The Heisman winner, Fernando Mendoza, has reached the NFL and is ready to begin his professional career. Looking back at his time with Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, the quarterback now understands why the Hoosiers have risen so quickly under him. Cignetti might have a no-nonsense exterior, but Mendoza revealed that his nature helped him grow.

“You see, especially with Cignetti having me spend an entire season with him, when he’s riding me on all these things in fall camp,” Mendoza said on The Rush With Maxx Crosby show on July 8. “I used to think, you’ve got to be kidding me, and then in the season, you see us show up, and it’s like, okay, this was that pass completed by this much because I was at the right depth or because I didn’t take that extra hitch.”

Mendoza arrived at Bloomington last year after throwing for over 3,000 yards at Cal in the 2024 season. During his portal recruitment, the QB had offers from Georgia, Miami, and Missouri, but he chose the Hoosiers and took a significant pay cut. Cignetti’s pitch was the main draw, and the Indiana head coach didn’t sell him huge dreams. Instead, he promised to develop his game.

And it was a match made in heaven. Mendoza didn’t mind putting in the work. But it wasn’t always easy. During videotape sessions, Cignetti repeatedly paused the tape to point out Mendoza’s minor mechanical errors. He explicitly targeted the signal caller’s tendency to take extra movements in the pocket. This constant pressure is what later triggered Mendoza’s inner “You’ve got to be kidding me” frustration.

However, everything worked out for both the program and the QB. The signal caller threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns while leading the team to an undefeated 16–0 season and a national championship. On the personal front, Mendoza grabbed the Heisman on his way to becoming the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. And a major factor behind their success was how Cignetti treated his players.

“One thing that I think Coach Cignetti and Coach Kubiak preach, in a way, was that everyone’s equal. And how I see that as a quarterback is killing the ego,” Mendoza added. “Making sure that no matter what success I had at Indiana or what’s, you know, future success or whatever expectation, that there’s no ego there and the only motivation is getting better.”

No matter how many accomplishments the QB had, Mendoza had to enter the facility with zero entitlement. Now that the NFL season is approaching, Cignetti has prepared him to be thick-skinned, with the only goal of improving every day. Mendoza is currently in Las Vegas as the Raiders’ new franchise quarterback. Under his new coach, Klint Kubiak, the QB is excited and has been working hard at the Raiders’ facility.