As Miami enters offseason conditioning, Tyler Van Dyke relishes his chance to lead the Hurricanes – The Athletic

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Tyler Van Dyke flew back into Miami on Sunday afternoon ready to start online classes and eager to tackle the new offseason conditioning program Mario Cristobal had Aaron Feld cook up for the Hurricanes.

While some quarterbacks may prefer to spend all their time studying film or playing catch with receivers, the ACC’s rookie of the year has always relished the sweaty grind of preparing himself for on-field battle.

“I love conditioning. I don’t why,” Van Dyke told The Athletic on Sunday after spending a few weeks at home with his parents in Connecticut following Miami’s canceled trip to the Sun Bowl.

“I just love doing it,” the 6-4, 224-pound soon-to-be third-year sophomore said. “I love leading the team, being first in everything. I’ve done that since my freshman year. I pride myself in doing that. It’s important with Coach Feld as a team to get in shape. Not only conditioning and workouts, but just to bring the team together and find the leaders of the team. We’re excited. I’ve heard some different things we’re going to do with the offseason program and all that, but until we’re out there, we won’t know how different it will be from what Coach (Manny) Diaz had us do. So, we’ll see.”

The Hurricanes found out Tuesday what it was like to work out for Feld. The intense, mustachioed strength and conditioning coordinator had players out on Greentree practice field bright and early for the start of a new era while Cristobal and his assistants were spread out across the country on the recruiting trail.

For Van Dyke, the new spring semester at Miami is different than any he’s had before. Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee left to become the head coach at SMU.