Van Dyke is on track to be Miami’s QB of the future, but COVID-19 complicates timeline
It’s not exactly clear yet when the future will be necessary at quarterback for the Miami Hurricanes. D’Eriq King is a redshirt senior, but he could opt to return to Miami next season after the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to every fall athlete because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Whenever King does leave, N’Kosi Perry could have a year or two to play quarterback. The redshirt junior could start next season if King leaves and potentially play two years as the starter for the Hurricanes or he might have to wait until his sixth year of eligibility.
At some point, Miami’s plan is to turn to Tyler Van Dyke, though. Behind the scenes, coaches feel he his on track to live up to the “quarterback of the future” billing he came labeled with when he joined the Hurricanes in January.
“We’re very excited watching him,” coach Manny Diaz said. “Every week in practice, he’s getting better and better, and I think he’s got everybody on the inside of the program pretty excited.”
Said offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee: “I feel really good about where he’s progressing as a true freshman.”
Once Miami formally landed Van Dyke and King within a month of each other, the quarterback lineage for the Hurricanes seemed clear, even if it was never formally stated. King would start in 2020, then hand the reins off to either Perry for a season or Van Dyke for the foreseeable future. Either way, Van Dyke was poised to potentially be a three- or four-year starter for Miami.
There might not be the same sort of rush now.
Plans could always change via recruiting or the transfer portal, but Van Dyke was once positioned to start as early as 2021 and as late as 2022. The additional eligibility means it’s entirely possible he’ll have at least one experienced starter sitting ahead of him until 2023 — his third year in the program.
Van Dyke’s progress is already encouraging, Lashlee said, although the quarterback did miss the Hurricanes’ last game because of a COVID-related issue, a source told the Miami Herald.
“He’s very mature for a freshman,” said Lashlee, who is also the quarterbacks coach. “He handles himself and prepares very well, and I think he’s gotten better throughout the course of the first six or seven weeks of the season, which a lot of times kids hit that freshman wall.”
While the Hurricanes (5-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) still list Van Dyke as the third-string quarterback behind King and Perry, both Diaz and Lashlee said it’s not so clear cut. In the season, Lashlee said he only worries about who’s the starting quarterback, so there’s no ongoing competition for No. 2 on the depth chart.
Diaz went one step further. When asked whether he felt Van Dyke was pushing Perry for the backup job, Diaz said the freshman is.
“I would say that’s true,” Diaz said. “We want competition, and I think Tyler and N’Kosi are pushing each other, and both those guys know that they’ve got to stay prepared because they could go in at any time.”
Navaughn Donaldson still not cleared
Navaughn Donaldson worked out on the field before each of the No. 12 Hurricanes’ last two games in Miami Gardens, but Lashlee said the offensive lineman has still not fully been cleared to return to the field.
Donaldson had right knee surgery late last season, which kept him out for all of spring practice and the first half of the regular season. In June, the senior announced his plans to redshirt as he recovered, hoping to use his allotted four games near the end of 2020 and then return at full strength as a redshirt senior in 2021.
Ahead of the Hurricanes’ win against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Oct. 17, Donaldson got an encouraging update from a doctor and has been able to ramp up his workload. Lashlee still isn’t ruling out the possibility Donaldson, who started at right guard last season, could contribute by the end of the year.
“He’s really improving and doing some really good things,” Lashlee said. “Hopefully, maybe later this year — for sure next year — that’ll be the case.”
This and that
▪ Safety Amari Carter won’t have to serve a suspension in Miami’s next game against the North Carolina State Wolfpack because his targeting penalty came in the first half. Still, it was a discouraging development for Miami, which has been flagged too often for the personal foul this season, with the senior now ejected twice because of the penalty. “It’s definitely something that we continue to address. You can still be physical without targeting,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said. “It obviously hurts the player — he’s got to miss the remainder of the game — and it hurts the team. It puts us in a bind, as well. It’s something we’ll continue to harp upon.”
▪ Diaz is hopeful the bye week will let the Hurricanes get fully healthy in time to face North Carolina State next month. Star tight end Brevin Jordan has missed the last two games because of an apparent right arm or shoulder injury and six freshmen, including wide receivers Xavier Restrepo and Michael Redding III, were unavailable Saturday because of issues related to the coronavirus.
▪ Mike Harley is the ACC Wide Receiver of the Week after the senior caught 10 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown in Miami’s 19-14 win against the Virginia Cavaliers at Hard Rock Stadium.
This story was originally published October 26, 2020 at 5:04 PM.
