The Wisconsin Badgers made a splash in the transfer portal at the quarterback position for the second consecutive offseason, prying Tyler Van Dyke from the Miami Hurricanes for his final season of eligibility.
Van Dyke, a multi-year starter at Miami, had a strong 2021 season, but saw inconsistencies with his play over the past two years while dealing with injuries and offensive coordinator changes, leading him to look for another destination.
Now at Wisconsin, the graduate transfer is currently battling with redshirt sophom*ore Braedyn Locke for the starting quarterback spot.
This year’s competition is different than last offseason’s, when the Badgers brought in graduate transfer Tanner Mordecai, who immediately took the first-team reps to start spring ball, whereas the top two quarterbacks have split opportunities this year.
Another aspect that’s currently different between the situations? The leadership element, as Tanner Mordecai excelled in that category a season ago, immediately becoming a captain for the team and winning over his teammates quickly.
Van Dyke isn’t as natural of a leader, which the quarterback acknowledged, and the coaching staff is looking for him to exert himself more in that department as he gets acclimated.
“Coming in, my whole thing was coming to work hard and earn the respect of the teammates around me,” Van Dyke shared. “So thought I did a pretty good job of that. You know, came in here and worked extremely hard, and now once spring ball comes around, it’s time to kind of express that a little more [and] become the leader that they brought me in here for. So, yeah, you know, just coming here and do what I have to do best with that.”
Head coach Luke Fickell praised the transfer quarterback for coming in and working immediately as he stepped onto campus, noting how the schedule of a graduate student allows for a smoother transition.
“The unique thing and the beautiful thing about some of those guys that are older, obviously, they’ve been through a lot, but when they walk in the door, their routines are pretty set right,” Fickell said. “I mean, they don’t have as much. I’m not saying they don’t have schoolwork, but, you know, they have some more things in the graduate program that’s a little bit more in a routine that they can do it.
“They aren’t away for a lot of class time, so there are opportunities to spend an enormous amount of time learning within the system. Gives those guys a great opportunity.”
However, at the same time, Fickell is looking for Van Dyke to break out of his shell and look to exert more of the leadership aspect as he continues to battle for the starting job.
“To be honest with you, I want to see him kind of continue to come out of his shell,” Fickell said of Van Dyke. “We had a great example of what Tanner did last year, but, you know, he’s in a battle as well. So I think that for him learning the offense and repping and working with a guy that’s been in the offense that knows it like the back of his hand in Braedyn, I think that makes it a little bit more, put a little bit more pressure on him.
“But I think he’s done a great job. They’re going to continue. I think we’re going to continue to see him kind of come out of his shell, and not just as a football player, but as a leader as well.”
Fickell reiterated the message after the team’s eighth spring practice on Tuesday, emphasizing the hope of having not only Van Dyke, but both top quarterbacks showcase their leadership.
“I want to see them both kind of come out of their shells, the leadership-wise when they’re in there to take charge,” Fickell said. “And I think in particular, Tyler is still learning a lot of the system. Sometimes that makes it a little bit more difficult on him.
“But for anything, I want to see consistency. I want to see leadership. I want to see that demeanor, that body language. Regardless of what happens, you know, we do a pick today and you can just kind of tell. Then all of a sudden we throw a deep ball and it’s really nice, you know, catch down the sidelines and you should see the stand tall and a little bit of bounce.”
Offensive coordinator Phil Longo acknowledged the challenge of becoming a leader immediately as a transfer, given the change in environment, but believes that’ll come naturally as Van Dyke gets more acquainted with the offense.
“Tanner [Mordecai] went through it last year and there’s a lot of portal quarterbacks right now probably trying to overcome that same challenge,” Longo said about becoming a leader as a transfer. “It’s hard like when you’re an alpha guy and you want to run the show, it’s tough to do it when you don’t know. That’s why I always say knowledge is power all the time. Like, you have to know your job and be able to execute your job before you can go coach or say something to another player.
“And so that learning curve really is kind of correlates with how vocal a guy is. Right? When you come in, initially, you don’t know anything. You’re learning. He’s not overly concerned about everything else that’s going on yet because he’s trying to get his world where it needs to be. But now what you’re seeing with Tyler is the same thing that we saw with Tanner last year.
“As he has more confidence in what we’re doing, it’s easier for him to move a wideout over or bump a slot up or flip the back or say something to the o-line with regards to getting something fixed, because he knows it.”
While the Badgers had an amazing leader in Tanner Mordecai last season, if they can begin to get that element out of Tyler Van Dyke, the offense should benefit as a whole.
On a side note, I did see Van Dyke being more communicative with the offense at the end of this past week, perhaps showcasing some growth in the department.
Now, it’s up to him to continue getting a grasp of the offense, while finding ways to exert himself as the quarterback continues to battle for the starting job.
