After Carson Beck left for the NFL, Miami needed a quarterback, and Mario Cristobal went looking. The target he ultimately hit was Duke’s Darian Mensah, even though Mensah had said he would return for 2026. How Miami got him became clearer when an ACC coach shared what he saw from the inside.

Pittsburgh head coach Pat Narduzzi saw the pattern up close. Miami had tried to land his quarterback before the portal closed, and that effort failed. When he heard Miami was still looking, he picked up the phone and called Duke head coach Manny Diaz with a warning about what might come next.

“Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he’s [Mensah] going for your guy next.’ And sure enough, they stole him,” Narduzzi told The Athletic on July 17.

Duke never publicly accused Miami of tampering. What was clear was Mensah’s motive. After a breakout season, he wanted a bigger stage. Miami offered the roster and the moment. For a quarterback with big goals, the move made sense from the outside.

“I wanted to compete for a national championship,” said Mensah to ESPN after entering the portal in January 2026. “I’ve got a lot of personal goals for myself, and I think Miami was the spot to do that.”

Duke tried to enforce the multiyear NIL deal Mensah signed before entering the portal. The school and the quarterback later reached a settlement, which removed the barrier to his transfer. Once that was resolved, Mensah could enroll at Miami and play for Cristobal in 2026.

“Miami tried to get Mason Thursday before [the portal closed Friday], and we were able to hang on to him and shut them down,” said Narduzzi to The Athletic.

Before eyeing Mensah, Miami tried to attract Pitt QB Mason Heintschel. Cristobal’s staff saw upside in the freshman’s first year, even if the yardage was not elite compared to top quarterbacks. Miami’s 2025 national prominence made the program attractive to Pitt’s QB. But Narduzzi and his staff worked hard to keep Heintschel, and that blocked Miami’s plan.

Miami’s first target stayed put

Mason Heintschel had already agreed to return to Pitt for 2026 before the portal opened. Like Mensah, he could have entered the transfer window. Instead, he stayed at Pitt. His commitment to Pitt held stronger than Miami’s interest, and he chose not to test the market.

“My thought process is always just being where your feet are,” said Heintschel to The Athletic. “I think that’s the biggest thing for me: I’ve always wanted to be here. I think this is where I want to be for my career.”

Heintschel’s choice ended Miami’s first attempt. Narduzzi is firmly against what he sees as tampering, and he put it in blunt terms.

“They need to eliminate it,” said Pat Narduzzi. “It’s just not right. I mean, would you want someone tampering with your wife before you get the divorce?”

For Narduzzi, the issue is bigger than one player. He sees a pattern of calls and offers arriving before athletes are truly free to move. His analogy was blunt, but it came from a week of late nights, quick calls, and fighting to keep his own quarterback while Miami searched for another.