Miami Hurricanes Are Putting QB Tyler Van Dyke In Position For 2023 Success
Tyler Van Dyke was a breakout star in 2021. After taking over for the injured D'Eriq King, Miami's signal caller threw for nearly 3,000 yards, 25 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions. He was named ACC Football Rookie Of The Year.
In 2022, TVD and the entire offense took a big step back. Tyler spent the latter part of the season on the shelf with a shoulder injury and struggled with consistency before then. He threw for 1,844 yards with 10 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. His offensive line couldn't keep him protected. He missed three full games and parts of three others due to the shoulder.
Hopefully, the tide is turning back to a more favorable situation for the redshirt junior.
In the aftermath of Miami scoring just 19.4 points per game last season (thanks, Josh Gattis,) head coach Mario Cristobal has hired new offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Shannon Dawson, new wide receivers coach Kevin Beard, new running backs coach Tim Harris Jr. and new tight ends coach Cody Woodiel. With the exception of O-Line coach Alex Mirabal, the offensive staff has been completely revamped. So has the roster.
The Hurricanes grabbed two new starting offensive linemen in the Transfer Portal: former Alabama left guard Javion Cohen and former UCF center Matt Lee. Cohen was the top-rated portal offensive lineman and Lee wasn't far behind.
Miami signed playmaking portal wide receivers Tyler Harrell from Bama and Shemar Kirk out of JUCO. Cristobal bolstered the rushing attack by adding Nebraska transfer RB Ajay Allen.
I believe in Tyler Van Dyke's talent, and now that he has a better supporting cast, we should expect to see him return to the form he was building in 2021.
I sat down with the voice of the Miami Hurricanes, Joe Zagacki, to discuss Van Dyke's ceiling in this new offense.
"I think he can return to where he was two years ago," Zagacki said. Late in spring football and in the spring game, Joe found Tyler to be more "decisive," much like he was in 2021 in Rhett Lashlee's offense. "I felt like he was more in tune with the offense and back to having a conviction on where he was going to throw (in the new Dawson offense.)"
Zagacki appreciates new OC Shannon Dawson being flexible with his quarterbacks and play-calling. "Sometimes,(Van Dyke) is gonna hit a speed bump with his accuracy. Then it's incumbent on whoever is calling the plays to get him back to a position to where he's accurate again. You've got a lot of weapons. Get (Van Dyke) into a rhythm with short passes and tempo, let him get going, and then things are gonna open up. I think that's something we will see from Shannon Dawson, alongside a lot of deep balls."
Miami has invested in the resources necessary to help Van Dyke rediscover his 2021 form. That season was not a fluke, but the result of the proper environment for a talented quarterback to flourish. The upcoming season should be a lot of fun.
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