Miami’s Carson Beck. Gone. Florida’s DJ Lagway. Gone. FSU’s Tommy Castellanos. Gone. UCF’s Traven Jackson. Gone. USF’s Byrum Brown. Gone. That’s the answer. So what’s the question? What does every major college football program in Florida have in common? They’ve all lost their starting quarterbacks. And in this five-part series, starting with the Miami Hurricanes, we’ll examine each team to try and determine how they’ll move on in 2026.

At Miami, the beat goes on. Cam Ward. Carson Beck. And now Darian Mensah. It’s the era of plug-in-and-play quarterbacks. And if you get the right guy, if he’s the right fit, your quarterback can take you a long way, and fast.
There’s no doubt Mensah, who played at Duke in 2025, was one of the top quarterbacks in the transfer portal this year. At a press conference before his team played the Blue Devils, North Carolina’s Bill Belichick had this to say: “He reminds my of an NFL quarterback. He’s not out there running around trying to be a running back. He’s a quarterback, and a really good one.
“The more I watched him play the more impressed I was…the closer you look, the more impressive he is.
“If you make a mistake in the secondary, you should expect to pay for it. I think he’s the best we’ve seen at that,” Belichick said.
Actually, Mensah was not Miami’s first choice. When the portal opened, the ‘Canes went after Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt. But Leavitt opted for LSU, and that might be the best thing that’s happened to Miami this spring, because Leavitt is still recovering from a foot injury.
He’s expected back in the fall, but quarterbacks who suffer lingering injuries often get behind, even after they’re healthy. Ask Florida about DJ Lagway.
“After meeting him, he’s made of the right stuff,” Miami Coach Mario Crystobal said on Miami’s WQAM recently. “He has an unbelievable personality. He’s definitely an Alpha.”
Mensah’s transfer from Duke was delayed by a legal entanglement when the school, which paid him a reported $8 million in NIL money after he came to the Blue Devils from Tulane, tried to hold him to the contract.
According to Loeb & Loeb LLP’s website, Duke claimed it’s contract with Mensah forbid him from transferring or signing another NIL deal. Eventually, the dispute was settled out of court and with Leavitt gone, Miami pounced.
“You’ve got to wait until they get in the portal, that’s the bottom line,” Cristobal said on WQAM. “You hear this guy might, that guy might. But when they do (enter the portal), you’ve got to go and you’ve got to go hard. You’ve got to go fast.” And Miami went after Mensah hard and fast, reportedly paying him $10 million.
“We just felt he was the best one (available),” Cristobal continued. “He was deadly accurate, just creating explosive plays on schedule, off schedule; we liked his pocket presence.
“He’s the right guy,” Cristobal declared. “Not only for us to go and continue to get better. He’s also the right guy to help develop that young quarterback room and that young quarterback room is really impressive.”
Miami has no experience behind Mensah. Emory Williams, who played in five games behind Beck last year, has transferred to East Carolina. That leaves Luke Nickel and Judd Anderson. Both, especially Nickel, are considered top prospects but they need to be developed.
“We think those guys are going to be really great players,” Cristobal said. “So it’s kind of the same as it was with the other quarterbacks,” Cristobal commented, referring again to Mensah. “U surround them with an elite supporting cast, you have a great chance for success. So we can’t wait to cut him (Mensah) loose.”
There is no question Miami is on the rise. It’s one of only two Power 4 conference teams (Texas A&M is the other) that has improved its record in each of the last three years, and it played for the national championship in 2025. With Mensah, Cristobal thinks he can win it.
Next up: Florida