Indiana is heading into 2026 with a very different look, even after winning the national championship last season and finishing undefeated. Curt Cignetti is still there, but the Hoosiers are losing the player who defined that title run at quarterback.
Fernando Mendoza, the Heisman winner, was drafted No. 1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders, leaving Indiana to turn to Josh Hoover. Hoover arrives from TCU for his final season of college eligibility, but not everybody is convinced he can fill that kind of void.
An anonymous Big 12 defensive coordinator offered a blunt assessment of the move to Adam Rittenberg of ESPN: “It’s going to be a step down. He’s not going to be [Fernando] Mendoza,” said an anonymous Big 12 defensive coordinator, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.
“I wasn’t a hater of his, but I thought he was a pretty average to slightly above-average guy. I don’t think he’s going to go there and win the Heisman.”
The lack of a name attached to the comment leaves room for speculation, though the source article pointed to TCU defensive coordinator Andy Avalos as a possibility without claiming certainty.
There is at least a reasonable argument behind the skepticism. Hoover’s numbers dropped last season at TCU compared with his 2024 production, and that makes the Heisman talk feel like a stretch. Still, the door is open for him to be more effective in Bloomington than he was in Fort Worth.
Hoover brings a big arm, and under Cignetti he has a chance to take another step. If that happens, Indiana’s quarterback transition might look a lot less like a downgrade than some around the Big 12 expect.
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