What Curt Cignetti Envisions For New Indiana Quarterback Fernando Mendoza

Curt Cignetti is used to this.

From 2019-23, he coached four James Madison quarterbacks to conference player of the year awards. When Cignetti made the jump to Indiana, he guided Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke to single-season program records in passing touchdowns and completion percentage, along with finishing second nationally in passer rating and ninth in Heisman Trophy voting.

Changing quarterbacks on a year-to-year basis is no problem for Cignetti. He excels at it, in fact, whether that’s adjusting his flexible system to fit a dual-threat quarterback or a pocket passer. In 2025, he’ll do it again, this time without quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri, who took the UCLA offensive coordinator job after four years with Cignetti. But he’ll still have Mike Shanahan, his offensive coordinator since 2021.

The heir apparent to Rourke is California transfer Fernando Mendoza. Though we know from Cignetti’s first season at Indiana that any role – no matter a player’s previous success – has to be earned. Cignetti also added Old Dominion transfer Grant Wilson to bolster a quarterback room that lost Rourke and 2024 backup Tayven Jackson, who transferred to Central Florida.

Mendoza joins the Hoosiers after starting 19 games at Cal over the last two seasons, fitting Cignetti’s production-over-potential philosophy in transfer portal recruiting. In 2024, Mendoza completed 68.7% of his passes for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. At 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds, the Miami native also rushed for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

“He can throw the ball. He can spin the ball. He can make all the throws,” Cignetti said of Mendoza on the ESPN College GameDay podcast. “He’s pretty mobile. He throws well on the move, and he can run. He runs better than Kurtis. He’s a highly intelligent guy. So that’s where it all begins as everybody knows, and we think he’s gonna give us something.”

Indiana’s staff had a relationship with the Mendoza family, given that Fernando’s younger brother, Alberto, was a true freshman quarterback for the Hoosiers in 2024. Alberto committed to James Madison in June 2023, then flipped to Indiana when Cignetti took the job that December.

That may have helped the Hoosiers land Fernando over Georgia, UCLA and Wisconsin, who On3 reported as contenders for the transfer quarterback. Mendoza’s Cal career alone is reason for optimism, and Cignetti is excited to see what he can accomplish after being molded into Indiana’s quarterback-friendly system.

“Fernando was highly sought after,” Cignetti said. “Two years of eligibility, started a year and a half, and he’s got a lot of talent, a lot of skill. He was under duress, quite frankly, a lot last year at Cal. The protection wasn’t very good. They had 41 sacks. They didn’t have a lot of time to throw, so you get to see him extend plays quite a bit on tape and there’s talent there. So we’re excited about him, fit him into our system, tweak our system according to the quarterback and who else we have offensively.”

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