CFB analyst asks are Miami football coordinators better fit
As part of his “Burning spring football questions for every ACC team” Brandon Marcello of 247 Sports asked “ARE THE NEW COORDINATORS A BETTER FIT?” for the Miami football program. Miami hired Shannon Dawson as the new offensive coordinator and Lance Guidry to run the defense.
The Miami football team was extremely inconsistent under Kevin Steele as the defensive coordinator in 2022 and nearly anemic offensively under Josh Gattis. Dawson and Guidry are regarded as far more innovative than Gattis and Steele were. Dawson brings a modified version of the air raid offense.
The Miami football team will fuse the air raid with a power spread and physical offense preferred by Mario Cristobal. The foundation for Miami on offense in 2023 will begin with Tyler Van Dyke returning for his fourth season with the Hurricanes. Van Dyke is expected to thrive in the new offense under Dawson.
Defensively Guidry will build around defensive tackle Leonard Taylor and safeties Kamren Kinchens and James Williams. Kinchens was an All-American in 2022 and Taylor and Williams should continue to develop in 2023 and live up to their status as five-star signees in 2021. Marcello summarized Dawson and Guidry.
"MIAMI: ARE THE NEW COORDINATORS A BETTER FIT?“Miami is restarting again on offense and defense in Year 2 of the Mario Cristobal era, and that might be a good thing. The Hurricanes were inconsistent, at best, last season and head-scratchingly bad at their worst as they struggled to a 5-7 record. What happened? It doesn’t matter now.New coordinators Shannon Dawson and Lance Guidry are now tasked to rectify those issues. The return of quarterback Tyler Van Dyke provides some hope, even if he fell off most radars as he missed six games with an injured shoulder last season.Van Dyke showed promise in nine starts in 2021, throwing for 2,931 yards after replacing injured starter D’Eriq King, and was named the ACC’s rookie of the year under then-coordinator Rhett Lashlee. Van Dyke, if healthy, should thrive in Dawson’s Air Raid system, and receivers Colbie Young and Xavier Restrepo should excel.Defensively, Lance Guidry is among the better hires across the country. He developed a top-5 defense at Marshall last season. He must turn around the Hurricanes’ unit, which ranked 126th in plays of 60 yards or longer and gave up 40 points in five games”"
Cristobal went with more substance than style hiring Dawson and Guidry. Gattis and Steele were big-name hires in 2022. Dawson and Guidry come to Miami after having success at Group of Five programs. Dawson and Guidry led top 10 units for Houston and Marshall last season. Miami needs to improve offensively and defensively.
Next. National CFB writer has Miami biggest transfer portal question. dark
Cristobal stated in December Miami needed to add an outside transfer WR. Miami fortified its roster at multiple positions through the transfer portal but was unable to add an outside WR. Expect Miami to be more open offensively in 2023. Miami added five transfers on defense who are expected to make an impact in 2023.