College Football Powerhouse Hailed for Landing $10 Million QB With Mega Offer

There are many paths to team building, but while some are forged weeks and months ahead of establishment, others seemingly appear out of nowhere. That was the case for one of the off-season's biggest transfer portal developments.

A top program watched a standout leader decide just ahead of the portal closing to put his name into the transfer portal. Once that entry was accomplished, there were still back and forths, threats of litigation with his former school, and ultimately, a conclusion to the whole bizarre affair.

Miami's Mensah Move an Early Blockbuster

But the Miami Hurricanes grabbed the big prize in QB Darian Mensah. Yes, Mensah was a prize that reportedly cost $10 million. But it left ESPN crediting the Hurricanes for pulling off a last minute power play to remain in the upper echelon of college football.

Olson termed Miami's grab of Mensah "a stunner" and threw an homage to The Godfather by crediting the U with making Mensah "an offer he couldn't refuse." ESPN noted that Mensah also impacted the situation by bringing top Duke receiver Cooper Barkate with him. Miami's offense now contains several of the top offensive skill players in college football.

Hurricane Super Squad Assembly

A season ago, Miami rode Georgia transfer Carson Beck to the national title game. Running back Mark Fletcher rushed for 1,192 yards and a dozen touchdowns. Wide receiver Malachi Toney grabbed 109 passes for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns. Both Fletcher and Toney will return to Miami this season.

Mensah had transferred to Duke after an impressive 2024 season at Tulane. In 2025, he led Duke to the ACC title, passing for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns against just six interceptions. The aforementioned Barkate led the Blue Devils with 72 receptions for 1,106 yards and seven touchdowns. Adding the two groups of offensive stars together certainly makes a promising squad.

ESPN ranked Miami atop the ACC and eighth nationally in its way-too-early top 25 rankings. Louisville (ranked 14th) is the second-highest ACC squad ranked by ESPN.

Miami seemed like a longshot to make the College Football Playoff after suffering conference losses to Louisville and SMU. But the ACC ended up being a free-for-all, with a Duke team that posted a 7-5 regular season record ending up claiming the league crown. Miami snuck past Notre Dame for the final spot in the CFP.

But the Hurricanes quieted any controversy against their inclusion by besting Ohio State and Ole Miss en route to a CFP title game battle with Indiana that went down to the game's final minutes. Mario Cristobal has now improved his team from five wins to seven to 10 to 13 wins in his four seasons with the Hurricanes. If 2026 is a bigger improvement, the Mensah addition is probably the big move.

Star receiver Malachi Toney should mix well with Mensah at Miami in 2026. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images