Alberto Mendoza, the younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza who was his backup quarterback at Indiana, entered the transfer portal on Tuesday and quickly committed to Georgia Tech. The current redshirt freshman hopes to be the starter, and has three years of eligibility remaining.
MIAMI, Fla — Indiana sophomore quarterback Alberto Mendoza celebrated a national championship into the wee hours of Monday night after the Hoosiers beat Miami in the College Football Playoff title game.
The younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza woke up Tuesday and entered the transfer portal. In a matter of hours, he had a new school, committing to Georgia Tech.
Just like that.
Alberto Mendoza's Instagram post after leaving Indiana for Georgia Tech.Alberto Mendoza has spent two years at Indiana. He was recruited by Curt Cignetti to play football at James Madison, but transferred to Indiana when Cignetti and his staff came to Bloomington.
He redshirted in 2024, and then was instrumental in convincing his brother to transfer to Indiana from California. All Fernando did was go 16-0 and lead Indiana to their first national title. Alberto, who won two championships at Columbus High School in Miami, was his backup, completing 18-of-24 passes for 286 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed for 190 yards.
Alberto expected to be Indiana's starting quarterback in 2026, but Cignetti instead opted to sign TCU's Josh Hoover, the top-ranked QB available, in the transfer portal. Hoover — who was once an Indiana commit in 2022 before flipping to TCU on signing day — has played three years there, throwing for 9,629 yards and 71 touchdowns. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Alberto apparently saw the writing on the wall and sought out more playing time. Hence to move from Indiana to Georgia, where NIL dollars probably also played a role. He announced his decision in an Instagram post.
"Hoosier Nation, now that the season has ended, I've had time to reflect on just how special this journey was. Being part of the 2024-2026 Indiana Hoosier football team has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. I'm incredibly grateful for every moment, every relationship, and every lesson.
"After a lot of prayer, reflection and conversations with my parents, I have decided to transfer to Georgia Tech. This wasn't an easy decision, but opportunities in this game are short, and sometimes chasing your dreams requires difficult choices.
"To my teammates, thank you for the brotherhood, love and belief. You made this this experience unforgettable and I will carry this group with me forever. Bloomington will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for everything — the support, the love, the memories. I love you all. With gratitude, Alberto Mendoza.''
Mendoza talked about his future at Indiana during an exclusive interview with Roundtable Sports at the Rose Bowl. He cherished being able to share this dream season with him brother, ''and he's set a high bar. It warms my heart just being a part of it and doing all of this together with him every day. It's been amazing, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
"But next year, I want to go and beat all the awards he got. That's just the competitive nature in me. And he'll want that for me, too. That's the loving relationship we have. We love to compete against each other.''
The transfer portal opened the day after Indiana beat Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl, and the Hoosiers were very aggressive in filling out their roster. Hoover was the centerpiece of their 17-player transfer class, which ranked No. 2 in the country behind Texas Tech in the On3 national transfer portal rankings.
Cignetti was asked about Alberto Mendoza during his hour-long press conference last Saturday, and had a brief response.
“We’ll see what happens there with Alberto,” Cignetti said. “I think he’s got a good future. I like him a lot as a player. We’ll see what the future holds.”
Alberto Mendoza told Roundtable Sports right after Cignetti's comments that he planned on being at Indiana in 2026 and compete for the starting job. He didn't want to answer any further questions on the subject, saying his sole focus was on the Monday night title game against Miami, which Indiana won 27-21 to secure the school's first-ever national championship in football.
He joins a Georgia Tech team that started 8-0 for the first time since 1966 under coach Brent Key and quarterback Haynes King. But Georgia Tech lost three of its last four regular-season games against N.C. State, Pitt and Georgia. They lost to BYU in the Pop-Tarts Bowl and finished 9-4, but have several starters coming back and should compete for an ACC title next year.