Mario Cristobal evaluates Tyler Van Dyke's fit alongside new OC Shannon Dawson

Heading into last season, there was plenty of hype surrounding Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke with new coach Mario Cristobal at the helm. After some injuries, though, he’s back for another year and will have a new coordinator, as well.

Josh Gattis is out and Shannon Dawson is in at offensive coordinator as Cristobal gets ready for his second year as the head coach at his alma mater. With spring ball getting underway, Cristobal told On3’s J.D. PicKell the chemistry between Van Dyke and Dawson is already developing.

In fact, he’s already seeing a good fit between the two.

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“It’s a great match. It really is,” Cristobal said on The Hard Count. “Those two, it’s exactly how you want to pair up a coordinator and your starting quarterback. But also, you have the two young guys because Jaccuri [Brown has] been off the charts and Emory [Williams] has done a really good job as a freshman. But right now, it starts with Tyler. Tyler really got nicked up last year. Schematically, it is what it is. Sometimes, things don’t fit. It’s not a knock on anyone or any scheme or whatever. Sometimes, it’s about the fit. And this is certainly the right fit.

“From an offensive standpoint, there’s a lot of autonomy, which Tyler’s a really smart guy. … We’re able to do a lot with him early. We’re I think about five, six days into practice, but we’ve installed just about 85-90% of the offense and we’re going to install more in the coming days. It’s been awesome to watch. Just a lot of progress and just a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz and a lot of juice around the building.”

Getting healthy will be key for Tyler Van Dyke

In nine games last season, Van Dyke threw for 1,835 yards and 10 touchdowns as Miami went 5-7 in the first year of Cristobal’s tenure. Now, he’s back for his senior year and will look to take a leap, especially now that he’s getting health.

“It’s good to get back out there,” Van Dyke said earlier this month. “Healthy now. So, feeling good.”

As far as whether he’s 100% healthy, Van Dyke said he wasn’t just yet. However, he’d be good enough to play in a game.

“A game tomorrow, I’d play,” Van Dyke said. “I’d probably say I’m like 90, 95% right now.”