"Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz hasn’t won nearly enough (18-14 record) to erase questions about his long-term future. But give Diaz credit for three developments:
1). He has kept his players engaged and motivated, one of many reasons that Miami (4-4) has won two in a row against ranked teams instead of watching the season spiral out of control at 2-6.
2). Diaz and his staff made the right call moving toward younger players at safety, wide receiver, linebacker and in a couple of cases, defensive line. Some might have stuck longer with the veterans; Diaz wisely didn’t.
3). Diaz has seemingly fixed the quarterback situation for the foreseeable future, something his two predecessors (Al Golden and Mark Richt) could not. That’s one of the first things that Diaz can tell athletic director Blake James when they meet after the season.
How high on his priority list was fixing quarterback?
“It’s as high as anything on the list,” he said Monday. “If you look at some of the inconsistencies we had in 2019, we are thankful Tyler Van Dyke stuck with us and came here. We internally in this program think so highly of Jake Garcia and what he’s capable of. D’Eriq King changed it; bringing in D’Eriq changed the program.
“It’s really, really hard to win in college football right now, much like the NFL, without a quarterback. [Offensive coordinator] Rhett Lashlee deserves a lot of credit for bringing in a very quarterback-friendly offense that quarterbacks and wideouts want to play in, and the simplicity of how it is to learn. It’s been a transformation the last [two years] offensively.”
Since Ken Dorsey played his final college game in the controversial loss to Ohio State in the 2002 national championship game, UM has had a handful of good college quarterbacks but nobody great: Brock Berlin (2003-04), Kyle Wright (2004-07), Jacory Harris (2008-2011), Stephen Morris (2010-2013) and Brad Kaaya (2014-16).
Former coach Randy Shannon snagged Harris and Morris, and they were solid college QBs.
But King’s 2020 season (23 TDs, 5 picks, 2,686 yards passing, 538 yards rushing in 11 games) was better than any single season produced by Berlin/Wright/Harris or anyone else since Dorsey departed except perhaps one season from Morris (2012) and one from Kaaya (2016); both of those seasons were comparable in quality to what King did last season.
Van Dyke — who has thrown for 761 yards and a 76 percent completion rate with seven TDs and one interception in consecutive wins over ranked NC State and Pittsburgh — might have the most upside of any UM quarterback since Dorsey.
And some UM people say Jake Garcia should be every bit as good, if not better, than Van Dyke.
Count former Heisman Trophy winner and Canes great Gino Torretta among those impressed with Van Dyke.
“Getting better and better,” Torretta texted. “Looks like his command of [the] offense is improving. Guys are making plays around him. Fun to watch. Looks like he has all the physical tools.”
A veteran NFL scout said he has liked what he has seen from Van Dyke but that it’s too soon to anoint him: “He’s done some good things, put up good numbers and they’ve won. But let’s let it play out.”
Perhaps the two most impressive statistical measures of Van Dyke on Saturday: 1). When Pittsburgh blitzed him, he completed 16 of 19 passes for 239 yards and two touchdowns, per Pro Football Focus. 2). He completed 85 percent of his passes against a ranked team on the road if you remove two drops and two throwaways.
After watching UM lose the Pinstripe Bowl, 35-3, to Wisconsin in Mark Richt’s final game as coach, Van Dyke said: “I did not think I was going to go there.”
But even though Dan Enos’ one-year tenure as offensive coordinator in Diaz’s first season didn’t work out, credit Enos for luring Van Dyke.
In his first week on the job, Enos re-offered Van Dyke and told him he wanted to make the trip to Suffield Academy in Connecticut to watch him throw in person. After his trip north, Enos convinced Van Dyke to make an unofficial secret visit to UM. Van Dyke then orally committed to UM and signed with Miami less than two weeks before Enos was fired.
“Dan did a great job with Tyler,” Diaz said Monday. “Tyler was coming here with a lot of uncertainty with the system. Are you guys going to value my skill set? Are you guys going to want a runner? Rhett has shown we can win with multiple different types of quarterback play.”
Van Dyke — Rivals’ No. 8 pro style QB and 204th best overall prospect in the 2020 class — chose UM over Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, Wisconsin, California, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Kentucky and Oklahoma State.
“Tyler is a bulldog in the weight room; the guy is a machine; he’s trying to win every sprint we run,” Diaz said. “What stands out in the locker room is work ethic and toughness. He’s a 10 out of 10 in both. In the spring, we saw him and Jake playing quarterback at a really high level. Tyler just needed experience.”
Garcia should be just as good; he was rated by Rivals as the 47th-best player and No. 6 quarterback in this class. He chose UM over offers from Alabama, Ohio State, Southern California and Florida, among others.
The hope is that Van Dyke’s success doesn’t dissuade Garcia from staying long-term.
The Canes — who haven’t had a great college quarterback in 19 years — conceivably could have two now, depending on how Garcia develops and whether Van Dyke’s past two games prove to be a harbinger.
Besides Diaz’s obvious role — and Lashlee’s importance in luring both King and Garcia and Enos’ role in landing Van Dyke — any unsung heroes in UM being able snag all three?
“With Jake, it might have been some of these recruits,” Diaz said. “It might have been a guy like James Williams or Romello Brinson. Our fans deserve credit. They did a great job staying on Jake through the long haul. Recruiting is a team effort.
“When you feel you have a quarterback, that gives you a chance every game.”
The suspicion is Diaz has hit on three in a row.
SNAP DECISIONS
Notable offensive snap numbers from the Pittsburgh game:
Even though he caught a touchdown, freshman tight end Elijah Arroyo’s snaps remained limited (eight), compared with 70 for Will Mallory. Larry Hodges played five offensive snaps….
Jaylan Knighton played 66 of 75 snaps, with freshman running back Cody Brown logging eight…
Here’s how wide receiver snaps were allocated: Charleston Rambo (71), Key’Shawn Smith (67), Mike Harley (48), Xavier Restrepo (23), Jacolby George (4), Romello Brinson (3) and Brashard Smith (2). Michael Redding is out for the year with a labrum injury.
Notable defensive snaps numbers from the Pittsburgh game:
The move toward young safeties continued; James Williams played 79 snaps and Kam Kinchens 71. Veteran Gurvan Hall played just 21….
While Tyrique Stevenson (UM’s best cornerback) played 73 snaps, UM split its other cornerback snaps this way: DJ Ivey (46), Marcus Clarke (39) and Te’Cory Couch (14)….
With Nesta Silvera home in Miami dealing with an ear infection, UM gave 50 defensive tackle snaps to Jared Harrison-Hunte, 38 snaps to Jon Ford, 35 to Jordan Miller and 28 to Leonard Taylor…
The Canes continue to split defensive end snaps among five players: Jahfari Harvey (49), Deandre Johnson (44), Zach McCloud (37), Chantz Williams (25) and Elijah Roberts (21).
McCloud had four quarterback pressures and two sacks; Johnson had four quarterback pressures and one sack."
