Supporter Spotlight: Amigos For Life

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of Hurricanes Magazine.

Jose Armario’s business travels have taken him across the globe, but no matter where his feet land, he makes sure his hands form a universal symbol.

“I went to a lot of interesting places, and everywhere from Russia to Spain to Brazil to Argentina to China, I would find a way to throw up The U and post it to Facebook and Instagram,” Armario said. “My friends would say, “That’s Jose, he’s taking the U with him everywhere he goes.’”

But truth be told, Armario, a proud University of Miami graduate and the current Chief Executive Officer at Bojangles, would rather throw up The U much closer to home with a group of friends whose ties to the Hurricanes have only made them closer over the years.

In fact, they’re not just friends – they’re amigos.

Armario, Raul Alvarez, Dean Myers, Dan Smith and Armando Oliveros are all UM alums and have all built successful careers over many decades. And their story of friendship and fandom is uniquely Miami.

Alvarez’s ties to UM date all the way back to 1961, when his mother, a Ph.D.-level marine biologist in Cuba, started working as a researcher at the university. Alvarez’s first paying job was stocking books at the Rosenstiel library during a high school summer.

He decided to attend Miami and graduated in three years, earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1976. After two years at what is now Deloitte Touche, he took a job in the accounting department at the Burger King Corporation, eventually moving to the sales side.

Meanwhile, the Hurricanes had hired Howard Schnellenberger as their head football coach and the seeds of a dynasty were starting to form. Alvarez, who sold sodas and hot dogs at the Orange Bowl while he was in school, was following the program very closely.

“Howard used to do Friday breakfasts at the Faculty Club where he and the different coaches would come in and talk to a small group of alumni then that followed the team,” Alvarez said. “I remember those fondly, getting insight into what was happening.”

On the weekends, Alvarez joined a group of Burger King employees who would play flag football at Tropical Park. One of those employees was Armario, who was also a Canes fan.

“When Howard took over we were really on our way so it was easy to become a fan,” Armario said. “And I became such a fan that I desperately wanted to become an alum.”

Armario, like Alvarez, was starting to travel globally for Burger King and on one flight to Latin America he was flipping through the American Airlines magazine at his seat.

“There was an ad in the magazine for the master’s program at the University of Miami,” Armario said. “I was able to fit that in with a lot of support from my wife and my kids to do that program and get my master’s at The U and say, ‘I’m not just a fan but I’m an alum.’ That’s how much passion there was running through me to want to be a part of the family.”

Alvarez moved up the ranks at Burger King, first heading up operations in Madrid, Spain, and then European operations, which based him in London, England. He eventually became president of Burger King Canada and found that college football wasn’t exactly top of mind north of the border.

“I actually had to drive down from Toronto to Buffalo a couple of times just to be able to watch a Miami game on TV,” Alvarez said.

Alvarez came back to Miami in the late 1980s to lead Burger King’s Florida division, before taking a position as head of Florida operations for Wendy’s. In 1994, McDonald’s approached him, and he would work there the next 15 years, eventually becoming President and Chief Operating Officer.

Alvarez’s flag football teammate would soon be back on his corporate team again. After 15 years at Burger King and four years at LensCrafters, Armario was hired by McDonald’s as president of the restaurant’s operations in Chile in 1996. He later became president of Latin American operations and executive vice president of supply chain, development and franchising.

Meanwhile, Alvarez would run into another Canes alum on his business travels. Fast food restaurants need beverage partners. Dean Myers, who has two degrees from Miami, was living in Atlanta and working for Coca-Cola.

“Dean and I were together for a year at Burger King over 40 years ago and then he went on to Minute Maid and tried to sell me orange juice while I was at Wendy’s,” Alvarez said. “I end up at McDonald’s and we’ve got a big supplier convention and Dean sees me there again. At that point we said, ‘OK this is too much coincidence, let’s get together.’”

The pair decided to do a Canes road trip, selecting Miami’s 2002 game at Tennessee, which was a runaway win for their alma mater.

“We started a friendship and a work relationship,” said Myers, who worked 34 years at Coca-Cola, retiring as Vice President of Global Supply Chain, Operations and Business Development. “We didn’t become friends until we became great business partners. If we didn’t have the business side down, we wouldn’t have been friends. We developed a trust with one another.

“In every relationship you either build trust or take away trust and there’s no in between. Raul and I developed a trusting relationship and then we did some really good business deals that were great for Coca-Cola and great for McDonald’s. Then our friendship just kept developing over time where it’s now family.”

Both Alvarez and Myers became Golden Canes and started to go to games at the Orange Bowl together. Alvarez was impressed with Myers’ encyclopedic knowledge of Miami football. But he knew someone else that might match it.

“One day Raul said there’s a guy who works for Coca-Cola named Dean Myers,” Armario said. “You need to meet him. He’s like us – he really loves the Canes. Two weeks later I’m in Puerto Rico visiting the market and we happened to have an event at the Coca-Cola bottler’s home in San Juan and I get introduced to Dean. I tell him, ‘Raul told me I need to see you.’”

More Canes road trips followed, and all three started to lend more support to the football program.

When Randy Shannon became head football coach in 2007, Susan Jones, who was the University’s Assistant Vice President for Development, brought Shannon to Chicago to meet Alvarez and Armario.

“Susan Jones, may she rest in peace, set up a dinner with Randy in Chicago when Raul and I were working at McDonald’s,” Armario said. “We wound up spending five hours with Randy, and what came out of that dinner was that he could use some support, so we became good friends, and we tried to become good mentors to Randy.”

Armario decided to launch an annual dinner in Chicago to celebrate and support Miami football. A former player would be honored at every dinner and the list became a who’s who of Canes football A-listers, including Michael Irvin, Greg Olsen, Ted Hendricks, Ed Reed, Russell Maryland, Bubba Franks, Gino Torretta and Jarrett Payton

“The idea was to raise money to help keep the football players in school all year long,” Armario said. “We have raised over two million dollars for the athletic department. We had to stop the dinners when COVID hit but we did 13 dinners in a row and honored a former player at every dinner.

“I started that with a lot of support from the amigos. They would come to every dinner when they could. I think it was Randy who coined the phrase ‘Three Amigos.’”

The Three Amigos would soon grow to five.

Myers met Smith, who works in Atlanta and is president of First Community Mortgage, at a Peach Bowl practice back in 2005.

“Next thing you know I get Dan on the President’s Council, and he winds up being Chairman of the President’s Council and a Golden Cane,” Myers said.

Smith would also eventually serve on the school’s Board of Overseers and on the advisory board for The Launch Pad, a collaboration between UM, Blackstone Charitable Foundation, and The Kauffman Group that promotes entrepreneurship for students and alumni.

“When you can reach out and bring someone back to our alma mater and see that person be so impactful — there is nothing better,” said Myers, whose son Max (2011) and daughter Alana (2013) are also Miami graduates. “This is all about legacy.”

Smith, like Alvarez, Armario and Myers, is a member of Iron Arrow, the highest honor bestowed by the university.

Oliveros, a managing partner of Arsol Investment Group in Miami, has known Alvarez since high school.

“Armando and I went to La Salle High School together and we both graduated from Miami in 1976.,” Alvarez said. “His dad and my mom went to elementary school together in Cuba. When we first started tailgating at Hard Rock, Armando joined the group. His nickname is ‘El Chef’ because he runs the tailgate.”

Now, at Hard Rock Stadium, the Amigos tailgate together, sit together and cheer together.

“We go to most of the home games,” Myers said. “Our tailgates are epic. We have great food, great beverages and we play dominoes. We all sit together in our Golden Canes seats.

“It’s easy and comfortable because we like each other. I think we’re all pretty successful because we make the best out of every situation.”

And if not at Hard Rock, they will often gather for offsite watch weekends as well.

“It’s not unusual that we get together at least once a year and spend three days together somewhere, playing golf, playing dominoes, smoking cigars, drinking bourbon and cheering our Hurricanes on game day,” Armario said.

All five men have met head coach Mario Cristobal and are excited about the direction of the program.

“I really believe he is going to take us to prominence again,” Armario said. “You can already see that beginning with the quality of players he is bringing in, the work ethic he has instilled, and the culture he’s trying to build – it’s become very obvious.”

Armario resurrected the fundraising dinner in 2024, this time in Charlotte, where he has lived since becoming Bojangles CEO in 2019.

Former Canes linebacker Dan Morgan – now general manager of the National Football League’s Carolina Panthers – was this year’s honoree. It was a night to celebrate the past, present and future of Miami football – and to show that The Amigos are still going strong after all these years.

“Being an alum at Miami is a brotherhood and The Amigos are a brotherhood,” Armario said. “We’re not players but I feel our bond is as close to what we see amongst the players. We have a passion for the school, and we have a passion for the school to be successful both on and off the field.”

That passion has created a lasting bond with the University of Miami as its anchor.

“I’ve seen the university grow up a lot, academically and athletically,” Alvarez said. “In Miami it has a big impact. Miami is still home to me no matter where I’ve moved over the years and I’m proud that the university has become such a great corporate citizen.”