Tyler Van Dyke highlights receivers ready to breakout in 2023

2022 was supposed to see Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke break out and become one of college football’s best signal callers. However, that didn’t happen and Miami missed a bowl game. This led to changes, with head coach Mario Cristobal bringing in Shannon Dawson to lead the offense.

Now, excitement is building about the Miami offense once again, particularly for how explosive it could be. For his part, Van Dyke expects this new offense to help several receivers break out.

“I mean, we plan to have more vertical balls this year,” Tyler Van Dyke said. “Colbie [Young] is definitely the guy that will do it. Go up and get the ball, had a big one on the team today.”

Standing at six-foot-five, Young has the height that can be incredibly difficult for defensive backs to deal with. He showed potential in 2022 as well, grabbing 32 receptions for 367 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games played.

Along with Young, Tyler Van Dyke pointed to Jacolby George as a threat to spread the field vertically in Miami’s new offense.

“But also Jacolby George too. He makes incredible catches too,” Van Dyke said. “So, those two guys on the outside are definitely the ones who are going to make the vertical pass plays.”

Of course, if Miami wants to get its passing game going vertically, Tyler Van Dyke is going to need to stay healthy and adjust to his new offensive coordinator. Luckily for Miami fans, Mario Cristobal is happy with their relationship.

“It’s a great match. It really is. Those two, it’s exactly how you want to pair up a coordinator and your starting quarterback. But also, you have the two young guys because Jaccuri [Brown has] been off the charts and Emory [Williams] has done a really good job as a freshman. But right now, it starts with Tyler. Tyler really got nicked up last year. Schematically, it is what it is. Sometimes, things don’t fit. It’s not a knock on anyone or any scheme or whatever. Sometimes, it’s about the fit. And this is certainly the right fit,” Cristobal said.

“From an offensive standpoint, there’s a lot of autonomy, which Tyler’s a really smart guy. … We’re able to do a lot with him early. We’re I think about five, six days into practice, but we’ve installed just about 85-90% of the offense and we’re going to install more in the coming days. It’s been awesome to watch. Just a lot of progress and just a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz and a lot of juice around the building.”

Tyler Van Dyke on his progress in the Miami offense

For his own part, Tyler Van Dyke is happy with how he’s progressing in the new offense.

“It’s been good. There’s a lot of different ways that he gets to plays in the run game, pass game, which is good,” said Van Dyke. 

“When you first get used to a new offense, it takes a while because you have to install new plays and then RPOs, passes, [and] runs. And then we have to figure out a way to add some plays in tough situations that the defense proposes. So, that’s what we’re kind of at right now. We’re kind of installed most of our stuff right now, and we’re seeing what the defense gives us, and we’re changing plays here and there. [It’s] kind of playing more games now.”