Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Van Dyke excited for spring after COVID hindered his early progress
Getting adjusted to college football during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been easy for Miami Hurricanes second-year quarterback Tyler Van Dyke.
An early enrollee last spring, that key slate of 15 practices going into his first summer and fall was cut short four practices due to the onset of the pandemic last March. Then, he tested positive for the coronavirus twice — once before fall camp and then when the football team went on a two-week hiatus in November. Earlier in the fall, he had to sit out for two weeks due to contact tracing.
Earning praise from coaches and veteran teammates for his offseason workouts and start to 2021 spring drills, Van Dyke is hoping to set those challenges behind him and develop over the next monthplus.
“I’m excited for the spring, excited to get a lot of reps,” said Van Dyke, still classified as a freshman because last fall didn’t count against player eligibility. “I felt like I didn’t get as many reps as I wanted last year in practice just because the whole COVID situation, so I’m really excited for the spring. I’m still learning, but I feel like it’s going to help me gain confidence and be better in the future.”
After Van Dyke worked his way up to No. 3 on the quarterback depth chart last fall, behind starter D’Eriq King and backup N’Kosi
Perry, he has an immense opportunity to lead the team this spring as King recovers from a torn ACL in his right knee and Perry intends to transfer. Miami coach Manny Diaz sees the qualities in him early on, calling him “a beast” for his work ethic in pre-spring workouts.
“People want to follow a leader that does things the right way, and that’s what Tyler does,” Diaz said on Tuesday after the Hurricanes’ second of 15 spring practices. “He’s so competitive. He so hard-working. I think his natural personality, that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to seeing the next four and a half weeks. Seeing his personality come out.”
As Van Dyke splits reps with redshirt freshman Peyton Matocha and incoming true freshman Jake Garcia, who is limited with a foot injury to start his first spring at UM, he can stand to learn plenty from King even while the star dual-threat signal caller rehabs his knee.
“I’m really trying to learn from him and his leadership and the way he just does his daily routine, like what he does around football and just outside of football too,” said Van Dyke, who hails from Connecticut. “I feel like I learned a lot from him this whole past year. It’s been good.”
Van Dyke differs greatly from King as more of a pocket passer, but don’t underestimate his ability to move.
“I’m a pro-style quarterback, but at the same time, I can make plays on the run,” he said. “I can extend plays when the pocket is collapsing. I can get out of the pocket, make plays on the run. I can even do some of the zone-read stuff — maybe not like D’Eriq — but if they’re giving it to me, then I’ll take it.”
While Van Dyke may not be very vocal, Diaz feels that’s not necessary in order to get the leadership he wants from his quarterback.
“D’Eriq King is not an insanely vocal person,” Diaz said. “You don’t have to be the Hollywood version of the quarterback that gives a speech with the dramatic music playing in the background to be a leader.”
Van Dyke has set the tone for young players that arrived at Miami in his same recruiting class.
“Things come easy to him,” said running back Donald Chaney Jr., a member of the 2020 recruiting class, like Van Dyke. “I’ve seen him learn something within five minutes that it would probably take me a day to learn, something like that. A really smart guy. He’s really smart. He knows his way around things. He knows how to work the field. He knows how to read the defense. It’s only going to get better from here for him.”
Van Dyke made significant strength improvements since the end of the season. He’s up to 225 pounds from 210 and said he has gained six and a half pounds of muscle mass.
Hurricanes coaches have had him study film of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the way he hits his checkdowns around the occasional shot downfield. Van Dyke also says offensive senior quality control analyst Jonathan Brewer compared him to Jared Goff when he first arrived, and they watched film on him.