Several factors have contributed to the Indiana Hoosiers going from the doormat of Big Ten football to the College Football Playoff national champions.
Head coach Curt Cignetti of “Google me” fame is one of the main factors. He’s the real deal as a head coach, and there’s a strong case to be made that he’s the best coach in college football with Nick Saban retired.
Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback and No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza was the other catalyst for Indiana football. Like Cignetti, he was also the real deal, at least at the college level.
Indiana got the right coach and the right quarterback and made college football history.
There are players behind the scenes pulling the strings to make Indiana a real competitor in the NIL and transfer portal era, though. One of those contributors is billionaire alumnus Mark Cuban, who recently revealed that he played a role in getting Mendoza to transfer to Indiana after two seasons at Cal.
As Cuban told it on an upcoming episode of “Portfolio Players,” the idea to bring in Mendoza was hatched while watching the Hoosiers lose to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the first round of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff.
Indiana lost to the Fighting Irish, 27-17.
“It all started really at the Notre Dame playoff game the year before. When we were losing, and I was in the suite with the AD Scott Dolson and Pam Whitten, we sucked from the beginning,” Cuban explained. “First thing I said to Scott was, ‘Well, at least this year you’re not having to look for another football coach,’ because that was kind of a time-honored tradition at Indiana.”
