Tyler Van Dyke reflects on his experience at Manning Passing Academy

Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke is coming off of a letdown of a season down in Coral Gables. Even so, the Hurricane quarterback was still honored as one of the college quarterbacks that participated in this weekend’s Manning Passing Academy.

Van Dyke commented on his opportunity to go to Thibodaux, Louisiana for the second straight offseason during media at the event. He was excited to talk about the opportunity that the camp is, both when it come to working with the Mannings and the other top-notch college quarterbacks as well as helping the attendees at Nicholls State to improve their games.

“It’s a pretty cool experience, you know, (to) work with the Manning brothers and meet all the other great college quarterbacks around the country,” said Van Dyke. “Work with them, learn from them. And then, also, work with all these young kids and just help them to get better.”

Van Dyke’s numbers free fell across the board in his second season with experience as QB1 for the ‘Canes. In total, he threw for more than 1,000 less passing yards and 15 less touchdowns as Miami went from 7-5 in 2021 to 5-7 in 2022 during Mario Cristobal’s first season.

Even so, that didn’t impact his availability for this summer’s MPA. He still earned an invite and made the most of his opportunity to work alongside his peers and help younger quarterbacks develop around the best.

Explaining pressure on Tyler Van Dyke in 2023

On3’s JD PicKell believes there is plenty of pressure on Van Dyke entering the 2023 season.

“The ‘Tyler Van Dyke, it’s not his fault’ … I’ve been at the front of that fan club. Because I saw what [he] did in ’21. I saw what happened in ’22. And I said, ‘Hm, I don’t believe that Tyler Van Dyke’s the problem,’” PicKell said. “Mario Cristobal came on this very show. And, if we’re trying to translate the coach speak, he kind of said the same thing. He said, ‘Listen, last year, the system, it wasn’t a fit. Nobody’s fault. Wasn’t a fit.’ Well, Tyler Van Dyke is still there, and a lot of things around him have changed.”

With a new offensive coordinator and other new pieces around him, we will see moving forward who was responsible for last year’s drop off.

“Just about everything around Tyler Van Dyke has changed but [him]. New pieces on the o-line. New offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. Heck, they even got a new DC, which doesn’t really have anything to do with Tyler Van Dyke,” PicKell said. “But the point I’m trying to make is… when everything else around you changes with the assumption that you’re not the problem — if we’re going to go and miss a bowl game again? Or maybe we don’t achieve the level of successes that we want to for a second year in a row? At what point do we say, ‘Hm, well we changed everything else around you. Maybe it is on Tyler Van Dyke. Maybe [he] is actually the issue.’”

PicKell doesn’t expect that to be the case this season. Still, he does believe there is some pressure on Van Dyke entering 2023.

“I’m still leading that fan club. You’re going to have to kick me off that roster if you want me to not support the ‘Tyler Van Dyke is a good quarterback’ fan club. But the reality is, I think for [him], this is the year where he has to prove a lot of people right. He has to prove the staff right, prove the fan base right – those that do believe in [him] – that he is actually who you saw him to be in 2021,” PicKell said.

“I think it’s going to work. Full transparency, I think it is going to work. To what degree? It remains to be seen. But I think Tyler Van Dyke is the right guy at quarterback for you. A lot of pressure on [him]. With all the things that have changed around him, that are new around him, for him to now be successful.”