At this point, Miami has become notorious for pulling off high-profile recruitment wins. But at the same time, those big wins are often surrounded by controversy. Mario Cristobal finally opens up on the Hurricanes’ newest big fish—Darian Mensah.

The former Duke QB is a massive win for Cristobal, who has established a pattern of getting his starting quarterback from the portal in recent years. Mensah comes to Miami as one of the country’s Top 10 passers, with 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns. Now tasked with leading the Hurricanes’ offense for 2026, Cristobal was high on praise about Mensah.

“After meeting him — unbelievable personality. Made of the right stuff. Alpha,” he told WQAM on February 9. “He’s the right guy. Not only for us to go and continue to get better; he’s also the right guy to help develop that young quarterback room, because that young quarterback room is really impressive.”

Cristobal still has in-house quarterbacks like Luke Nickel and Judd Anderson to explore. But he entered the portal with the clear intent of finding his next starter here. Miami went after the big ones, namely Sam Leavitt and Brendan Sorsby. The program also tried to entice Alabama’s Ty Simpson to forgo the draft and hit the portal for a coveted offer. Darian Mensah came in as a saving grace, who entered the portal on the very last day. Now, he stands to be the next quarterback to script program records after Carson Beck and Cam Ward. The other QBs could definitely take a page out of the Darian Mensah book.

The QB is particularly known for his accuracy, especially while moving the ball downfield. Mensah finished with a 66.8% completion rate, with his longest pass going for 77 yards. Miami also won a bonus with Mensah’s recruitment, because his No.1 WR target Cooper Barkate also followed him to Coral Gables. Barkate was ranked as the 3rd-best receiver in the portal according to On3. Miami’s passing attack is going to be immensely upgraded with these two in play. There’s also some Heisman buzz brewing around Mensah.

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Despite all these positives, the Hurricanes drew flak for securing such a lucrative quarterback. That was because Mensah transferred to Miami while still being in the midst of the two-year $8 million NIL deal with Duke. The Blue Devils sued Mensah for abandoning them, after he allegedly agreed to a $10 million offer from Miami. The lawsuit was eventually settled, clearing Mensah to don the orange and green. Mario Cristobal also addressed the backlash he faced for the tactics he used for Mensah.

Mario Cristobal justified Miami’s late and aggressive push for Mensah

In recent years, Miami has pulled out all the stops to get its big recruits. He got Carson Beck for nearly $4 million and Cam Ward for a little over $1.5 million. These moves have earned Miami a reputation, while NIL continues to rapidly develop the college football landscape. But to Cristobal, it’s all about getting those special talents.

“You’ve got to wait till they get in the portal,” Cristobal said. “That’s the bottom line. You hear this guy might, that guy might. But when they do, you’ve got to go and you got to go hard. You’ve got to go fast. And just felt that he [Mensah] was the best one.”

Cristobal is a spectacular recruiter, as has been proven by his recruiting all these high-profile names. Those players got him and the program to the National Championship, something that hadn’t graced the program since Cristobal walked out of the U as a player. Throughout his stint as Miami’s head coach, Cristobal has constantly been trying to restore the program’s lost glory. Naturally, he’s willing to go to extreme limits to help make that goal possible. After all, he’s getting returns on the money that the program is spending on these talents.

Darian Mensah was meant to be in a marquee program. He made his case for that claim with a phenomenal season at Tulane and by winning the ACC Championship at Duke in 2025. In Miami, he seems to have found where he belongs, as Mario Cristobal’s next signature quarterback.