Morgan Moriarty · The Sporting News Fri, November 6, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC · 4 min read About Our Ads Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Miami's timeline of transfer QBs: Darian Mensah, Carson Beck and Cam Ward originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
Having an experienced starter at quarterback is key for any college football program to achieve success. One way to do just that is by getting signal-callers from the transfer portal. Perhaps the school that's been most successful in doing so is the No. 1-ranked Miami Hurricanes .
For the past three straight seasons, Canes head coach Mario Cristobal has landed three big-time transfer quarterbacks. His first was former Washington State signal-caller Cam Ward in 2024. Last season, he turned to former Georgia Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck. He helped lead Miami to its first-ever national title game since the 2001-02 season.
2026 might be Cristobal's most effective transfer quarterback yet, as he landed Darian Mensah from Duke.
Let's run through a brief history of Miami's transfer portal quarterbacks, from Ward to Mensah.
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Prior to going the transfer portal route, Miami had former Canes quarterback Tyler Van Dyke under center for three seasons. He had an up-and-down career, and Miami's best record with him was a 7-6 finish in 2023. He transferred to Wisconsin in December 2023.
In January, Cristobal landed former Washington State quarterback Cam Ward. Although Ward had previously declared for the 2024 NFL Draft, he did not hire an agent and was thus still eligible to play in college.
Across his two seasons at Wazzu, he threw for 6,968 yards with 48 touchdowns and 16 interceptions, rushing for another 13 scores on the ground.
Ward did not receive an FBS offer coming out of high school in West Columbia, Texas. He started his career at FCS Incarnate Word from 2020-2021.
At Miami, Ward had one of the best seasons of his career. He threw for 4,313 yards with 39 touchdowns and seven interceptions, rushing for 204 yards and four scores. The Canes finished with their best record under Cristobal at 10-3, but regular-season losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse kept Miami out of the CFP.
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Carson Beck was at Georgia from 2020-2024. He started his career as a backup to Stetson Bennett from 2020-2022 and was named Georgia's starter ahead of the 2023 season. He led Georgia to a 10-1 season that year, throwing for a career-high 3,941 yards with 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama 27-24 in the SEC Championship, but beat Florida State 63-3 in the Orange Bowl.
In 2024, he had another strong year at Georgia, throwing for 3,485 yards with 28 touchdowns. But he did take 18 sacks, along with fumbling five times and throwing 12 interceptions. That season, during Georgia's SEC Championship Game against Texas, Beck left the game with a shoulder injury before halftime after taking a sack.
He did not return to the game and was ruled out for the season with a UCL injury that required surgery. He finished 24-3 as a starter for the Dawgs. Although, like Ward, Beck himself briefly declared for the NFL Draft, he ultimately transferred to Miami in January 2025.
With the Canes, Beck led Miami to its first-ever CFP berth in school history, beating the likes of Texas A&M on the road, Ohio State and Ole Miss in the first three rounds. In the national title game, Miami fell just short against Indiana, losing 27-21. Beck threw for 3,813 yards with a career-high 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
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Mensah might be Miami's best transfer portal quarterback yet. He has thrown for 2,425 yards with 25 touchdowns and 1 interception on the season. Miami is undefeated on the season so far, and ranked first in the nation.
He arrived at Miami after starting his career at Tulane in 2024 and Duke in 2025. He helped lead the Green Wave to an AAC title game two seasons ago, throwing for 2,723 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He transferred to Duke ahead of the 2025 season, where he threw for another 3,973 yards with 34 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Blue Devils won their first outright ACC title since 1962.
He transferred to Miami ahead of the 2025 season, and is a Heisman Trophy candidate more than halfway through the season. Although his favorite target, Miami leading receiver Malachi Toney, is out for the rest of the regular season, the Canes are expected to make the CFP this season.
Source: Sports
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