You say always be crootin’. Miami says: Always be raidin’ — good quarterbacks, anyway.
Darian Mensah to Miami becoming a likelihood after transfer QB settles lawsuit with Duke.
Cam Ward to Carson Beck to Darian Mensah would be quite a run for Miami and Mario Cristobal. Cash is king.
Remember that old college football mantra? Always be crootin’.
That’s overdue for a refresh.
Always be raidin’.
Outwork the competition? No, out-plunder the competition.
Don’t go cheap, either, when conducting a raid of a premier quarterback.
Perhaps no organization has better deployed this plan the past few years than Miami.
Target a proven quarterback who hits the transfer market, and make the buy.
Don’t fret if that quarterback is only going to be in town for one season. Reap the rewards. Then, do it again with another transfer.
Signing, retaining and developing a quarterback over the course of a few seasons, and trying to turn him into a star, is the old way of doing business.
Miami’s going new school. Let some other program sign the prospect and invest in the initial development. Then, plunder the product.
In 2024, that meant winning 10 games with Cam Ward, fresh off the transfer line from Washington State. Ward, a Heisman finalist, went to the Titans with the No. 1 pick in last year’s NFL draft. Consider Ward a smart transfer buy for Miami.
Last season, Miami spent big for Carson Beck’s services. The Hurricanes reached the national championship game. That counts as another good transfer buy.
Next up: Darian Mensah, come on down from Duke.
Miami the frontrunner to land QB Darian Mensah
Mensah previously announced he planned to return to Duke. When he decided to change course, Duke filed a lawsuit this month alleging a breach of his multiyear NIL contract.
Such is college football in 2026, right? Nothing happens until the lawyers get their say.
Mensah reached a settlement with Duke, and he’s free to go.
All roads lead to Miami.
Mensah is the epitome of a modern college quarterback. He started his career with Tulane. He transferred to Duke. Next came a lawsuit. Now, vamoose to Miami.
Put him on a Wheaties box.
Miami had interest in Arizona State transfer Sam Leavitt. He chose LSU. Leavitt and Lane Kiffin make for an intriguing pairing, but Miami fans will boast they wound up with a better quarterback in Mensah. They might be right, too.
This isn’t “Wolf of Wall Street” pink sheet activity. When seeking a quarterback, Cristobal doesn’t scour the portal for penny stocks he’s hoping will rebound. Miami seeks proven star power, at the game’s most important position.
Mensah fits the mold. He helped Duke win the ACC this past season. He led the conference in passing.
Miami’s transfer QB strategy with Mario Cristobal works
I can’t argue with Miami’s strategy. The plug-and-play quarterback method seems smarter than spending a few years developing a blue-chip teenager and hoping he’ll not only stick around, but develop into a player worthy of a yearslong investment.
Cristobal doesn’t go hog wild in the portal, not compared to some peers. Miami’s transfer class is currently 10-deep. That’s relatively modest. Cristobal strikes a healthy balance between high school recruits and transfers. His transfer classes are rich in quality, no matter the quantity. Mensah and outbound Duke wide receiver Cooper Barkate, who’s expected to transfer to Miami, fit that strategy.
Cristobal seeks production, not projects. He doesn’t take chances at quarterback. Why should he?
The last two national champions started one-year solutions as transfer quarterbacks.
Find an answer from the portal. Rinse, repeat.
Always be raidin’, remember?
Do that at every position, and you’re playing whack-a-mole. At quarterback, though, you’re hunting for one guy. The portal is the play — particularly, if you possess Miami’s funds to purchase a good one.
Miami once earned a reputation as Quarterback U. Its string of greats included Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Steve Walsh, Gino Torretta and, years later, Ken Dorsey.
Those quarterbacks were the payoff of an always be crootin’ (and developing) era.
Transfer rules changed. Methods evolved. Miami’s raid-a-QB model works — especially, when able to secure transfers of the quality of Ward, Beck and Mensah.
Curt Cignetti, college football’s new kingpin, went this route, too. At Indiana, his quarterbacks progressed from Kurtis Rourke (Ohio transfer) to Fernando Mendoza (California transfer) to now Josh Hoover (TCU transfer).
Here’s another old football cliché you’ve probably heard: If you’ve got a quarterback, you’ve got a chance.
That doesn’t mean a team should take a chance at quarterback.
Step 1: Target a proven commodity.
Step 2: Pay the man.
Step 3: Win.
Step 4: Repeat.
For Miami, that plan renews with Mensah. Consider it another successful raid.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
