Indiana created an incredible rags to riches story during the last two seasons, and head coach Curt Cignetti has led the team to its first national championship. It is a story that can be repeated in the current era that features Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) money and the transfer portal, but it will be difficult to match Indiana's huge jumps from the very bottom of major college football to the top.
However, Cignetti has provided something of a road map on how others can do it. The basics included taking many of his players from his previous coaching stop, James Madison University, and giving them scholarship opportunities at Indiana. He also worked the transfer portal like a master, and that's how the Hoosiers were able to acquire Fernando Mendoza.
Few college football fans knew who Mendoza was at this time last year. He had been a solid quarterback for two seasons at California, but that team was not on the national radar. He was a freshman at Cal in 2023 during the last year of the Pac-12 conference and he completed 153 of 243 passes for 1,708 yards with 14 TDs and 10 interceptions.
Mendoza was good enough to maintain his job as the Bears transferred to the Atlantic Coast Conference. That move came because Cal was not deemed good enough to join USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon in a move to the Big Ten, a conference that now has 18 teams. Mendoza's numbers improved — 68.7 percent completion percentage, 3,004 passing yards, 16-6 TD to interception ratio — and demonstrated he was a quarterback of substance.
Mendoza transfers to Indiana and history is made
Mendoza's season got Cignetti's attention and the Hoosiers enticed Mendoza to join Indiana. Cignetti's first year at Indiana saw the Hoosiers improved dramatically and they became a participant in the College Football Playoff. Mendoza knew he had a great opportunity with the Hoosiers.
All he did was win the Heisman Trophy, lead the Hoosiers to a 16-0 season and the national championship and is now the presumed No. 1 pick in the NFL draft. The numbers were brilliant: 273 of 379 for 3,535 yards with 41 touchdowns and just 6 interceptions along with 276 rushing yards and 9 TDs.
The belief is that Cignetti will be able to maintain a highly competitive program, but the Hoosiers are not going to be able to maintain the level of Ohio State or Alabama at its peak under Nick Saban. That is simply too much to ask.
Where are they going to get another Mendoza? The Hoosiers have a solid quarterback coming in as Josh Hoover of TCU will join the Hoosiers and try to fill Mendoza's shoes. Hoover has had a substantial college career with the Horned Frogs and he has full understanding of the position. He is coming off a season with 272 of 413 passes for 3,472 yards along with 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
However, to expect Hoover to step into a Crimson and Cream uniform and keep the Hoosiers at an undefeated and national championship level is too much to expect.
The belief here is that Indiana will be able to attract high-quality players in the transfer portal and improve in the recruiting aspect, but expecting a national championship contender on an every-year basis is not realistic.
Indiana has many players to replace
The Hoosiers were a team that featured many older players who reached the end of their college eligibility. They will return star wide receiver Charlie Becker, but some of the key players who will not be back include running back Roman Hemby, wide receiver Elijah Sarratt, TE Riley Nowakowski, Center Pat Coogan, linebacker Aiden Fisher and safety Louis Moore.
The Hoosiers are going back to the transfer portal to find replacements and they will find quality players. However, the 2025 national champions had an incredible chemistry. They found a way to win close games against Penn State, Iowa, Oregon (regular season) and Ohio State. The likelihood is that they won't find a way to win all the close games. No team can do that.
The other factor is the frequency a team like Indiana will have to go to the transfer portal. The Hoosiers had so many older players — ages 21, 22 or 23 — and they will continue to bring in players of that vintage. That means they will have to depend on that venue all the time. The idea that they will always get the best players in the portal and the ones that can bring in national championships is too much to ask.
Cignetti is clearly an excellent coach who achieved a shocking result this season by taking Indiana from the bottom of the Big Ten — or at least close to it — to the top of the college football world. It won't happen again next season.
