Indiana added another high-profile quarterback to its 2026 watch list conversation Monday, with Josh Hoover landing on the Maxwell Award Watch List for the nation’s top player.
Hoover is one of just 15 Big Ten players on the list and one of nine Big Ten quarterbacks to earn the nod. The Maxwell Award went to former IU quarterback and No. 1 overall draft pick Fernando Mendoza in 2025, and Mendoza joined IU running back legend Anthony Thompson as the only Hoosiers ever to win it.
Curt Cignetti made it clear last Thursday at Big Ten Media Days why Hoover is drawing that kind of attention.
"Josh Hoover has won a lot of football games, thrown for a lot of yards, thrown a lot of touchdown passes," IU coach Curt Cignetti said last Thursday at Big Ten Media Days. "He has an innate ability to play the position of quarterback, kind of a natural passer, very accurate, processes very quickly."
Hoover brings a huge statistical resume with him after four seasons at TCU. He completed 65 percent of his passes there for 9,629 yards, 71 touchdowns and 33 interceptions, while also scoring eight rushing touchdowns.
He is the active FBS leader in career passing yards and sits second in career passing touchdowns. Over the last two seasons, nobody in college football has thrown for more yards.
His production has been steady and heavy. As a redshirt junior in 2025, Hoover completed 66 percent of his throws for 3,472 yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The year before, he posted 3,949 passing yards with 27 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while again completing 66 percent of his passes.
Hoover became TCU’s starter midway through the 2023 season and held the job the rest of the way. The Heath, Texas, native has already piled up plenty of experience, with 35 career games and 31 starts entering 2026.
At Indiana, Hoover steps into a setup that has already worked for the Hoosiers with one-year transfer quarterbacks. Kurtis Rourke led the Big Ten in quarterback rating and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting, and Mendoza followed by sweeping awards season as IU’s first Heisman winner, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and consensus All-American, among other national honors.
"I'm really anxious to see Josh and the progress he's made in practice starting on Wednesday and fall camp," Cignetti said. "All the one-year quarterbacks have followed the same line, and I expect him to, as well."
Hoover is ranked the No. 5 transfer quarterback and No. 23 overall transfer. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder committed to Indiana on Jan. 4 during the Hoosiers' national championship run.
His path to Bloomington has some familiar twists. Hoover originally committed to Indiana as a recruit in June of 2021 before flipping to TCU ahead of signing day. IU’s former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan, along with head coach Tom Allen, were the coaches who recruited him the first time around.
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