Senior quarterback Josh Hoover opens Indiana’s national title defense Saturday against North Texas, five years after he first committed to the Hoosiers and four years after he walked away.
The TCU transfer arrives on a reported $4 million valuation that ranks among the 10 largest in college football, replacing a Heisman winner on a roster built to repeat. Some reports put Hoover’s NIL valuation as high as $4.5 million.
Hoover grew up in Heath, Texas, and starred at Rockwall-Heath High School, where he won the 2021 Landry Award as the Dallas-Fort Worth area’s top player. His father, Alex Hoover, played linebacker at Colorado State. Hoover pledged to Indiana in June 2021 under Tom Allen, then rescinded and signed with TCU that December, according to Sports Illustrated.
The three-star recruit redshirted behind Max Duggan in 2022, seized the TCU job midway through 2023 and never let it go. He broke the program’s single-season passing record with 3,949 yards in 2024, then threw for 3,472 yards, 29 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 2025, according to CBS Sports. He finished with 31 consecutive starts, 9,629 passing yards and 71 touchdowns.
Indiana Hoosiers QB Josh Hoover’s $4 Million NIL Package
Indiana has not released the terms of Hoover’s deal. What exists is a $4 million figure for 2026, tagged as a confirmed number in On3‘s NIL valuation database for Hoover, which also slots him 14th in its NIL100.
That total ranks eighth nationally among college football players, according to The Sporting News. Miami’s Darian Mensah ($6.5 million), Oregon’s Dante Moore, Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss and LSU’s Sam Leavitt sit above him in Yahoo Sports‘ version of the ranking.
Hoover made roughly $2 million at TCU, and Hoosiers predecessor Fernando Mendoza carried a valuation near $2.6 million during last season’s championship run, a package Mark Cuban has said he helped fund personally.
“I’ve never been held to a standard as high as I am here. It was uncomfortable at first,” Hoover told Big Ten Network during fall camp, as quoted by 247Sports. “Growth is uncomfortable, and that’s the only way to grow.”
Indiana Repeat Odds and Hoover’s Expectations
The Hoosiers went 16-0 and beat Miami 27-21 for the national championship. They open at No. 6 in the AP poll, the highest preseason ranking in program history, after losing eight players to the NFL Draft, according to the Chicago Tribune. Coach Curt Cignetti is 27-2 in Bloomington.
A repeat is a long shot. ESPN’s Football Power Index projects Indiana at roughly 10-2 with a 6.6% shot at the title, per 247Sports reporting on FPI projections. No Big Ten program has won consecutive national titles since Michigan State in 1965 and 1966.
Hoover has thrown for more yards than any active FBS quarterback over the past three seasons, and CBS Sports slotted him in its top tier of Heisman contenders. Interceptions are a bit of a problem, however. Kurtis Rourke and Mendoza threw 11 combined across two Indiana seasons. Hoover threw 13 last season alone.
“Got to clean up some of the turnovers, which Coach Dykes made light of,” Cignetti said in April, as quoted by The Daily Hoosier. Cignetti has pointed to Indiana’s defense and running game as the reasons Hoover won’t shoulder the load he carried at TCU.
One projection has him completing 69.3% of his throws with 29 touchdowns and eight interceptions, according to a Daily Hoosier statistical model. The schedule will play a role. Highlighting the slate for the defending national champions, Ohio State visits Bloomington, and Indiana travels to Michigan, Nebraska and Washington.
Indiana QB Josh Hoover: How Much NIL Money Does He Make? Where Does He Rank?