Pat Narduzzi didn’t exactly whisper his concern about Miami’s portal business on Friday. He said the Hurricanes were working on “multiple quarterbacks,” and he made it clear he believed Duke’s Darian Mensah was one of them.
During the ACC Kickoff media event, the Pitt coach told The Athletic that Miami tried to lure Panthers quarterback Mason Heintschel away the day before the transfer portal closed, but he kept his signal-caller from leaving. Narduzzi then said he warned Duke coach Manny Diaz that the Hurricanes might come after Mensah next.
“Shoot, I talked to Manny that Thursday afternoon and said, ‘Hey, watch out. I hear he’s going for your guy next.’ And sure enough, they stole him,” Narduzzi told The Athletic.
The timing around Mensah and Duke wide receiver Cooper Barkate had already raised eyebrows this offseason. Both players helped lead Duke to the ACC championship in 2025, then both left for Miami right before the portal shut down.
Mensah’s move stood out even more because he was under a two-year, $8 million contract with the Blue Devils.
Diaz addressed the situation on Friday and said he couldn’t prove Miami was tampering, which is why Duke’s focus stayed on the contract issue with Mensah, who was under contract to play for Duke in 2026.
“It’s an unanswerable question because ultimately it came down to, and this is why it was never an issue for us, is because you can only say what you can prove, right?" Diaz said, via Pat Welter of WRAL. "So to me it doesn't matter if it's not, and that's why our issue was never with any other school, right?
"The school was… very consistent. The whole situation was simply about a contract that we just felt like had to be, you know, honored.
And if it wasn't honored, then you know what is the ramification of that? That's exactly what happened.
All parties were satisfied, and all parties moved on.”
Miami ended up landing Duke’s quarterback, and Duke’s staff is left dealing with the fallout after sorting out the contract situation. The bigger question hanging over all of it is whether the NCAA should take a hard look at the way Miami operated in the portal.
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The expectation now is not just that Duke will lean on him more, but that the workload could jump sharply as the Blue Devils sort out the rest of the attack. Sheppard already proved he can handle the physical side of the job, and Fishers praise only adds to the sense that this is a player who can shape games rather than simply finish drives. The only real question is how quickly Duke turns that promise into the centerpiece role it seems to be preparing for. [Read more 🡒]