Tyler Van Dyke praises wide receiver group after spring game

As Miami looks to bounce back from a rough 2022 season, a lot is going to be expected from quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. However, he’s going to need his receivers to continue to play well like they did in the spring game.

Following the spring game, Tyler Van Dyke was asked about his relationship with Xavier Restrepo. From there, he jumped out to praise the entire unit.

“Yeah, we always throw together whether it’s in a practice setting or out of practice setting,” Tyler Van Dyke said. “So, it’s good to have that chemistry with him, have that safety blanket. But all the guys balled out tonight, all the receivers. I thought they did a great job catching the ball. They’re getting separation. So, it was good.”

One thing that Tyler Van Dyke and the receivers have to deal with is a coordinator change. That marks three seasons in a row that Miami has undergone a change at the offensive coordinator position with Shannon Dawson taking over.

Dawson has an Air Raid background and it’s a system that Tyler Van Dyke has recently praised.

“I’m not gonna compare anything. I was comfortable last year and comfortable this year. Just unfortunate circumstances last year with injuries. But this system gives the quarterback a lot of freedom to check plays, check routes depending what the defense gives you,” Van Dyke said.

“Some of the go-routes were checked based on man coverage. Some other pass routes. They actually didn’t bring zero coverage tonight, which they do a lot in practice. That’s what we check a lot out of. We learned a lot about that in spring. But it’s been good checking the routes. The go-routes is kind of what coach last year did, so I’m excited about all that. I think the tempo helps that a lot. As soon as you get a 20-yard gain, you just get going. It gets the defense caught off guard and I think you can see we moved the ball pretty well. We’ve got to score better in the red zone, but other than that, I thought we moved the ball pretty well.”

Mario Cristobal on how Tyler Van Dyke fits with Shannon Dawson

During spring ball, head coach Mario Cristobal evaluated how Tyler Van Dyke is fitting in with new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.

“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.”