Tyler Van Dyke reveals why he came back to Miami for final season

Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is back for another season, a choice he said was pretty straightforward when he began to think about his development. Injury has derailed some of that development in the past year.

Van Dyke suffered a shoulder injury in the middle of the Hurricanes’ 2023 campaign, and it had a hugely detrimental impact on the team as the squad struggled to find consistency.

So when he was making a decision about 2023, things seemed fairly obvious to Van Dyke.

“I think I still need to develop in some ways and I felt like here was the best place for me,” he said. “Coach (Mario) Cristobal and I have been very tight throughout this whole process and it’s been good.”

Even with the shoulder injury a year ago Van Dyke threw for nearly 2,000 yards.

In the last two years at Miami, Van Dyke has gone 362-of-577 passing for 4,766 yards with 35 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. Even last year with the injury he was able to maintain a 2-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

So what ultimately led Van Dyke to the decision to stick around?

After all the transfer portal is an increasingly popular destination for quarterbacks who may not have super firm stranglehold on the starting job. That’s the route fellow Hurricanes quarterback Jake Garcia took this offseason.

But even with promising youngster Jacurri Brown still on the roster Tyler Van Dyke felt like Miami was his best option for 2023. Brown was the third option for the team during the period when Van Dyke was hurt and Garcia was struggling, with the freshman going 27-of-45 passing for 230 yards but also adding 223 yards rushing.

“I felt like this was the best decision for me,” Van Dyke said. “I could have went somewhere else, draft, whatever, but for my development I think one more year here is good.”