Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza, head coach Curt Cignetti on what's behind their winning streak
Indiana University quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who woke up Sunday as this year's Heisman trophy winner, has come to embody his team.
A few years ago, Mendoza was a middling Miami high school player and the Indiana Hoosiers were the losingest team in major college football history. But this season, Mendoza and the No. 1 ranked Hoosiers are undefeated.They just upset powerhouse Ohio State to win the Big Ten Championship, and they are major contenders in their quest for a national title.
"There's a little bit of an imposter syndrome," Mendoza said. "Whoa, am I supposed to be here? I was a two-star recruit. I wasn't a five-star who's supposed to be in this position, who's supposed to be on the No. 1 team in the nation."
Just how bad was Indiana football?
Indiana entered this season with more losses than any other Division 1 football program – more than 700 defeats.
Last weekend, it clinched the Big Ten title for the first time since 1967. Don Fischer, who's been the team's play-by-play voice since the 70s, witnessed the team struggle for decades.
"A big problem for Indiana was we could not recruit offensive and defensive linemen," Fischer said.
Diehard fan and rock legend John Mellencamp has been watching the Hoosiers lose ever since his father took him to games as a kid. Mellencamp has been in the stands through thick and thin, and says at points it got "pretty thin."
For years, he says, the tailgates drew more interest than the actual games and the stadium was less than half full. Mellencamp funded an indoor practice facility, the Mellencamp Pavilion, in 1996 in hopes it would lure recruits.
Becoming a football powerhouse
Indiana's program started its turn around after a dismal season in 2023, in which the Hoosiers went 3-9.
Athletic director Scott Dolson set out to resolve Indiana's football woes. In his search for a new head coach, he had a few non-negotiables.
"We wanted an existing head coach," Dolson said. "We wanted a coach who was offensive minded, who had developed quarterbacks."
Dolson settled on Curt Cignetti, a little-known coach who'd won often, but had also been overlooked. Before landing in Indiana, Cignetti had jumped between various programs around the country. Once an assistant coach for the legendary Nick Saban at Alabama, he left the big time to take head coaching jobs at smaller schools, including Elon University and James Madison.
Cignetti said the atmosphere when he arrived in Indiana was, "You can't get it done here." Facilities were neglected and fans were unexcited, he recalls.
But now, two seasons into Cignetti's tenure, the program is unrecognizable. Under Cignetti, Indiana has gone 24-2 without losing a home game.
"There's no magic here. It's fundamentals," Cignetti said. "You know, I would like to think the leader, which is me, knows what he's doing and has a blueprint, and a plan."
New rules upend the playing field
Indiana's rise has been helped by new rules in college sports. Athletes are now able to enter the so-called transfer portal and switch schools with ease. Cignetti fortified his roster by bringing 13 players with him from James Madison. Mendoza played at Cal Berkeley last season.
There's also the money. College players can now be paid for the licensing of their name, image and likeness. And starting this year, they can get a cut of team revenue. Mendoza, who says he actually wrote a paper in high school about why NCAA athletes should not be paid, is reported to be making $2 million this season.
"There's so many different dynamics that were never there in college football," Mendoza said. "And I think that's why you see so many teams either rising or fizzling. Just because [of] the new structure, whether it's people talking about compensation in the locker room, which is either uniting or dividing a locker room, whether it's people going to not only one or two schools like myself [but] going to four schools."
Will Indiana football stay at the top?
Money is flowing into Indiana's program. In 2024, thanks partially to donors — including alum Mark Cuban — Indiana spent more than $60 million on football.
"The market is what the market is. And it costs a lot of money," Dolson said. "But we earn that money. We make it through our revenue streams."
He also noted that if the team remains successful, it will have positive impacts for the school as a whole.
"I've joked before, if I'd have known that winning consistently would have that impact, we should have tried that a long time ago," Dolson said.
The school vows to keep spending on football — far more than on basketball. And in hopes the coach doesn't transfer out, Indiana recently gave Cignetti an eight-year, $90 million contract extension, more than 15 times his compensation at his last job.
The Hoosiers, the No. 1 seed in the upcoming College Football Playoffs, play their next game on New Year's Day. Coach Cignetti plans to keep adapting and improvising as the game demands.
"Attack at all times," he said.