Who Should Indiana Hire As Its Next Quarterbacks Coach?

Indiana is in need of a replacement for Chandler Whitmer, and a familiar name would make a lot of sense.

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti watches during the College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Following its national championship, Indiana football has faced some of the challenges that come with success.

Everyone will want your players and coaches, and you may not always be able to keep them.

That played out Tuesday, as Indiana quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator Chandler Whitmer accepted a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Whitmer came to Bloomington after one season with the Atlanta Falcons, three with the Los Angeles Chargers and one-year stints with Clemson and Ohio State. He then helped develop Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza into the Heisman Trophy winner and build the nation's No. 3 scoring offense.

A similar situation occurred soon after the national title game, when strength and conditioning coach Derek Owings left Indiana for Tennessee. Indiana is expected to replace him with Colorado State's Tyson Brown.

At the same time, Indiana's success meant more financial commitment to the program and the retention of offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and defensive coordinator Bryant Haines, who received head coaching interest. It also means Whitmer's open position will be incredibly attractive.

So, who should Indiana hire to replace Chandler Whitmer?

How about a familiar name, and the man who held the job prior to Whitmer's arrival: Tino Sunseri.

Indiana quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri instructs players during fall practice at the Mellencamp Pavilion on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

Sunseri was on coach Curt Cignetti's staff at James Madison from 2021-23 as the quarterbacks coach. He also worked closely with Steve Sarkisian and Nick Saban at Alabama in 2020, was on Jeremy Pruitt's Tennessee staff in 2018 and spent two years at Florida State under Jimbo Fisher.

At James Madison, he helped develop quarterbacks Cole Johnson, Todd Centeio and Jordan McCloud into conference player of the year winners. Sunseri then followed Cignetti to Indiana in 2024, where he coached quarterback Kurtis Rourke to second-team All-Big Ten honors, and was the co-offensive coordinator for an 11-2 team that reached the College Football Playoff.

That success made Sunseri an attractive name in coaching searches, so he took a promotion and became the UCLA offensive coordinator job prior to the 2025 season.

Things quickly went bad for the Bruins, though, as head coach DeShaun Foster was fired after an 0-3 start. Sunseri and UCLA mutually agreed to part ways after the Bruins' loss to Northwestern the following week.

From Indiana's perspective, Sunseri's work on Cignetti's previous staffs should outshine any negativity from his time at UCLA. He was there for only four games, and the problems clearly ran deeper than just the offensive coordinator.

Cignetti puts a lot of responsibility on his assistant coaches, and he already has established trust with Sunseri. It makes perfect sense to bring him back to Bloomington.

That's not to say Sunseri is the only good option, or that hiring someone else would be a bad move. He also may have other options as an offensive coordinator and may not want to take a step back down to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

But Cignetti has a strong track record of hiring coaches –– just look at his current staff. And after winning a national championship, who's to doubt Cignetti at this point?

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