The University of Miami was once known as Quarterback U, and for good reason. In a single decade, the powerhouse football program produced future Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, along with Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde and Steve Walsh, all of whom spent at least a decade in the NFL taking teams to the playoffs or, in Kelly’s case, Super Bowls.

But it’s been more than 30 years since the Hurricanes had a quarterback taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, the last being Walsh, whom the Cowboys selected with a supplemental pick in 1989. The drought in Miami has been long and severe.

Though the Hurricanes are tied with Alabama for the most consecutive years (14, stretching from 1995-2008 in Miami’s case) of having at least one player go in the first round only twice in the past 20 years have they had a quarterback get drafted at all. Ken Dorsey went in the seventh round in 2003 to the 49ers and Brad Kaaya in the sixth in 2017 to the Lions, and they produced forgettable NFL careers.

But Tyler Van Dyke, a Connecticut native with the type of size, arm and maturity that plays well on Sundays, is on the verge of ending that dry spell.