Yesterday was one of those Sundays that we all need from time to time. First, the frigid rain provided an excuse to stay indoors. Second, I made a killer steak and egg sandwich using the previous night’s leftovers. And third, I sat down to watch “The U”, part of ESPN’s surprisingly good “30 for 30″ documentary series.

For the uninitiated, “the U” is the nickname for the University of Miami’s college football program. The team rose to prominence during the 1980s for being incredibly talented, entertaining, and a total departure from the typical milquetoast college athlete. Cocky, brash, and ferocious, they sported gold teeth, and were the cultural precursors to athletes who wore baggy shorts, sported tattoos, and favored entertainment over sportsmanship. In other words, for a kid growing up in the 1980s, they were the coolest team around, and the only team not based in New York who I ever rooted for.

It would be fun, and admittedly indulgent, for me to recap the team’s well-documented notoriety. But more pertinent to the readers of this blog are the steps that the school took to rise from obscurity to prominence in just a few short years. Reading these, it’s easy to see how they can be applied to just about any business looking to grow or reverse a trend.

Step #1: Commit to invest over time
The university understood the obvious fact that they were planning to compete in an expensive business, and wouldn’t be able to succeed quickly, or on the cheap.

Step #2: Find and grant control to a visionary leader
At Naked, we believe in using diverse points of view one finds in a group. However, great decisions are rarely made by large groups. Teams need leaders who have a clear vision and can inspire people. The University of Miami did this by hiring Coach Howard Schellengberger, who for the previous 20 years had worked for a who’s who of great college coaches. And they gave him control to build the program he wanted.

Step #3: State a clear, ambitious plan
Coach Schelleberger declared that the team would win a national championship in five years. Until then, college football had been dominated by the same handful of schools for decades. The idea of an upstart like the University of Miami winning a championship seemed absurd. Well, it seemed absurd to everybody but the coach. Ambition on that scale is not for everybody, but it sure is fun to be part of it when you’re on the inside.

Step #4: Determine an identity
Coach Schellenberger also had vision for the team’s marketing, and he decided to place a lot of emphasis on the letter “U” — even making the letter larger on the team’s helmet. He wanted the team to have a local pride, and the “U” became symbolic of that. Over the next 10 years, the team would would carry themselves with a swagger that intimidated opponents, and made everybody else seem downright meek.

Step #5: Gather influencers
Success in college football is largely achieved by recruiting the best athletes. The University of Miami was lucky to have so many great athletes homegrown in Florida. In order to get their attention, the coach successfully recruited two of the top local high school stars. These two gave the program credibility, and plenty of other great athletes were then willing to follow..

Step #6: Do what others are unwilling to do
Lastly, the coach and his assistants heavily recruited star athletes in the many poor areas of Florida — places that other coaches either did not know, or were scared to go. Since then, this has become standard practice of many other coaches throughout the country. But defying convention, Miami was able to bring in athletes that other teams simply could not access.

And when in doubt, just get Uncle Luke to write you a song. It’s all about the U, it’s all about the U….

As always, this post was originally posted at Jared Gruner Blog.