The Miami Hurricanes punched their ticket to the national championship game, and before the confetti had even settled, the program was already looking ahead, hosting Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Leavitt on an official visit. Welcome to college football in 2026.
Sam Leavitt Arrives in Miami as Carson Beck Prepares for Biggest Career Game
Carson Beck, the Georgia transfer who resurrected his draft stock in Coral Gables, is preparing for the biggest game of his career. A national championship. Miami’s first title opportunity since 2001. And while Beck reviews film and readies himself to lead the Hurricanes against the best team in the country, his potential replacement is touring the facilities, meeting with coaches, and envisioning his own future in orange and green.
This isn’t a criticism of Miami. It’s a criticism of a system that forces programs into impossible situations.
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The Hurricanes are competing for the National Championship, and all the while are thinking too far ahead to the future by hosting Sam Leavitt on a visit. It’s not a flaw, but rather an unfortunate byproduct of the ‘wild west’ transfer portal structure that currently has the league in a chokehold.
Until parameters are set, this fragile balance of present and future isn’t going to get any more tenable, but at the very least, Mario Cristobal has proven that teams can compete regardless of whether they invest in elite talent in the trenches. Miami will have options, but the same can’t be said for all schools.
The Curious Case of the College Football Calendar
The transfer portal has fundamentally reshaped college football. In many ways, it has been a net positive, as players have more freedom, programs have more flexibility, and talent is distributed more broadly than ever before. That said, the timing creates chaos that undermines the very games these players are supposed to be focused on.
Imagine telling a player that his coaches are actively recruiting his replacement while he prepares for a national championship. It’s not personal, it’s structural. But that doesn’t make it any less strange.
The NCAA has shown little appetite for meaningful calendar reform. The January portal window overlaps with bowl season, the playoff, and now the expanded CFP format.
Coaches are pulled in multiple directions. Players are left wondering about their futures, and programs like Miami are forced to multitask in ways that seem almost absurd when you step back and consider the optics.
The Hurricanes are in an enviable position regardless of how the Leavitt recruitment plays out. They possess the resources, facilities, and coaching staff to attract elite talent. The national championship appearance only enhances their pitch to portal prospects. Still, the quarterback position demands attention, and Miami knows it can’t afford to wait.
Beck has been everything the Hurricanes needed this season — a steady, experienced hand who elevated the offense and led the team to heights it hadn’t reached in over two decades. His successor will have enormous shoes to fill. Whether that’s Leavitt or someone else remains to be seen, but Miami is doing what it has to do.
In truth, every program in college football would do the same. The system demands it. The question is whether the system itself makes any sense.
