During his appearance at ACC Kickoff on Thursday, Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke spoke about his expectations of working with new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. Miami is expected to have greater balance offensively and to play with more physicality with Gattis calling plays.
Tyler Van Dyke led an explosive Miami offense as the starting QB in the final nine games of 2021. Van Dyke finished the 2021 season with 2,931 yards, 25 touchdowns and six interceptions. Miami is expected to have a more complex offense in 2022 than the uptempo spread previous OC Rhett Lashlee ran in 2020 and 2021.
Lashlee was hired as the head coach at SMU. Gattis earned the Broyles Award as the best assistant in college football in 2021 at Michigan. The Wolverines were 16th nationally averaging 35.8 points per game. Michigan finished 24th nationally averaging 443.1 total yards per game in 2021.
Miami was 20th in total offense in 2021 averaging 448.8 yards per game. Michigan was more balanced. The Wolverines averaged 228.7 passing yards per game in 2021 and 214.4 rushing. Miami averaged 321.2 passing in 2021 and 128.8 rushing per game. Van Dyke discussed Gattis’ offensive concepts.
"Q. How fun is it for you going to be working with new coordinator Josh Gattis, and as a quarterback, how difficult is it to understand a new system?TYLER VAN DYKE: I love Coach Gattis. He is bringing a lot of things that we never had last year. Coming from a lot of the RPOs around last year, we’re doing a lot more play action, full-field lead pass concepts. I’m really excited for it. He likes to utilize the talent we have, the running backs and the tight ends to the best ability.I’m really excited for that and can’t wait for it."
Jaylan Knighton returns for Miami after leading the Hurricanes with 5561 rushing yards in 2021. Don Chaney Jr. is back after missing the majority of the 2021 season with a knee injury. Thad Franklin enters his sophomore season after productive performances as Knighton’s backup at the end of last season.
Miami added Henry Parrish as a transfer from Mississippi and signed freshman Tre’Vonte Citizen. Parrish will enter training camp as the favorite to be the starter after strong performances this spring. Chaney and Knighton missed the spring with injuries. Van Dyke discussed the expected improvement with the run in 2022.
Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke on new OC Josh Gattis: "Coach Gattis bringing a lot of things we didn't have last year. Last year we did a lot of RPO, this year it's a lot of play action. I'm really excited for it. He likes to utilize the talents we have at running back and tight end"
— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) July 21, 2022
"Q. The great Miami teams in the past had great run-pass balance. Last year you guys were 12th (in the ACC) in rushing. Do you feel like you can run the ball better this year, or does it matter?TYLER VAN DYKE: We’ll definitely run the ball better this year. Coach Cristobal did a great job of getting a couple of offensive linemen here and really emphasizing toughness and physicality. At the end of last season we really had one or two guys that could run the ball. Now he brought in another guy, a freshman.We got Don Chaney back. Everyone knows Rooster. I’m excited what the run game is going to be like. Coach Gattis brought in a lot of gap schemes, you know, all that stuff. I’m really excited to really balance the run-pass game out."
The injuries to Chaney and former Miami starter Cam’Ron Harris left Miami with three RBs for the final half of the 2021 season. Knighton had the bulk of the carries early during the second half of the 2021 season. Franklin was the closer late in the season. Former Miami RB Cody Brown transferred to Virginia.
Parrish had 816 yards rushing and five TDs and 28 receptions for 232 yards in two seasons at Mississippi. Parrish ran with physicality and purpose this spring. Miami will have a lot of depth, versatility and talent at RB that will allow Gattis multiple options to fit what the Hurricanes want to do in the running game.