Spring football is supposed to be about fresh starts and clean slates. But Sonny Dykes isn’t exactly in the mood to sugarcoat the past, particularly surrounding his former QB. TCU opened camp with energy after a 9-4 finish, a new OC, and an altered roster. And yet, amid all that “new,” the head coach made sure to remind everyone what the “old” looked like specifically, Josh Hoover.

“Stats are stats and I think Josh started 31 games here as a quarterback,” Sonny Dykes told reporters on March 24. “And he turned the ball over 42 times in those 31 starts.”

Now, this is significant because Josh Hoover was the main guy in Fort Worth who had 31 straight starts that totaled 9,629 passing yards and 71 scores. In fact, no returning QB in college football had better raw production heading into 2026. But as Sonny Dykes reminded everyone, that’s not the whole story. While stat sheets record 33 interceptions in 31 starts, the coach’s evaluation includes all possessions lost and 42 is an eyebrow-raising number. That lingering frustration never quite left the building even after the QB’s departure. 

Before Josh Hoover’s transfer announcement, though, Sonny Dykes was publicly fighting to keep his QB in purple. 

“They’re coming right now. That’s why I’m fundraising,” he joked when portal interest surged. 

Sonny Dykes even brought in a new OC in Gordon Sammis to boost the offense in 2026. But the inevitable happened. Josh Hoover made the call to sit out the bowl game and enter the portal. The head coach handled the situation like a pro back then. 

“We had a friendly conversation and I told him I supported his decision,” he said. “I was disappointed and certainly wished it would have gone differently, but that’s kind of the new world of college football.”

And just like that, TCU turned the page, or at least tried to because here comes Jaden Craig as the replacement. The Harvard transfer is a 6’3, 230 pounder who brings a physical edge and mobility TCU hasn’t really had under center. More importantly, he protects the football. And if you read through Sonny Dykes’ message, that’s the entire point.

“Our primary objective when replacing our quarterback was someone that’s played and played at a high level,” he said. “He’s protected the football and hasn’t turned the ball over… He’s played a lot of snaps… He’s got a big arm, and just his physical size and strength is something we necessarily haven’t had.”

It’s subtle, but it’s also not. TCU isn’t just moving on from Josh Hoover but they’re correcting what they believe held them back. But that’s just one side of the evaluation for the QB because while Fort Worth seems ready to frame him as a high-risk, high-reward player, Indiana is looking at him like the next big thing.

Curt Cignetti sees a star in Josh Hoover 

If Sonny Dykes is focusing on turnovers, Curt Cignetti is focused on everything else. Indiana is coming off a national championship run with a perfect 14-0 season powered by QB Fernando Mendoza who’s now a projected top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. And in that transition, Josh Hoover became a priority target and the Hoosiers head coach didn’t hesitate.

“Watched a lot of tape on him, highly productive guy,” he said. “Starting experience, production, almost 10,000 yards (passing), 80 touchdowns (passing), won a lot of football games. What he’s done speaks for itself, and now our job is to get him and make him better.”

Where Sonny Dykes sees risk, Curt Cignetti sees experience. Where TCU saw inconsistency, Indiana sees a QB battle-tested by 31 starts. And under a system run by Cignetti and OC Mike Shanahan that produced conference players of the year in four of the last five seasons, Josh Hoover is being asked to evolve. And that’s a bet worth making.

From Kurtis Rourke to Mendoza, this staff has turned production into polish. Now Josh Hoover steps into that same pipeline, inheriting not just a starting job but great expectations. And when fall comes around, we’ll be watching results.