Miami Hurricanes QB Tyler Van Dyke: New offense gives more freedom … last year’s results “set a fire under us”
A new Miami offense under Shannon Dawson that’s QB-friendly in a hybrid Air-Raid attack.
QB Tyler Van Dyke healthy after essentially missing the latter half of 2022 injured.
A revamped offensive line that added two key transfers and a pair of five-star signees.
Returning starter at running back plus a talented young transfers and two playmaking freshmen.
A healthy Elijah Arroyo back at tight end after he missed almost all of last season.
Add it all up and you can see why there’s a lot of optimism this offense will turn things around after a lackluster 2022 that saw the team finish 5-7 and rank No. 96 in the nation in scoring and No. 85 in yards per game.
The guy at the helm of it all, of course, is Van Dyke.
“Last year didn’t go as planned,” Van Dyke said. “Yeah, it’s a new year. I think everything happens for a reason. You go through times of adversity for a reason. We’re just looking forward are to this year, taking it one day at a time, staying focused in the present. Our goal is just to win. Just take it one day at a time, and just win.”
The new offense will spread out defenses in the pass game while utilizing power run concepts. Dawson had plenty of success with it at Houston and will look to replicate that at Miami.
“The thing I love about Coach Dawson’s offense, I mean, you guys saw what he did at Houston,” Van Dyke said. “Threw for 4,000 yards, over 2,500 yards rushing. The thing I love about it is the freedom he gives the quarterback. Change a run play to a pass play, pass to a run. Giving receivers routes based on what the defense gives you.
“So just gives the quarterback a lot of freedom. It allows you to put the ball in the hands of the playmakers. That’s my job to do. So yeah, I’m very grateful that Coach (Mario) Cristobal brought Coach Dawson in, and I’m excited for this year.”
Van Dyke looked the part in spring drills, and is excited about the program’s upside off summer workouts.
“A lot of good pieces, leadership, guys have stepped up,” Van Dyke said. “I’m really excited. Last year was tough, so I’m excited to move on from that, have a good season.”
A new aspect of this offense is, as Van Dyke alluded to previously, that autonomy for the QB to get the team out of one play and into another. But the bottom line is that this year’s offense needs to succeed where last year’s failed. That means improved play everywhere – the revamped offensive line (pair of five-star additions in Samson Okunlola and Francis Mauigoa, plus portal adds Javion Cohen from Alabama and Matt Lee from UCF), running backs (highly touted signees Mark Fletcher and Christopher Johnson plus Nebraska transfer Ajay Allen join returning starter Henry Parrish), wide receivers (added Alabama transfer Tyler Harrell and JUCO arrival Shemar Kirk) and tight ends (added Oregon transfer Cam McCormick, getting back Elijah Arroyo healthy).
S Kam Kinchens: We don’t need hype, are just going about our business … and I want a national championship banner … Mario Cristobal at ACC Media Day: There is no sugarcoating things, hard work is getting put in and strides are being made … Cristobal knows the task at hand and says while there is no “magic elixir,” he knows what it will take to get Miami back … Cristobal on Tuesday: “It’s been a great offseason … (we are) making change instead of making noise” … QB Tyler Van Dyke excited about offense and this year’s team, says he’s worked hard on one particular dimension of his game
A quick refresher on Van Dyke: He was a backup behind D’Eriq King as a true freshman in 2020 (playing off bench in 2 games), then in 2021 was again expected to be behind King. But he was thrust into a starting role after King’s season-ending injury and wound up starring as a starter in the final 9 games of the season. He earned ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after completing 62.3 percent of his passes for 2,931 yards with 25 TD passes and just six INTs.
Then last year Van Dyke was slow out of the gate in Josh Gattis’ Miami offense. In the first four games, including a trio of perceived overmatched opponents Bethune-Cookman, Southern Miss and Middle Tennessee, he totaled just four TD passes with three interceptions. Then he came alive vs. UNC (496 passing yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) and Virginia Tech (342 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) before suffering what was essentially a season-ending injury in the first half vs. Duke.
He ended with 1,835 passing yards, 10 TDs and five INTs. Not the year he had hoped given the high expectations off his outstanding 2021 performance.
“It was really tough,” Van Dyke said. “I think everything happens for a reason. You go through times of adversity, have to pick yourself back up from it.”
The goal now is to get that bigtime playmaking back in the Miami offense. And maybe there will be a bit of a new dimension to that for Van Dyke. He said this offseason he worked a lot on his mobility in the pocket.
“I think I improved that a lot – this day and age you have to use your feet a little more,” Van Dyke said.
For this team to really succeed, there also needs to be that leadership piece. Van Dyke is a part of that … with a lot of other players.
Van Dyke said the team has “a huge group of leadership council” members as opposed to just a few captains that are voted on.
“We have 13 guys, which grew a lot from last year,” he said. “Last year we only had six.
“The thing I’m proud of most about this (year) is a lot of guys stepped up to become voices of the team, become leaders. A lot of people grew in the right direction. New guys like Matt (Lee), Branson Deen came in. Did a great job of coming in and being an older guy, being a leader to the young guys. Being a leader of the team along with some of these other guys, it’s special. We set the direction of the team. We get to show the young guys how to do it, show the new guys that came in how to do it. It’s on us to win games.”
The bottom line?
“We are taking the day-by-day mentality, living in the present, working each day to get better and better,” Van Dyke said. “We’ll take it one practice at a time, one day at a time.
“I’m excited for this year. … Nobody wants to be 5-7. It set a fire under us. I think we have a lot of talent.”
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