With current quarterback Kurtis Rourke in his final year of collegiate eligibility, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Wednesday that, “we will definitely recruit a quarterback out of the portal.”
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana coach Curt Cignetti didn’t want to shift too much attention toward the future, given that the Hoosiers will likely be competing for a national championship in a couple of weeks.
But at the same time, he knows transfer portal recruiting is vital. Just look at his current roster; five All-Big Ten players and eight All-Big Ten honorable mentions transferred to Indiana before the 2024 season.
Cignetti called this period of time a juggling act. Indiana finished its regular season Saturday with an 11-1 record – best in program history – but it lost the tiebreaker to Penn State and won’t compete in this weekend’s Big Ten Championship against Oregon. That gives the Hoosiers an extended break until Dec. 20 or 21, when they’ll take the field again for the College Football Playoff.
Cignetti and staff have spent much of this week evaluating players in the portal. The team has also practiced and lifted weights to stay sharp with fundamentals and timing, and Cignetti has even had a few conversations with players about returning next season. Indiana won’t know its playoff opponent until Sunday, but the staff has familiarized themselves with potential opponents. They’ll host official visits with transfers in December, too.
“I want our team to focus right now on – we’re in season, and the main thing has to be the main thing, right?” Cignetti said Wednesday. “You guys all know that today has to be a great day and a great meeting and all that stuff that we preach.
The transfer portal officially opens Monday, and players can enter it until Dec. 28, with no deadline to choose a new school. But that window is in regards to when players can submit their official NCAA paperwork. There’s nothing stopping them from announcing their intentions to enter the transfer portal, something that’s been happening throughout the season.
“Even though the portal doesn’t open until Monday, if a guy’s graduated, or if a coach has been fired, right, then they’re technically in the portal now,” Cignetti said. “Underclassmen can’t officially be in the portal until Monday, and then it could take 24 to 48 hours to be processed. It could be Wednesday. But all you have to do is go on Twitter and see who’s announced that they’re gonna go into the portal, and that doesn’t prohibit you from pulling up their PFF [Pro Football Focus] tape and evaluating them. So there’s a lot of that going on right now.”
For Indiana, adding a quarterback from the transfer portal will be among its top priorities this winter. Its current quarterback, Kurtis Rourke, is a sixth-year senior who’s out of collegiate eligibility after the season. The rest of Indiana’s quarterback room includes redshirt sophomore Tayven Jackson and a pair of true freshmen in Tyler Cherry and Alberto Mendoza.
The Hoosiers hosted an official visit in June for five-star quarterback Julian Lewis, but he committed to Colorado Nov. 21 after previously pledging to USC. As National Signing Day for the high school class of 2025 took place Wednesday, Indiana’s 21-player class didn’t feature a quarterback.
With the prevalence of the transfer portal, that’s less of a concern than it may have been in past seasons, especially because of Indiana’s young group of quarterbacks. Cignetti addressed whether he plans to add a quarterback out of the transfer portal because he didn’t add one from the class of 2025.
“We have two young quarterbacks in the program that we like, Tyler Cherry and Mendoza, so we didn’t feel a real need to sign a young quarterback this year,” Cignetti said. “We’ll definitely recruit a quarterback out of the portal.”
What does that mean for Jackson? He’ll be a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility left in 2025, so it’s possible Cignetti didn’t mention him because current true freshmen Cherry and Mendoza more directly impacted his decision not to add a high school quarterback in this class. Or, it could be interpreted that future plans between Indiana and Jackson differ.
Jackson got a starting opportunity at Indiana in 2023 under former head coach Tom Allen, but eventually lost it to current Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby. Jackson did not enter the transfer portal after the coaching change, and he was the backup to Rourke in 2024, appearing in seven games with one start in a win over Washington.
He’s completed 101-of-165 passes (61.2%) for 1,263 yards, six passing touchdowns, four rushing touchdowns and six interceptions in his Indiana career. After beginning his career with a redshirt season at Tennessee, Jackson has two years of remaining eligibility going into the 2025 season. He’ll have a choice to make between staying at Indiana and competing for the starting job against a portal quarterback, Cherry and Mendoza, or transferring.
It’s not surprising that Indiana apparently wants to be patient with Cherry and Mendoza, who have limited experience at the college level as true freshmen, appearing in just 17 combined snaps during Indiana’s blowout win over Western Illinois.
They’ll redshirt and maintain four years of eligibility going into the 2025 season. Cherry was ranked No. 14 among class of 2024 quarterbacks out of Center Grove High School in Greenwood, Ind., and Mendoza came in ranked No. 84, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, out of Columbus High School in Miami, Fla.
Indiana was successful in recruiting a transfer portal quarterback going into Cignetti’s first season. Rourke wrapped up the regular season having completed 202-of-287 passes (70.4%) for 2,827 yards, 27 touchdowns and four interceptions on his way to All-Big Ten second-team honors.
Among starters, Rourke ranks first in passer rating (181.4), first in PFF’s passing grade (92.4), eighth nationally in completion percentage, tied for ninth in touchdowns and 27th in passing yards. His four interceptions put him tied for fifth fewest among qualified quarterbacks.
Rourke’s success under Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan and co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Tino Sunseri – along with healthy NIL resources – should help Indiana land a quality transfer quarterback for the second straight season.
The transfer portal is currently light on quarterbacks, but that should change in the coming weeks. The top transfer quarterback now is former USC Trojan Miller Moss, according to On3’s portal rankings. Indiana faced the second-ranked transfer quarterback this season, FIU’s Keyone Jenkins, and he’s followed by UNLV’s Matthew Sluka, UAB’s Jacob Zeno and Arkansas Pine-Bluff’s Mekhi Hagense to round out On3’s top-five rankings.
That list will grow in quantity and talent soon, and Indiana’s choice will be crucial to maintaining success in year two under Cignetti.
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