It didn’t take safety Zechariah Poyser very long to figure out just how much of a challenge Miami Hurricanes practices were going to be this spring.
Having yet another talented quarterback to go against on a daily basis will do that.
And while it’s early, Darian Mensah has lived up to the hype, according to Poyser and his teammates.
“Tough dude to go against,” Poyser said. “He can fit the ball in tight windows. A confident dude making shots and throws. Very impressive.”
Mensah, who transferred to Miami from Duke, is the Hurricanes’ third veteran transfer quarterback in the past three seasons. It started with Cam Ward coming in from Washington State in 2024 and transforming Miami into a high-flying offense that shattered the school’s record books. Carson Beck followed and led the Hurricanes to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Now, Mensah looks to continue in that budding legacy of successful transfer signal callers at UM.
And with that comes a familiar task for offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson and the rest of Miami’s offense: Figuring out how best to tailor the Hurricanes’ scheme to best fit their new quarterback. Personnel matters in how Dawson calls a game. He’s not scared to change up his approach in order to best benefit his quarterback and skill position players.
The task over this next month as the Hurricanes go through spring practice is determining what packages and plays and systems will best suit a Mensah-led Miami team.
“Everybody’s a little bit different in what their comfort level is,” Dawson said. “Certain people feel really good about these kinds of concepts. Certain people feel really good about these [other] kinds of concepts, so you gravitate to the ones that they’re very comfortable with. Obviously we’re not at that point yet, but ultimately, that’s a journey you take with every quarterback, because every quarterback is different. I mean, I don’t want robots anyway. I want their personality to shine through. And I’ve said this a million times to recruits and our quarterbacks too. The offense will morph around you. I don’t try to force-feed a certain way. However your personality is, this offense is going to morph itself around you. Certain things that you do well will shine because that’s just the way we’ll go. That’s just the process.”
Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah (10) throws a pass during drills at the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice Facility on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida, on Tuesday morning, March 24, 2026. PHOTO BY AL DIAZ adiaz@miamiherald.com
It helps that Mensah, like Beck before him and Ward before him, comes in with a proven track record.
The redshirt junior finished second nationally last season with 3,973 passing yards and was tied for second with 34 touchdowns while leading Duke to an Atlantic Coast Conference championship. One year earlier, Mensah completed 65.9% of his passes for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns with six interceptions while playing for Tulane.
“He’s got an understanding of the game; he really does,” Dawson said. He’s played a fair amount of football, obviously.”
But what stands out more to Dawson about Mensah is his personality. He’s even-keeled, level-headed, which Dawson said is critical for a succcessful quarterback..
“I think the number one character trait of really good quarterbacks is being able to move on,” Dawson said, “and he has that demeanor where nothing really affects him too much. That’s important. You look for that in a quarterback. You try to find that character trait. I mean, the ability to throw the ball that matters; the ability to do all the other stuff matters; making the 10 people around you better matters, but the ability to overcome negative things matters probably the most.”
Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said Dawson’s ability to adjust his playbook to his roster is something he often does not get enough credit for.
“That’s not easy,” Cristobal said, “because you philosophically come up in a certain tree, and then as you go on, you always pick up new ideas, schematically, philosophically. He’s been tremendously adaptable.”
Mensah’s teammates are making sure they are in a position to help him be successful, too. After all, it’s not the first time they’ve had to do this either.
“We’ve been blessed to have three great quarterbacks here already,” senior running back Mark Fletcher Jr. said. “But just like anything, I’m coming in here and getting in their head, trying to just learn how he wants me to be there for him. We all want to help him be successful, because that’s going to help everybody else be successful.”
As for Fletcher’s initial impressions of his new quarterback?
“He just came in here like a pro,” Fletcher said. “Came here just ready to work. Humble guy, and everybody’s just ready to roll behind him.
“He’s Darian.”
This story was originally published March 28, 2026 at 2:04 PM.
.JPG)
Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.