Miami Spring Practice: Many Questions Surrounding Tyler Van Dyke
Spring practice starts for head coach Mario Cristobal the Miami Hurricanes this Saturday. The first question: What can everyone expect at the quarterback position?
There are multiple signal callers to discuss, but one player has some truly intriguing questions to be answered behind center.
After playing in nine games last season and having to come out of two contests due to a shoulder injury, Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke enters his redshirt-junior season as a prime candidate to be the starting signal caller this fall. For him to start, there are still questions that need to be answered.
First, how strong will Van Dyke’s throwing arm be?
When Van Dyke has been healthy, he's a proven signal caller that had a six-game stretch of 300 or more passing yards in 2021.
Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports
No way around it, he must be able to drive the football to the sidelines without any concern that he’s lost velocity. Outside of those that actually see him throwing with his receivers, nobody really knows just how healthy Van Dyke has become since last fall when he tried to play against Pittsburgh.
Beyond the obvious question of his health, there’s the overriding question of how well will Van Dyke adapt to new Miami offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson’s Air Raid attack?
That’s important for Van Dyke and Miami moving forward. Keep in mind, the 2023 season will be the third offense he’s learned in three years; Van Dyke has just begun to learn the playbook and will dive into Miami’s first spring practice as green as every other Hurricanes player.
It might take a little while for him to feel comfortable, and that’s natural.
The good news, the Air Raid does fit his style of play well. It’s about precision and quickly getting the football out to the playmakers, something Van Dyke has shown he can do in the past. Those factors should help him ease into the scheme coach Dawson teaches. Van Dyke has familiar faces to pass the football to as well.
Miami has junior receiver Xavier Restrepo coming back, plus a big-bodied boundary receiver with junior Colbie Young, who have established themselves and have also played with Van Dyke.
Having a rapport with key wide receivers will help Van Dyke’s transition into the Air Raid. The other part of that rapport will be continuing to develop a relationship with other returning receivers – as well as tight ends – prior to August’s practices. That starts with spring ball and will continue through the summer months.
Regardless of the offensive scheme, Van Dyke needs to know that when he lets a pass go that he has a connection with that player even if it’s not Restrepo or Young.
That’s what spring ball, for any college program, has generally been about for decades. There’s also one other factor that needs to happen, especially after the Canes finished 5-7 last season.
Leadership.
The Miami players need someone to rally around. Why not Van Dyke?
He’s had a dominant stretch during his Miami career – the back half of his redshirt-freshman season – and he’s more knowledgeable about the game of football now than he was two seasons ago.
The returning Miami players already know this, so that will help.
Van Dyke can command the respect of the locker room, and lead it, even with all the nuances of learning a new offense and coming off an injury. It’s a lot to do, but nobody said playing quarterback at The U was easy.
Van Dyke will have a chance to show that he wants to lead during these 15 practices that start on March 4 and end with the spring game on April 14. If he does that, it can help get the Miami football program back on track.
Overall and heading into Miami’s spring practice, how Van Dyke adapts and takes on all the challenges will likely be critical for Miami’s 2023 season.
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