As if Manny Diaz needed any other reason to have harsh feelings toward Miami after the Hurricanes fired him as their head coach following the 2021 season, rampant, unregulated tampering near the end of the Transfer Portal window by Mario Cristobal and the Hurricanes led Duke star QB Darian Mensah and star WR Cooper Barkate to transfer to Coral Gables.
That turned what looked like a team capable of competing for a second consecutive ACC Championship into a team with serious question marks heading into the 2026 season.
ESPN certainly agrees. In ranking the offseasons for each Power Four program, the Blue Devils came in 12th out of 17 ACC programs.
Duke’s offseason given low marks by ESPN experts
Up until Mensah and Barkate entered the portal, Diaz had done a nice job of roster retention while adding some talent in the portal in his own right…