Duke football, Manny Diaz have 'moved on' from Darian Mensah, welcome Walker Eget
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Duke football and head coach Manny Diaz have all eyes on the 2026 season.
Ahead of the Blue Devils‘ starting spring practice on March 19, Diaz spoke with the media for the first time after the fallout of the lawsuit against former quarterback Darian Mensah suit, which was settled on Jan. 27.
Duke sued its former quarterback on Jan. 20 after he entered the transfer portal at the 11th hour, breaching a multi-year contract he had signed with the Blue Devils. Mensah, along with wide receiver Cooper Barkate, transferred to Miami not long after the settlement with Duke was reached.
“It’s been a while, we’ve kind of moved on,” Diaz said on March 17. “The portal is the portal, the window’s the window. … Those are the rules we have right now. I think everyone knows our calendar is a little out of whack. There’s no one in this program that’s going to sit around as a victim, right? We’re excited about what’s next. We’re excited about who we have.
“This is just a new normal in college football. The deck reshuffles every year and you try to play yourself to a winning hand.”
The Blue Devils, coming off the 2025 ACC championship, went to the transfer portal and in turn brought in San Jose State transfer Walker Eget. Eget threw for 5,555 yards and 30 touchdowns as a two-year starter with the Spartans. His waiver for an extra year of eligibility was officially approved by the NCAA on Feb. 19, but the 6-foot-3 quarterback is taking on a limited role this spring coming off an ACL tear in October 2024, playing through it before undergoing surgery following the 2025 season.
“We’re really excited to have Walker join our program,” Diaz said.
“He’s just doing light throwing right now, but he’s able to stand behind the offense and set protections, take reps, just learning the scheme, sitting in all the meetings, of course.”
Eget brings experience to a Duke quarterback room that did not have much in-game experience prior to his arrival, consisting of North Alabama transfer Ari Patu, redshirt freshman Dan Mahan and freshman Terry Walker III.
“To be able to get somebody of his experience … these are things that really fill a massive gap for us,” Diaz said.
Eget is one of 24 new players set to join Duke, including transfers and incoming freshman.
Duke has its annual Blue and White game on Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils will officially open the 2026 season at home vs. Tulane on Sept. 5.
Duke claimed the 2025 ACC championship for the eighth time in program history and for its first outright conference title since 1962. The Blue Devils are coming off back-to-back nine win seasons.
Anna Snyder covers Duke for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at asnyder@usatodayco.com or follow her @annaesnydr on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke football, Manny Diaz ‘moved on’ from Darian Mensah lawsuit
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