Curt Cignetti has a shiny new national championship trophy sitting in his office-but if it were up to him, it wouldn’t be there much longer. Not because he doesn’t value what it represents, but because he knows last year’s hardware won’t win this year’s games. And right now, his biggest challenge is staring him straight in the face: Fernando Mendoza, the quarterback who led Indiana to a 27-21 win over Miami in January, is gone.
Mendoza hit the transfer portal, leaving Cignetti with a title to defend and no returning starter under center. That’s a tough spot for any coach, let alone one trying to build sustained success in a program that just tasted its biggest moment in decades.
J.D. PicKell’s latest rankings of college football programs best positioned for the next three years had Indiana slotted at No. 7-citing coaching stability, talent trends, and resources.
That’s a pretty encouraging place to be. But rankings don’t take snaps, and stability gets a little shakier when your starting quarterback bolts before spring ball.
Enter Josh Hoover.
The TCU transfer arrives with a stat sheet that’ll catch your eye: 9,629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns over three seasons. But a deeper look reveals a more complicated picture.
Hoover’s also thrown 33 interceptions and hasn’t cracked 66.5% in completion percentage over a full season. There’s talent, no doubt.
But there’s also risk. And now, he’s tasked with leading a team that just climbed the mountaintop-without ever having played a down in Bloomington.
Hoover wasn’t Cignetti’s first choice coming out of high school. He originally committed to Indiana before flipping to TCU. Now, a few years and a transfer later, he’s back-this time with the weight of a championship defense on his shoulders.
And Hoover’s not the only new face in the room. The quarterback depth chart has been reshuffled in a big way.
Mendoza’s younger brother, Alberto-last season’s backup-also transferred, heading to Georgia Tech. That’s two quarterbacks gone in one offseason.
What’s left is Hoover, Grant Wilson, and Josh Bell.
Wilson brings some experience, having started games at Old Dominion. He didn’t push for the top job last year, but he’s been around the block.
Bell, on the other hand, is a bit of a mystery. He’s got four years of eligibility left but hasn’t started a college game.
This is uncharted territory for Cignetti. For the first time in his career, he’s heading into a season with fewer than four scholarship quarterbacks.
Tyler Cherry’s status remains uncertain after missing last year, and with most high school recruits already committed for 2026, the options are drying up. The portal isn’t exactly overflowing with plug-and-play talent this late in the cycle.
Cignetti’s approach to roster management has always been a little unconventional. He runs 13 practices in the spring, not the NCAA-allowed 15.
He’s never gone through a fall camp with the full 25 practices either. The philosophy?
Keep players fresh and healthy. “Nobody has depth,” he told Urban Meyer on a recent podcast.
“And I’ve never had a team that had enough depth.”
That hits a little harder now, with two quarterbacks gone and a new starter learning the system on the fly.
Indiana opens the season on September 5 against North Texas. Hoover will be the guy.
The talent is there. The arm is there.
But the margin for error? It just got razor thin.
Cignetti knows the road ahead won’t be easy. But if there’s one thing last season proved, it’s that Indiana can punch above its weight. Now, they’ll have to do it again-with a new quarterback, a thinner roster, and a target on their back.