When Miami coach Mario Cristobal met quarterback Darian Mensah, the UM coach knew the former Duke quarterback would be the right fit for the Hurricanes.
“After meeting him — unbelievable personality,” Cristobal told WQAM on Monday morning. “Made of the right stuff. Alpha.”
Cristobal spoke about his new quarterback for the first time publicly in Monday’s interview. Mensah’s arrival came with controversy and a legal battle with Duke. Mensah left the Blue Devils despite being one year into a two-year NIL contract. As a result, after Mensah announced his plan to transfer, Duke sued him to try to enforce the contract. Duke and Mensah came to a settlement agreement in January that allowed the quarterback to leave for UM.
“You’ve got to wait till they get in the portal,” Cristobal said Monday. “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 was the best one.”
Mensah brings a high-end skillset to UM. He finished the 2024 season with 3,973 passing yards, which was second in the nation. His 34 touchdown passes were tied for second. Mensah had just six interceptions. He led the Blue Devils to their first ACC title since 1989, and he was named a second-team All-ACC selection.
“He was deadly accurate,” Cristobal said. “Just creating explosive plays on schedule, off schedule, pocket presence.”
Mensah told On3 in his first interview after joining Miami that he transferred because he believed the Hurricanes would “take me to the place I want to go, which is ultimately the NFL.” But Miami brought him in for not just his play on the field this year but to help the Hurricanes’ young quarterback corps develop. Behind Mensah will be third-year quarterback Judd Anderson, second-year quarterback Luke Nickel and true freshman Dereon Coleman. Nickel and Coleman were both four-star quarterbacks coming out of high school.
“He’s the right guy,” Cristobal said. “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. And we think those guys are going to be great players. So it’s kind of the same as the previous quarterbacks: You surround them with an elite supporting cast, you have a great chance for success. So we can’t wait to watch him cut it loose.”
