We have put the 2025-26 Indiana Hoosiers in the rearview mirror (mostly, it’s hard to give up) and we are ready to look forward to the upcoming season! As Curt Cignetti and his staff gear up for chapter three in Bloomington with another championship as the end goal, we at Hoosier Huddle are kicking off one of our favorite traditions – the annual countdown to kickoff.
Over the 100 days leading up to the opening kickoff, we will highlight each player on the roster. Today, we’ll touch on a returning player from last season’s national championship team, Mario Landino.
Height: 6’4”
Weight: 288 pounds
Hometown: Macungie, Pennsylvania
Class/Position: Junior/Defensive Line
Last season’s Indiana defense was ferocious, and this year’s has the potential to be just as good! One key piece returning along the defensive line is Mario Landino, entering his third season with the Hoosiers. Landino originally committed out of high school to Cignetti and his staff at James Madison, but when Cignetti made the move to Bloomington, he decided to follow his coach. He has now appeared in 28 of Indiana’s 29 games since Cignetti’s arrival, establishing himself as a key member of this staff’s tenure.
Landino earned his first start of his career last season when the Hoosiers traveled to Eugene to face Oregon for the first time that year. He immediately made an impact, adding one of the Hoosiers’ six sacks on the day against an offensive line that had only allowed one through its first five games. He found himself on the stat sheet in a big way once again in the second matchup against Oregon in the Peach Bowl, recovering two different fumbles in another game in which the IU defensive line wreaked havoc on Dante Moore.
Landino finished last season ranked sixth amongst defensive interior linemen in total pressures (32). He completed the year having tallied 32 total tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, and 5.0 sacks. He will once again be a key piece along the line this season, again linking up with Tyrique Tucker in the interior and the newly added Tobi Osunsanmi and Chiddi Obiazor on the edge to attack quarterbacks in Bryant Haines’ defensive system.
The countdown continues each day on Hoosier Huddle until IU kicks off the 2026 season against the North Texas Mean Green!
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