Rose served as the head coach at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio from 1983 to 1989. He led the 1986 Miami squad to the Mid-American Conference championship and a berth in the California Bowl. That season, Rose orchestrated perhaps the biggest win in the program's history with a 21–12 victory over #8 ranked LSU in Baton Rouge. Even with his success in 1986, Rose only had two winning seasons in seven years at Miami and finished his tenure there with a record of 31–44–3 that included a streak of 20 games without a victory between 1987 and 1989. After the 1989 season, Rose's contract was not renewed and he was replaced by Randy Walker. Rose was the first coach since Edwin Sweetland in 1911 to leave Miami with a losing record.