Could there be light at the end of the tunnel for Darian Mensah and the Miami Hurricanes? Mensah's hearing to be freed of his temporary restraining order placed on him by Duke isn't until Thursday, but that just gives both sides time to negotiate some sort of settlement.
There's no public word that a settlement between Mensah and Duke has been reached or even if the two sides are talking. But Dennis Smith, the Hurricanes' Executive Director for football, has everyone speculating after he dropped a line on social media about an hour ago.
Never a sprint always a marathon ☀️ pic.twitter.com/EkMsRAtjph
— DENNIS SMITH (@dtrain2901) January 26, 2026
Again, we don't want to read too much into this, but at the same time, it's hard not to read too much into it given where Miami is in their roster build for 2026 and the only big piece that's missing is quarterback.
Miami exec drops hint that Mensah-Duke saga could be ending
Mensah entered the transfer portal on January 16 after leading the Blue Devils to their first outright football conference championship since 1962. He was a second-team All-ACC performer, throwing for 3,973 yards and 34 touchdowns for Duke in his only season there.
Duke has seemingly moved on, grabbing two quarterbacks in the portal including Walter Eget, who threw for over 3,000 yards and 17 touchdowns at San Jose State last season. With the Blue Devils coming to terms that Mensah would not be returning to Chapel Hill next season, they might have decided it was time to figure out something that both sides could deal with.
If Mensah is cleared through a settlement in his scheduled hearing, there is a high likelihood he will transfer to Miami to be the starting quarterback in 2026. The Hurricanes would surely be the clear-cut favorite in the ACC with Mensah at quarterback and their odds of winning the CFP could increase as well.