Mario Cristobal and Miami Hurricanes have opportunity to do funniest thing to ND

Miami might not actually land Notre Dame transfer Kenny Minchey. That part is important up front. The Hurricanes are shopping at the very top of the portal quarterback market again, and most of the early rumors around Minchey point toward SEC programs and other spots. But if Mario Cristobal and his staff want to do the funniest possible thing to Notre Dame in this portal cycle, the opportunity is sitting right there.

Kenny Minchey to Miami makes sense (kind of)

Minchey, a former four star and top 15 quarterback in the 2023 class, officially hit the portal after three seasons in South Bend. He lost a tight quarterback battle to CJ Carr in August, then spent the year as the backup. Minchey is 14 of 15 passing for 146 yards with a 175.1 passer rating, plus a rushing touchdown across eight career games.

Publicly, the names tied most often to the Hurricanes are bigger and more proven. Former Arizona State and Michigan State quarterback Sam Leavitt, Nebraska's Dylan Raiola, and Florida transfer DJ Lagway are the kinds of names that are being floated around currently for Miami.

But, there is nothing stopping Cristobal from circling back to Minchey later in the process if the top of the market gets picked over or if the staff simply decides it wants two bites at the quarterback apple.

Imagine the optics. Notre Dame spends months selling Minchey as part of its future post-Carr, loses him to the portal after missing the Playoff, then watches him pop up in orange and green as Carson Beck's successor. ND fans would melt down on social media... again.

Now, they still would have Carr, who pretty much solidified himself as the starter for next year anyways. But even still, it would be a marriage that would turn heads, and if you're Cristobal, why not pick up the phone?