What Curt Cignetti Told Fernando Mendoza After Heisman Trophy Win

History was made Saturday night in downtown New York when it was taken over by the Cream and Crimson.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was named the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner, the first in the history of the Hoosiers football program.

This of course, comes one night after Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti reached rare air, as he was named the national coach of the year for the second straight season. Immediately following the Heisman Trophy announcement, freshly crowned winner Mendoza took a moment to embrace his head coach.

What did Cignetti tell him in that moment?

Curt Cignetti's Words to Fernando Mendoza Immediately Following Heisman Win

Mendoza quickly shook hands with his fellow finalists after the announcement, dabbing up Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love first. Then it was a quick walk over to embrace his family before reaching Cignetti.

The already legendary Indiana head coach hugged Mendoza and quickly stated, "Great job bro, you deserve that one!"

The microphones picked it up and although a pretty basic statement, the nation of Heisman Trophy voters clearly agreed with Cignetti.

Fernando Mendoza Wins Heisman in Runaway

The speculation going in was that Mendoza was the favorite, fresh off leading Indiana to a Big Ten championship game over Ohio State. Perhaps the actual voting was a bit surprising to see just how much Medonza ran away by.

Mendoza's 643 first place votes were easily the highest number, beating out Vanderbilt's Diego Pavia who finished with 189 first place nods.

Mendoza added 191 second place votes and 51 for third place. Put it all together and Mendoza finished with 2,362 points while Pavia finished second in the voting with 1,435.

Fernando Mendoza's Heisman Moment

Trailing at Penn State in mid-November, it appeared Indiana was about to suffer its first loss of 2025. Indiana had struggled to move the ball for much of the game and trailed Penn State 24-20 in the final minutes.

That's when Mendoza led an unlikely drive down the field to set up what was arguably the play of the year in college football. Check it out below.

As we did against Iowa, Don Fischer was back on the call, and this time, it was a memory he will never forget!

Here is Don Fischer on the call as Omar Cooper Jr. caught this iconic game-winning touchdown over Penn State.#iufb https://t.co/yWzK1uCrGO pic.twitter.com/OjySIAkXj1
— Braydyn Mendoza-Lents (@LentsBraydyn) November 8, 2025

Although it was an individual award, you pretty much knew after the Penn State game that Mendoza was the frontrunner. He had already led Indiana to a heroic fourth quarter comeback win at Iowa earlier in the year, and helped the Hoosiers get by mighty Ohio State in last week's Big Ten championship game for good measure.

Congratulations to Mendoza for being about as likable as any young man has ever been who has hoisted college football's biggest individual award.