Darian Mensah might be coming to the state of Florida, but he won't be following his old coach, Jon Sumrall.
Instead, Mensah, who threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 34 touchdowns while leading Duke to an ACC championship, is the subject of rumors that he's going to jump into the transfer portal as the deadline approaches, according to reports from CBS Sports. If this happens, Mensah will be immediately linked to the Miami Hurricanes.
Mensah and Sumrall produced results together
Sumrall arrived at Tulane before the 2024 season, where Mensah was coming off of a redshirt season under Willie Fritz. Mensah won the starting job with the Green Wave and threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns, helping the Green Wave advance to the American Conference Championship game, where Tulane lost to Army.
Mensah decided to enter the transfer portal after the 2024 season and signed a huge deal with Duke for reportedly $4 million. The redshirt sophomore proved to be worth the price, throwing for 3,973 and 34 touchdowns. There was no reason to think Mensah was going to leave Duke given the resources they committed to him, so he was never really linked to the Gators despite Sumrall taking the job. Florida signed former Georgia Tech quarterback Aaron Philo last week, reuniting him with new Gators offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner.
Had Mensah entered the transfer portal earlier, would he have been an option for Florida? Possibly. But that's a hefty price to pay for one player, especially with as much portal action as the Gators had done and are continuing to do.
However, if he goes to Miami it would certainly add to the belief of fans that nothing is off the table when it comes to the transfer portal, tampering and college football free agency. Duke not only paid Mensah at the top of the market, but the Blue Devils also added in some safeguards that they expected would protect them from another team trying to swoop in.
When will Miami and Florida play next?
Not anytime soon. Florida and Miami completed their two-game series this season and, unless the teams meet in the postseason, there are no future games scheduled. The Gators and Hurricanes have met twice in the postseason (2001 Sugar Bowl and 2004 Peach Bowl) and five times in the regular season since 2008. Florida's last win over Miami was in 2019, when the Gators won 24-20 in a Week Zero game in Orlando.