Error code: %{errorCode}
Mensah to Miami: Huge recruitment win for the 'Canes, but what does it mean for CFB in the NIL era?
Quarterback Darian Mensah committed to the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday, bringing to an end one of the most significant and controversial transfer portal moves of this year’s early college football recruitment window.
We break down how the situation unravelled before exploring what Mensah's move could mean for other programs in the NIL era.
NFL fan too? Watch Super Bowl LX live on DAZN for only 99p
DAZN’s latest Game Pass deal gives you complete access to Super Bowl LX, alongside full replays of every playoff and regular season game, for just £0.99.
The offer arrives ahead of the ultimate showdown, as Drake Maye’s New England Patriots prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks’ relentless defense with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.
In addition to every game, live or on demand, Game Pass also provides access to RedZone, NFL Network, and DAZN’s weekly original shows, including Downs 2 Business, Kittle Things, and X's & O's coaching breakdown .
Click here for more information and to sign up .
The story so far
Entering his redshirt junior year, Mensah has the opportunity to play in Coral Gables for the next two seasons, following a year each at both Tulane and Duke.
A hot prospect this time last season, Mensah had just come off an impressive campaign with the Green Wave, throwing for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns with just six interceptions. That body of work saw Manny Diaz recruit him to Duke for 2025, which saw his numbers explode.
Mensah had almost 4,000 passing yards and 32 scores last season, leading the Blue Devils to a surprise ACC Championship. Having initially flirted with heading to the NFL, he decided to come back to college for another year.
This is where things get a little hectic. Mensah initially signed an NIL deal with Duke, committing to be the starting quarterback for the Blue Devils for another year. But despite the agreement, he then proceeded to enter his name into the transfer portal on January 16th, mere minutes ahead of the midnight deadline.
Immediately rumours began to swirl regarding Miami’s interest. The Hurricanes, preparing for a National Championship game at that time, had been in the market for an established quarterback throughout the portal window, with starter Carson Beck out of eligibility and on his way to the NFL.
Duke immediately sued Mensah, refusing to approve his portal entry with an injunction, citing breach of contract. But ten days later quarterback and school reached a settlement, and Miami has their man.
Keeping the Natty window open
Miami, for so long a program with ambitions that outweighed their on-field success, have relished the new wild west world that NIL and the transfer portal has created in college football. They have plunged straight in, unashamedly throwing money at talent in order to elevate the ‘Canes back to the top of the sport.
The results are obvious; despite stuttering midseason, Miami didn’t just make the playoffs - they ran the bracket all the way to the National Championship game, falling only at the final hurdle to an Indiana team that was destined to hoist the trophy.
2025 alone validates their model, one that is now legal in the sport. Those who know of this program’s history will be aware that money has never been an issue, but spending it under the watchful eye of the NCAA has. Google Nevin Shapiro for a rather dramatic history lesson in the dark arts of historical recruiting.
Miami were aggressive at quarterback the last two years, firstly persuading Cam Ward to return to college and transfer from Washington State rather than head to the NFL, before luring Beck over from Georgia last year. Why develop talent over three years when you can buy an oven-ready, battle-tested signal caller?
In an effort to make their new quarterback’s assimilation easier, the Hurricanes even signed Cooper Barkate, Mensah’s favourite target at Duke last year. With a roster teeming with talent, this move keeps Miami firmly in the playoff hunt in 2026 and maybe beyond.
A setback in Durham
The immediacy of Miami’s interest once Mensah had declared for the portal is telling, particularly if you ask Duke fans. Whilst a player had until midnight on January 16th to enter the portal, they can remain in there until they find a new home. But why did Mensah sign a deal then decide to head to pastures new?
It’s a fair question. Not even the quarterback himself, who has likely had to pay the Blue Devils some compensation for getting out of this contract, will have chosen this as the ideal timeline. Ask anyone in Durham - and further beyond too - and they’ll suggest Mensah had his head turned…
The Hurricanes were active in the portal, but every quarterback they locked in on didn’t make it to Coral Gables. Alabama’s Ty Simpson declared for the draft. Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola opted to be a backup in Oregon. And Sam Leavitt chose Lane Kiffin and Baton Rouge after leaving Arizona State.
Did that force Miami to be more creative? Despite the more relaxed college football world when it comes to the fluidity of players, it is strictly forbidden for schools to entice players on other rosters into the transfer portal. Let’s just say there’s a suspicious atmosphere in Durham that their quarterback was tampered with.
Regardless, Duke needs to move on, and quick. The Blue Devils have three quarterbacks on their roster. 2025 3-star recruit Dan Mahan is considered the future, and Northern Alabama transfer Ari Patu was brought in before Mensah left, tagged as a backup for a depth chart thin at the position.
The other name on the team is Walker Eget, a hasty transfer addition when it appeared Mensah was on the move. Eget comes over from San Jose State where he developed a gunslinger reputation, with 5,500 yards, 30 touchdowns and 19 interceptions over the past two years.
Eget is fun, but he’s not Darian Mensah. The problem for Duke is the portal is now light on quarterbacks, with perhaps Oregon backup Luke Moga and veteran Michigan turnover machine Jake Garcia the biggest names. If they feel they need to add a body, their best hope will be Ohio’s Parker Navarro, who is appealing for another year of eligibility.
The wider issue
The Darian Mensah debacle affects more than just two programs in the ACC. It challenges the integrity of a contract in a sport that is far from accustomed to handing them out. Schools need to understand that the amateur nature of college football is over - and if they want to protect themselves, they need to be prepared.
A similar scenario played out in the Pacific Northwest earlier in the portal, with Washington’s Demond Williams hoping to head to LSU after signing a deal with the Huskies. The difference? Washington used an NIL agreement template drawn up by the Big Ten. Evidently, their conference had the fine print ironed out.
Williams ultimately saw the writing on the wall and returned to Seattle for 2026. But Duke wasn’t so lucky. A school with ambitions of improving their football profile, losing Mensah is a huge setback in the short-term. Diaz and co. will get past this, but schools stealing players from each other is in nobody’s best interests.
Players chasing money via NIL and the relaxation of transfer rules is inevitable, and the sport loses something as a result. Alumni are proud of the school they went to, and have a bond with the institution for life. When it’s all said and done, will Mensah consider himself a Blue Devil, Hurricane, or part of the Green Wave?
The question extends beyond Mensah, of course. And even if you can separate emotion and romance from college football and look at it as a business, who’s to say Miami won’t be the ones who suffer this time next year? With two years of eligibility left, Mensah could theoretically be looking for a fourth home in 2027.
There’s no putting this genie back in the bottle. The game has changed. But expect contracts to become much more watertight going forward. America doesn’t like guardrails, but it likes the thought of losing assets even less. This will play out in courtrooms and congress, as those getting paid slug it out on the gridiron.
Watch López vs. Stevenson only on DAZN PPV
Teofimo López and Shakur Stevenson headline the Ring VI fight night in New York, exclusively on DAZN PPV, on January 31, 2026.
Purchase as a one-off PPV, or get included at no extra cost with a DAZN Ultimate Tier subscription, which includes a minimum of 12 PPV events per year, plus another 185 fight nights. Monthly and annual options available.
Sign up for Ultimate for £22.99 in the UK / $44.99 in the U.S. More details here.
