New Miami OC Dawson: QB Van Dyke ‘elite,’ but everyone else he will let you know later
Coping with a sinus infection while meeting the Miami media for the first time isn’t exactly ideal, but neither, necessarily, is being tasked with turning around a Hurricanes offense that last season ranked 97th of 131 FBs teams in scoring — not to mention 86th in total offense, 96th in rushing, 60th in passing and 87th from the red zone.
But new Hurricanes offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, known for his prolific passing in the past, savors the challenge ahead of him — completely hoarse voice or not.
“What are you talking about?’’ Dawson, who came to UM from Houston, said Tuesday when asked why Miami was the right move for him. “Look at this place. This is an opportunity of a lifetime. I grew up watching those national championships. So I pinch myself every day coming out here, wearing this U. I’m very blessed and very thankful and I’m going to put everything I’ve got into getting us back where we need to be.”
Dawson, 45, replaced Josh Gattis as UM’s fifth offensive coordinator in the past six seasons. Gattis was fired after one season and had not been officially in charge of quarterbacks. Dawson, however, will coach the signal-callers and raved about starter Tyler Van Dyke.
“Tyler, elite player, right?’’ Dawson said after UM’s second of 15 spring practice sessions that end April 14 with the spring game at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. “My job is to get him to understand our offense as quick as possible. He is a good fit for our offense. He is a very accurate thrower. His football IQ is skyrocketing. He picks up things very quickly.
“I’ve been here three weeks. We’re probably doing things at a rate I wasn’t probably anticipating because of that. Glad to have him.’’
Other than also commenting on Van Dyke’s sophomore backup Jacurri Brown and briefly touching on freshman early enrollee Emory Williams, Dawson refused to give specific details on individual players.
“I’m going to talk about specific guys later because I don’t want to leave people out,’’ Dawson said. “I’m not going to get into that because there are kids out there working hard and playing hard, and if I point one kid out and not the other, that’s not fair to them — especially because we haven’t put pads on yet. If we have a scrimmage and it’s loud and people make plays, I’ll tell you about those guys.”
Dawson did say he could tell that Brown “is a mature kid.’’
“Probably one of the better skill sets I’ve seen on a kid. He can do everything.’’
Williams, he said, “should be high school still. So, we’re going to bring him along. But he’s got some good skill sets, too.’’
Of the other players in general, the coach said he likes “their eagerness.’’
“Their attitude is off the charts.’’
At Houston
In Dawson’s three seasons as Houston’s offensive coordinator, the Cougars ranked 13th in the nation with 87 passing touchdowns and 21st with 10,008 passing yards. Last year, Cougars quarterback Clayton Tune set an American Athletic Conference record with 40 passing touchdowns and ranked fifth in the nation with 313.4 passing yards per game.
“We had an All-American running back who tore his ACL in the spring and then the next guy got hurt,’’ Dawson said. “So, when things happen like that you have to figure out how to move the ball. It’s part of planning and figuring out where your personnel is. The year before we were the No. 3 time-of-possession team in the nation. Why? We were healthy at running back. Our defense was top 10 and we didn’t need to rely on the pass game.
“So, a lot depends on how your team is doing and a feel for that. Understanding where we fit into all three phases of the game is going to be important. I’m not hard-headed in the sense to think my phase is the only one that matters. We’re going to get a feel for how this team is built and that’s going to dictate a lot on how we do offensively.”
Among several college stops, Dawson served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Southern Miss from 2016 to 2018. During his last season there, the Golden Eagles ranked No. 3 nationally in completion percentage at 69.2.
Running counts
Dawson said Tuesday that despite being known for his passing offenses, running has always been an important part of them.
“In my opinion there is no such thing as the Air Raid offense anymore. We’ve evolved probably 10, 12 years ago, probably when we went to West Virginia. We had a bunch of tight ends on the roster so we had to figure out how to use those guys and be physical and play more to the strengths of your team. Running the football and playing with tight ends builds physical culture on both sides of the ball. We’re never going to go away from that.
“We’re going to run the ball effectively. ...I started my career off throwing it more than I do now. But you can throw it for more yards if you run it better.”
Added Dawson with a grin: “I don’t want to throw it less — but I want to throw it for more yards.”
