Explaining pressure added on Tyler Van Dyke in 2023

Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke had a breakout season in 2021, but he was unable to build off of it last year. The Hurricanes took a step back as an offense, and Van Dyke’s numbers dipped dramatically in 2022.

Miami made changes all around Van Dyke this offseason, and because of that, 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.”

Van Dyke passed for 2,931 yards, with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2021. This past season, he passed for 1,844 yards and 10 touchdowns, with five picks.

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, but 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.”