DeMarcus Van Dyke has deep ties to South Florida — but not the University of South Florida he works for now.
Van Dyke was a star football player and track athlete at Monsignor Pace High in Miami Gardens. He signed with the hometown Miami Hurricanes out of high school and played down the road from his alma mater at Hard Rock Stadium. After a season as a cornerbacks coach at ASA Miami, a junior college, he joined Mark Richt’s staff at his college alma mater as a defensive analyst.
Van Dyke spent five years on staff at Miami, working under Richt, Manny Diaz and Mario Cristobal. He served in different roles: analyst, recruiting staffer and one season as the on-field cornerbacks coach.
Now Van Dyke is in his second year as the cornerbacks coach at USF, and he is coming to South Florida with the No. 18 Bulls to try to pull off a third straight upset win and topple his former team — the No. 5 Hurricanes.
“I think it’s going to be like a regular game for me,” Van Dyke said. “This is not my first time back in Miami coaching as a visitor, but I’m excited for it, to see my family and friends, to see some of the coaches I coached with when I was there, and this is an opportunity to go against the ‘Canes.”
Van Dyke said he got over facing his former team when the Bulls played the Hurricanes in Tampa last year. He also spoke to another USF assistant coach who played for Miami, Kevin Patrick, who reminded him where his allegiance is now. Patrick was a star defensive end with the Hurricanes in the early 1990s but is in his third stint as a Bulls assistant coach.
“I thought last year, I kind of did, you know but talking to coach Kevin Patrick, he’s been in these games a few times,” Van Dyke said. “He was kind of like, ‘Look, man, you’re a Bull now. Now it’s time to coach our guys.’”
Van Dyke and the Bulls have garnered attention around the nation for their performance in the first two weeks of the season. In Week 1, USF took down then-No. 25 Boise State, which was the Group of Five representative in the playoffs last year. In Week 2, the Bulls went to Gainesville and upset then-No. 13 Florida.
“We’ve been getting a lot of exposure, but I think I our guys are handling it good,” Van Dyke said. “They’ve been training since January with (George Courides), our strength coach, for these moments. They’ve been taking it day by day. Just grateful for the opportunity.”
Under Van Dyke, the Bulls’ defense has kept a pair of good quarterbacks — Boise State’s Maddux Madsen and Florida’s DJ Lagway — in check. Now he has to handle Miami’s Carson Beck. Pro Football Focus gives the Bulls a 78.6 coverage grade, which is 36th nationally.
“I think we’re doing a good job,” Van Dyke said. “(Maddux Madsen) was a good quarterback at Boise, and DJ Lagway is a great quarterback, too. And now we face another great quarterback in Carson Beck. He was at Georgia, a national champion, and he’s a great player and should be a first-round draft pick.”
Van Dyke and Cristobal respect each other, with both coaches speaking fondly of Van Dyke’s time at UM.
“He did a nice job when he was here,” Cristobal said. “He was in an analyst role while he was here. He was a great player while he was here at the University of Miami. So tons of respect for him and his team.”
Van Dyke said Cristobal, his old boss, and USF coach Alex Golesh have some similarities.
“They both are great coaches, hard workers,” Van Dyke said. “They do a good job of getting their teams ready to play. Both guys are similar — really good guys.”
But Van Dyke will do what he can to beat his former boss on Saturday.
“It’s definitely different, but I enjoy just this part of it, being a Bull going against the ‘Canes,” Van Dyke said. “Those guys over there are great players and great coaches.”
