Remember when CJ Bailey was rumored to be the focus of the Miami Hurricanes in their efforts to land a transfer quarterback? Well, let's be thankful that never came to fruition.
It made sense at the time that Bailey would be interested in being a Hurricane. He is from Miami and went to Chaminade-Madonna Prep school in Hollywood, Fla. And it also made sense that Miami would be interested in Bailey, who threw for 3,105 yards and had 31 total touchdowns last year.
After dealing with some of the physical limitations of Carson Beck last year, there would be no issues with Bailey, who is listed at 6-foot-6, 218 pounds and has a cannon for an arm. However, the move never happened. Bailey chose to stay at NC State and the Hurricanes pivoted and eventually signed Darian Mensah.
With that said, Bailey did have a history of making bad decisions and that reared its ugly head in Week 3 at the worst possible time when the Wolfpack were looking to finish out a road win over Vanderbilt.
CJ Bailey fumbles while trying to take a safety and Vanderbilt recovers for a TD to take the lead and win the game.
— Chris Hummer (@chris_hummer) September 19, 2026
One of the craziest endings to a game I've ever seen. pic.twitter.com/7vdmMLl9Ns
What was THAT?!?!
Bailey had a few options there, the most obvious being to take a knee, give Vanderbilt the safety and, if there was any time left, assume that the NC State special teams would be smart enough to squib the kick and secure a one-point win.
The one thing you don't do is fumble the ball in the end zone and let the defense recover. I don't know what the exact percentage the Wolfpack had of winning the game before that snap, but if it was less than 99.5%, I'd be shocked.
Miami's luck with transfer QBs could run out one day
This is the third year Miami decided to tap into the transfer quarterback market and, before signing Mensah to a massive deal, they were in the picture for Brendan Sorsby (whew!), Sam Leavitt and a few others.
Mensah, however, has proven to be the right choice, much like Cam Ward and Carson Beck were the right choices that led Miami to 23 wins over the previous two seasons. But it doesn't mean that the Hurricanes' luck will continue.
Mario Cristobal has made the right move to build the quarterback room through recruiting top-end players. The Hurricanes have commitments from the top quarterback in the 2027 class, Israel Abrams, and the top quarterback in the 2029 class, CJ Cypher. Miami also had a pledge from 3-star 2028 prospect Knox Annis.
5-star Miami QB commit Israel Abrams WENT OFF in Montini Catholic's 47-42 win over Nazareth Academy 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YBs3T8zpbp
— 247Sports (@247Sports) September 13, 2026
I think this past offseason taught Cristobal and GM Dennis Smith a valuable lesson even though Mensah came through in the 11th hour — you can't bank on a transfer quarterback coming through. The position is too important to rely on the transfer market as the only option and the Hurricanes were close to being backed in a corner.
For the past three years, Miami has been lucky enough to find the right guy. Maybe Bailey would have worked out as well, but maybe he wouldn't have. And after Bailey's mistake against Vanderbilt, the Hurricanes were lucky to not have to find out.
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