Miami Hurricanes QB Tyler Van Dyke sees "good energy" entering opening fall practice: "All of our guys have a lot of potential"

A healthy Miami Hurricanes QB Tyler Van Dyke plus a new offense under Shannon Dawson with some major personnel additions could be just the formula for a big turnaround from UM’s 2022 offensive stagnation.

For Van Dyke, who essentially missed the last half of this past season injured, the excitement is palpable.

“(This offense) has a lot of potential,” Van Dyke said Monday. “Very quarterback-friendly, receiver-friendly. All I’ve got to do is get the ball in the playmakers’ hands. It’s very explosive, allows you to throw the ball down the field. The quarterback can play with a lot of freedom. So I’m excited about it.”

Van Dyke stresses that the new Dawson offense at Miami allows him freedom to change calls at the line and adjust routes. With fall practice kicking off tomorrow – and CaneSport will be on hand with complete coverage – he wants to see it all click quickly.

“There’s a lot of good energy around the building right now,” Van Dyke said. “But it’s all about taking it one day at a time, one practice at a time.”

As for new pieces on offense for Van Dyke and this Miami team?

There should be improved play everywhere thanks to some new additions that will complement returners. There’s a reshaped 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 plus highly touted freshman Ray Ray Joseph) and tight ends (added Oregon transfer Cam McCormick, getting back Elijah Arroyo healthy).

Van Dyke said that under Dawson the offense is “huddling a little more, also using tempo, which is good. This offense just allows you to play free.”

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.

But Van Dyke was back healthy this spring and worked hard this offseason.

“I learned a lot from last year, learned what I need to get better in,” Van Dyke said. “I worked a lot on my mobility this year. Trying to work on my pocket movement a bit more. In today’s game you have to use your feet a little more than you did back in the day.”

The goal now is to get that bigtime playmaking back in the Miami offense.

That starts with Fall Practice No. 1 tomorrow morning.

“All of our guys have a lot of potential,” Van Dyke said. “I’m excited to get in fall camp with all the guys and make some plays with them. … (We have to) make sure the standard is the standard here.”

*Van Dyke also spoke about some of the personnel and position groups.

At WR, the team added some speed with Alabama transfer Tyler Harrell.

“Very fast – he’s going to be very impressive,” Van Dyke said. “He runs like a 4.2, it’s fast. Having a playmaker like that who can stretch the field is very special.”

Van Dyke also said the other post-spring arrival WR, JUCO Shemar Kirk, “Is very impressive catching the ball, making people miss, all that type of stuff.”

Of the revamped OL, he said, “Those guys are the real deal now, I’m excited to play behind them.” Van Dyke also said he’s “very comfortable” with true freshman Francis Mauigoa expected to start at RT.

“I’m very impressed how he handles himself, how mature he is for his age,” Van Dyke said. “Understands fronts and linebackers and where to pick up people. He’s very smart for his age, is going to have a great, long career.”

Asked about freshman QB Emory Williams, Van Dyke said that “Emory impresses me a lot. Poise in the pocket, very accurate, understands things really quickly. I’m excited to see how he’s going to grow the next few years here. He has a lot of potential.”