Miami's Mensah: Ward, Beck factored into transfer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- When Darian Mensah surveyed his options for the 2026 season, including remaining at Duke or leaving for the NFL, he couldn't ignore what had happened at Miami with quarterbacks in a similar situation. Cam Ward had transferred from Washington State to Miami and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Carson Beck made the move from Georgia after a significant elbow injury and helped the Hurricanes to their first College Football Playoff appearance and a spot in the national championship game. Mensah ultimately decided that he wanted to be next in line. "That was a huge factor, deciding to transfer, seeing what those guys did," Mensah said Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff. "My OC [Shannon] Dawson will form the offense around the quarterback, around the stuff he likes to do. That also made it something I wanted to be a part of." Mensah, who led Duke to a surprise ACC championship in his lone season with the Blue Devils, made the biggest -- and last splash -- of the most recent transfer portal cycle in moving to Miami. He announced in December that he would return to Duke but continued to evaluate his options, including entering the NFL draft, well into January. Mensah entered the portal Jan. 16 with Miami, days away from facing Indiana in the national championship game, his rumored destination. He finalized the move later in January after his representatives and Duke settled a legal dispute over Mensah's multiyear NIL contract with the school. Mensah had 3,973 passing yards and 34 touchdowns for Duke, while completing 66.8% of his attempts, in 2025. "I wanted to compete for a national championship," Mensah said. "I've got a lot of personal goals for myself, and I think Miami was the spot to do that." He followed Beck, who had 3,813 passing yards and 30 touchdowns for Miami last season, and Ward, who led the FBS with 39 touchdown passes and led the nation's top offense in 2024. Both quarterbacks thrived under Dawson, who will return for fourth season as offensive coordinator. "It was one of the two most important factors as far as transferring goes, just seeing what Dawson's done with those two quarterbacks, it's special," Mensah said. Miami coach Mario Cristobal called Ward an "agent of change" who showed how quarterbacks transferring into the program could improve their NFL outlooks. Both Ward and Beck had areas in their game to address for pro evaluators, as does Mensah, who said his ball security must improve after four lost fumbles with Duke. "We were blessed to have those two, and we're beyond blessed again to have Darian," Cristobal said. Mensah said transferring twice in his career -- from Tulane to Duke and now to Miami -- has benefited him, especially working with different coaches and play-callers. He has had no trouble connecting with his Miami teammates and looks forward to chasing championships. "They took me in as one of them as soon as I got there," he said. "It's not really what you would expect with a team of that caliber, I'm the new guy coming in, stepping in. Obviously, there's headlines of how much money I'm making, which everybody loves to talk about. "But as soon as I stepped on campus, I felt like I was at home. It's a big credit to the guys in the locker room for that."