Less than 24 hours after Indiana football captured its first-ever national championship, the program saw two notable departures.
Per reports, redshirt freshman quarterback Alberto Mendoza entered the transfer portal Tuesday morning. And director of athletic performance Derek Owings is leaving IU for a similar position at Tennessee. The Volunteers officially announced Owings’ hire Tuesday afternoon.
Mendoza served as Indiana’s primary backup quarterback this season, behind his older brother, Fernando. The younger Mendoza entered nine games this season, primarily in mop-up duty. He flashed potential in some games, particularly with his 65-yard run at Purdue. But after the Hoosiers added TCU quarterback Josh Hoover from the portal, Alberto has opted to find a new program, presumably with a better opportunity to play in 2026.
Indiana still has true freshman Jacob Bell, who will likely use a redshirt year for 2025, behind Hoover for next year. Former four-star recruit Tyler Cherry missed this season with an injury, and his status is unknown going forward.
Owings was courted by USC last offseason, but Curt Cignetti held off Lincoln Riley. But the Hoosiers couldn’t pull that off a second time. Tennessee and Josh Heupel are reportedly making Owings the highest-paid strength coach in the country. He spent six years working with Cignetti — four at JMU, and two at Indiana.
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