CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Miami Hurricanes are back on the national scene in college football in large part due to the acquisition of two high-profile transfer quarterbacks the past two years.
They're counting on a third, Darian Mensah from Duke, to keep them in the conversation.
The junior redshirt quarterback said Wednesday he made the move to Miami largely because of the success Cam Ward and Carson Beck experienced after joining the Hurricanes through the transfer portal. Ward became the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft, and Beck took Miami to the College Football Playoff championship game last season and was selected in Round 3.
Mensah said after watching Ward and Beck perform he believes Miami gives him a chance to win a national title, while simultaneously best utilizing his skill set to improve his NFL draft stock.
“Seeing what the last two quarterbacks did at Miami was a huge factor," Mensah said at the ACC Kickoff. “Seeing the freedom that (offensive coordinator Shannon) Dawson lets the quarterback play with within his offense was also something that was attractive to me.”
Mensah's arrival in Miami followed a tension-filled offseason legal fight between Duke and its elite QB, who had signed a two-year contract in 2025 that included name, image and likeness money. The end result was a settlement that allowed Mensah to move on after the school had attempted to block his departure.
Mensah brings a proven track record to Miami.
He threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns for Tulane in 2024, then led the Atlantic Coast Conference last season with 3,973 yards passing and 34 touchdowns. The Blue Devils won a five-way tiebreaker to reach the ACC championship and beat No. 20 Virginia in Charlotte for their first outright title since 1962.
With Beck out of college eligibility, Miami coach Mario Cristobal felt his team desperately needed an experienced QB to go with a talented returning core.
“We were in the market for a quarterback,” Cristobal said. “We felt the team was really set in so many areas. When Darian hit the portal, we felt this is a guy we would love to pursue. ... His levels of leadership, care factor, time invested in his craft, football IQ, just natural human IQ, just an elite person."
Mensah said the transition to Miami has been “seamless” and that his new teammates have been welcoming even while talk swirls around his reported $10 million NIL deal.
“I feel like I’m at home here in Miami and you couldn’t ask for more,” he said.
Mensah said he remains friends with his former Duke teammates but that “business is business.”
However, there likely will be plenty of emotions on both sides when the Hurricanes host Duke on Nov. 14.
Mensah said he briefly considered joining the NFL draft but decided he needed to show more to scouts.
“I feel like I lost my team some games last year with just having the ball loose,” Mensah said. “And so I think that was a big thing for me and then just taking what the defense gives me and just being better with that, and not pressing.”
The Hurricanes are coming off a memorable season.
After catching a few breaks to get into the CFP, including Duke's Mensah-led win over Virginia, they beat No. 7 Texas A&M, No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Mississippi before losing to Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza and No. 1 Indiana in the CFP final.
Linebacker Mohamed Toure, Miami’s leading tackler last season, said the “The U” is getting closer to the high level where it once was. He said he gets chills when former Hurricanes players return to campus and talk with the team.
He said the loss to the Hoosiers will only continue to drive the Hurricanes.
“We ended with a bitter taste in our mouth, so it’s like we’re hungry to get to this 2026 season," Toure said. “But we understand that we only could take it one day at a time. So taking that energy, that hunger that we have and just applying it to every single day. It's a stepping stone.”
Miami hopes Mensah can help it take that final step and win its first national title since 2001.
“I always felt like I could play at this level, and a lot of people didn’t when I was in high school, so, carry that chip around me everywhere I go," Mensah said. “There’s a lot more left in my college career that I’m, I can showcase and I’m excited for the season."
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
