Cristobal, Van Dyke, Kinchens and Lee meet the ACC media. Miami fall camp opens Tuesday

The 2022 season is long gone, but not long gone enough for fans, players and coaches to forget the bitterness of 5-7.
“Whenever you start up at a program again and it has a rebuilding aspect, you have to sometimes go through a season like that and not make any excuses,’’ UM second-year coach Mario Cristobal, in describing “a great offseason,’’ told reporters Tuesday at the ACC Football Kickoff media days in Charlotte, North Carolina. “You go directly at the things that need to be addressed and it starts with people — people in the locker room, people on the coaching staff, people in a support staff role.
“What we have done is added some elite components in the personnel department, unique additions at the line of scrimmage, outside on the perimeter, in the secondary, at linebacker. A great signing day class, the best in our school’s history. Top-10 [transfer] portal class. Most importantly, the retainment of our top players and top leaders led to a great spring and now a great summer.
“We’re eager to get to camp so we can put all that to good use.’’
The climb back begins Tuesday, when fall camp opens at Greentree Field in Coral Gables. The season starts Friday, Sept. 1, against Miami of Ohio at Hard Rock Stadium. The Canes will attempt to attain a winning season that ends with a bowl victory, which hasn’t happened since they defeated West Virginia in the 2016 Russell Athletic Bowl.
STAR PLAYERS
Cristobal, entering his second season as UM’s head coach, was accompanied at the Westin Charlotte by quarterback Tyler Van Dyke, All-American safety Kamren Kinchens and UCF transfer center Matt Lee.
“We’re tough, we’re gonna get after it, we’re going to work as hard as Coach Cristobal and Coach [Alex] Mirabal push us on any give day,’’ said Lee, according to his coach, up 20 pounds — ‘He still fits in the suit, so that’s good,’ Cristobal quipped a few minutes before Lee spoke. “We’ve just got to hang our hats on being the toughest, meanest guys on the field every single snap, every single game.’’
Lee, from Oviedo, was asked, ‘What’s left to accomplish?’ considering that at UCF, where he spent his first four seasons, he was most recently rated as the third-highest graded center nationally by Pro Football Focus (90.6 pass-blocking grade and 80.6 run-blocking grade in 2022).
Miami Hurricanes offensive lineman Matt Lee during the first day of the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
“The accolades and all that stuff is cool [but] I don’t really care about that. I want to win games, right? I want to win a conference championship, I want to go all the way — all that comes with that, you know, because individual stuff is awesome, but that don’t really matter. All that matters is, the team winning and going as far as you can get the team to go.”
VAN DYKE
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke listens to a reporter’s question during the first day of the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Van Dyke reiterated from his earlier Tuesday interview with WQAM host Joe Rose, that he “loves” new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson’s offense and how Dawson trusts his signal callers to change plays.
“I mean, you guys saw what he did at Houston — threw for 4,000 yards, over 2500 yards rushing. The thing I love about it is the freedom he gives the quarterback, changing run plans to pass plays, pass to run, giving receivers routes based on what the defense gives you. So it just gives the quarterback a lot of freedom. And that allows you to put the ball in the hands of the playmakers.
“Yeah, I’m very grateful that Coach Cristobal brought Coach Dawson.’’
Earlier, Van Dyke said the biggest thing he has worked on in the offseason was his “mobility in the pocket, moving around and trying to avoid defenders and extend plays. I’ve actually improved that a lot. In this day and age as a quarterback, you’ve got to use your feet a little more.’’
Kamren Kinchens
Miami Hurricanes safety Kamren Kinchens laughs as he answers a question during the first day of the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff event in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, July 25, 2023.
Kinchens was the first UM player to speak on the ballroom stage. He was asked about UM’s strengths on defense.
“The first thing, our front seven, those are some dogs, especially the front – the transfer with [linebacker] Kiko [Mauigoa] and you got [linebackers] Corey Flag and Wesley [Bissainthe]. Those guys are coming back with some experience under their belt. And then you got [defensive lineman] Akheem Mesidor and you got [defensive end] Rueben [Bain], you got [defensive ends] Nyjalik [Kelly] and Jahfari [Harvey], [defensive tackle] Leonard Taylor, you got [defensive lineman] Branson [Deen]. We’re loaded down there, and then [defenisve tackle] Jared [Harrison-Hunte] coming back off injury. I think that’s the best group that we have on our defense.
“Not to take nothing [away] from the secondary,’’ Kinchens said. “We got [cornerback] Davonte Brown coming out of the transfer portal, [cornerback] Daryl Porter, you got me and [safety] James [Williams] back there and arguably the best safety duo. We got some got some things going on for us.”
INJURY UPDATE
A 247Sports’ Inside the U report by @DavidLake3 said, per Cristobal, that “offensive lineman Zion Nelson, running back Trevonte’ Citizen and linebacker Chase Smith will look to work their way into action during the course of the fall’’ and that “Nelson is expected to be available at some point during the middle of fall camp.’’
Nelson, one of the most promising linemen, had knee surgery last summer but had another “setback’’ during the season, Cristobal previously said, and missed nearly the entire season.
InsidetheU also reported that freshman defensive lineman Collins Acheampong’s status is “up in the air” for the start of fall camp.
Earlier in his interview with WQAM’s Rose, Cristobal was asked about fans complaining about last year’s record and how everyone at the ACC Kickoff would be talking about Florida State, Clemson and North Carolina instead of Miami:
“Our program, nothing is going to stop it from achieving national prominence again,’’ the coach said. “But it didn’t get here overnight. So getting out of it isn’t going to happen overnight. And you hire tough-minded, hard nosed people to deal with getting out of the muddy parts.
“Last year is a significant step in that direction. Not indicative in the record because the record has nothing to do with the rebuild in the early part. Of course you want to be better. You don’t make excuses for it. You don’t try to deny it. It wasn’t good. But you also realize that what we have to do here is very different than some of our other spots and stops, some of the other places that have new hires, and when you add the caliber of human being and talent that we did this past year, and the coordinator adjustments and coaching changes, it’s the right trajectory with a lot of momentum. We just want to get to work.”
▪ On whether he was ever worried that Van Dyke would enter the transfer portal after last season, in which Van Dyke injured his shoulder and missed most of the last half:
“I think he’s he’s a Miami guy through and through. I don’t comment on certain things because the way things are structured right now it’s all over the place, right? I just don’t believe in the whole getting on the air and pointing fingers at programs and this and that.
“Look, Miami has been awesome when people that want to be at Miami are at Miami. That’s always been the key to Miami because it’s unique, right? It’s different. Super high energy. It’s hot as can be. It’s a relentless work ethic approach. And he is one of those guys so it fits well and we’re ready to roll with him.”