose Bowls in seven seasons at Wisconsin.

Swag.

Rest assured, the term has rooted itself in and around college football. From ear-splitting rap pumped out at practices to 100-play up-tempo assaults by Air Raid offenses, the game begins with swag.

"I know exactly what you're talking about," LSU coach Les Miles said. "We use swagger here a lot. With swag comes the responsibility of preparation, of understanding how to make a great play. It's not how you dress."

At Oregon, Nike used the program as a petri dish for its marketing approach. It just took a while for Chip Kelly's championship aspirations eventually surpass the look-at-me uniform combinations.

It's still hard to definitely determine whether the winning begat the uniforms/facilities or the baubles made the Ducks into a title contender. At one time, Kelly kept several uniform combinations on display in his office. It was the first thing recruits saw.

"But that doesn't help you win ...," LSU quarterback Brandon Harris said. "That was never my mission to come out of high school where they had the best uniforms. If that was the case, everybody would go to Oregon."

Never mind win or lose. It's truly how you play the game these days. Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin cut right to the chase when he nicknamed the aircraft he flew to high schools during recruiting. A "swagcopter," he called it.

Anything over, above and outlandish seems to qualify these days.

Apparel companies continually are attempting to define it. The three biggest -- Nike, Adidas and Under Armour -- have spent a combined $250 million over the past 18 months in apparel contracts. This month, Michigan begins a 10-year deal with Nike that will pay it more than $122 million through 2027 -- half in cash, half in swag, er, gear.

In that sense, too often swag has been packaged and compartmentalized. That camo Brown wore in the desert? It's fashionable these days, even functional. Roll up on your average Bass Pro Shop and see. Those Hurricanes who were allowed to say and do anything they pleased are the polite, media-trained athletes of today.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but something has been lost.

Those three shoe companies now have basically walled off 7-on-7 football from the NCAA. What started as a fun offseason activity is now a money-making venture and potential recruiting advantage.

"The world has changed," said former shoe executive Sonny Vaccaro. "There are no more virgins. The virginity is over now."

Then there is the question of why the hell any teenager needs his own brand.

"The way the kids handle it nowadays," Harris said. "It's crazy there are freshmen in high school putting out their top five and top 10 schools they're interested in."

If you don't, though, you might get left behind. At what point did Steve Spurrier lose that tart tongue and become the get-off-my-lawn guy berating reporters? About the time he stopped winning consistently.

And while Oregon continues to reinvent the Duck, the program just doesn't have the same swag. It may be one simple reason: Mark Helfrich isn't Chip Kelly.

"He's just a nice guy," Gilmore said of Helfrich. "Miami, they were themselves -- anti-establishment. They were cool. They could wear the camouflage. Even Harbaugh ... he's gone to another level with Twitter. He's doing stuff now he never did before. It's not that he's cool but he doesn't care what people think."

A bit like those '86 Canes. Longtime Miami play-by-play voice Joe Zagacki once asked Jimmy Johnson why he was working on the biggest holiday of the year.

"Christmas," Johnson replied, "is for lazy people."

No one can ever accuse of those Hurricanes of sloth. Only three teams came within two touchdowns during an undefeated '86 regular season. Quarterback Vinny Testaverde won the Heisman.

The storyline that week of the Fiesta Bowl quickly developed. Joe Paterno wore the white hat as the conscience of the sport, while the big-mouthed Hurricanes were just beginning to unfurl their attitude.

Before the game Brown slathered eye black all over his face as a sort of war paint, Wannstedt said. After dropping a Penn State tailback for a loss on the first play of the game, Brown ripped off his helmet and saluted the Miami sideline.

"I remember sitting up in the press box saying, 'This is going to be easy tonight,'" Wannstedt said.

"Jerome was the best player I ever coached. I never coached a player who was as dominant from the start to finish and carried that attitude with him for 60 minutes."

But in the end, Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky developed a multiple defense that confused Testaverde all night. The Heisman winner threw five interceptions. Miami's defense held Penn State to only 162 yards. The Nittany Lions hung on for Joe's second national title.

"They were all paralyzed," Wannstedt said, recalling the Miami locker room that night. "Until [running back] Alonzo Highsmith picked up a helmet, smashed it and then started wildly cussing."

That very moment may have marked the birth of swag. Highsmith wasn't so much upset at the result; he was looking directly at the underclassmen.

"Don't ever let this happen again," Highsmith told them. "We're going to win the national championship next year."

The Hurricanes did just that. A second championship in five years only highlighted what the Canes didn't do. Between Jan. 1, 1986, and Oct. 15, 1988 -- a stretch of 28 games -- Miami's only loss was to Penn State.

Today, everything is swag. As nonprofit institutions, most colleges spend every penny they take in. The so-called facilities "arms race" is officially out of control. The NCAA has absolutely no oversight over schools that want to build ornate structures to house football, weight training and academics.

Cranes are going up at a record pace. Saban's success is directly responsible for record enrollment. For the first time at Bama, there are more out-of-state students than in-state. A recent $50 million capital campaign was exceeded by $52 million.

Saban is one of six college coaches to surpass the NFL average head coach salary ($4.85 million). Texas A&M unabashedly decided to stake its future on a $500 million renovation to Kyle Field. The new capacity of 102,733 makes Kyle the fifth-largest stadium in North America.

More important to Aggies everywhere, the structure is the largest in the SEC and the state of Texas.

"Our goal," said Sam Torn, a member of the 12th Man Foundation's board of trustees, "is when an opposing team walks out on that field, it's going to be so wild and so intense, literally someone is going to wet their pants."

By now you probably know that recruiting itself is swag in motion. Somehow we've fallen more in love with the process than the result. Parties are thrown over top-10 classes. Houston followed up a New Year's Six bowl win by landing the highest-ranked non-BCS recruiting class in history.

To be around the football offices that day, you could have been observing an emerging giant. Coach Tom Herman had landed a $3 million-per-year contract. He has already been projected as a possible replacement at Texas or Texas A&M.

None of that speculation mattered when he made good on his #HTownTakeover hashtag on Twitter. During a meeting with reporters last week, Herman made sure to note Greg Ward Jr. was the fourth quarterback he has had on the cover of a national magazine.

In swag, everything matters.

"Swag, to me, is being comfortable in your own skin," Harris said. "There's a lot of great quarterbacks I model my game after. Some I'll never be.

"Peyton Manning has his own swag. It's different than Aaron Rodgers."

Gundy wants all in on swag but he is bewildered.

"That guy who hangs with the Kardashians -- Kanee or Kayne West, whatever his name is -- he has 19.2 million followers. He hasn't even done anything. He's cut a song or two.

"He's got 19 million people following him. For what? But that's the world we live in."

It is a world where Miami is a mere shadow of what it used to be. Brown died tragically in 1992. The car he urged Campbell to buy languishes in a garage. Miami's last national championship was in 2001. It has been more than a decade since the Canes won 10 games. They've never so much as won their division in the ACC.

Coach Mark Richt joins the program in 2016, the same year as Michael Irvin Jr.

"Now we're cookie cutters," Uncle Luke said. "They think they know it all. They think they can manufacture swag . You need to call me. I can explain to you how you need to come across."