my wife blurted out while seeing the look on Mrs. Mendoza face: "Mike, she has the look of an upset mother that's not going to see her younger son play in the game
That’s wild, because my buddy said it was his wife that said it. Mothers intuition? As someone else pointed out, I did see the pic of Alberto with Cuban also and he obviously looked happy. The scheduling sucks to put everyone in such awkward predicaments.
Cid doesn't owe even a 'legacy' anything.
But I wonder if Coach was annoyed and sending his own personal message. Sort of a shame if so.
,
I dunno guys. Is this manufacturing something out of thin air? It was the semi-final, and even with a big lead we can't afford any errors, because Oregon was obviously going to play to the final whistle. The more Oregon had the ball, the more chance there was for injuries on our side, etc. I can see why we didn't give Alberto any snaps in such a big game. Cig "sending a message" is a lot of speculation. I think he's a pretty blunt guy who tells people things face to face.
Zooming out: IUFB played a big role in getting Fernando to realize his potential. A Heisman, a likely very high draft pick worth tens of millions, $2M+ in compensation this year, and a trip to the title game. That's pretty good. Now the staff doesn't think Alberto is ready next year. That's too bad, but I doubt the Mendozas are naive to how it works or are going to demand that every one of their children be the starting QB at IU. And Alberto's career isn't over, there are lots of other teams out there he can play for and his future is up to him.
Zooming out: IUFB played a big role in getting Fernando to realize his potential. A Heisman, a likely very high draft pick worth tens of millions, $2M+ in compensation this year, and a trip to the title game. That's pretty good. Now the staff doesn't think Alberto is ready next year. That's too bad, but I doubt the Mendozas are naive to how it works or are going to demand that every one of their children be the starting QB at IU. And Alberto's career isn't over, there are lots of other teams out there he can play for and his future is up to him.
Does Alberto have two or three years of eligibility left? Either way, he can back up Hoover this year and make his decision after that.
Come on. They could play that game a hundred times from the 6 minute mark on with me handling the snaps and Oregon would win the game zero times. OK, maybe not me, but with Alberto or any of the backups.I dunno guys. Is this manufacturing something out of thin air? It was the semi-final, and even with a big lead we can't afford any errors, because Oregon was obviously going to play to the final whistle. The more Oregon had the ball, the more chance there was for injuries on our side, etc. I can see why we didn't give Alberto any snaps in such a big game. Cig "sending a message" is a lot of speculation. I think he's a pretty blunt guy who tells people things face to face. ...
If Alberto playing is even risking other players injury, no wonder we grabbed Hoover!
In the end, IU is ALWAYS going to look to have multiple good quarterbacks. The best quarterback is the one that plays. Cig assigns a $ value on the players, including all of the QB's for the next year and provides what value he assesses. That doesn't mean one has to start over the other. You come in, you compete and the best QB starts. Any QB will find the same situation no matter what school they go to. It's not like just because Alberto would transfer, he thereby will start at another school. Alberto has the advantage of knowing the system so if he feels like he is the best QB for the job, just go show it. I assure you, coach isn't starting someone who is worse simply because he paid more for them.
@tammany Why are we (not directed at you) just assuming Alberto is going to leave? I get that's what forums are for, but Alberto was recruited by this staff out of high school, brought to IU by the staff and is thought of very highly. It was 49-22 before that last touchdown and Oregon can score in bunches. After that last TD it seemed like Alberto was going to go in, but IU didn't get the ball back until there was 22 seconds left. Basing something off a quick glance on TV is a little silly too.
Portal closes in three days and there is NO indicator that Alberto is either upset or hinting at transferring.
I dunno guys. Is this manufacturing something out of thin air? It was the semi-final, and even with a big lead we can't afford any errors, because Oregon was obviously going to play to the final whistle. The more Oregon had the ball, the more chance there was for injuries on our side, etc. I can see why we didn't give Alberto any snaps in such a big game. Cig "sending a message" is a lot of speculation. I think he's a pretty blunt guy who tells people things face to face.
Zooming out: IUFB played a big role in getting Fernando to realize his potential. A Heisman, a likely very high draft pick worth tens of millions, $2M+ in compensation this year, and a trip to the title game. That's pretty good. Now the staff doesn't think Alberto is ready next year. That's too bad, but I doubt the Mendozas are naive to how it works or are going to demand that every one of their children be the starting QB at IU. And Alberto's career isn't over, there are lots of other teams out there he can play for and his future is up to him.
If Fernando wanted to help Alberto, he could return to IU next season and thereby make Josh transfer or watch from the bench. There, Mendoza's win. 
@tammany I wasn't trying to start wild speculation, I just thought it was a weird thing for my friend to say and since I didn't see the broadcast wondered if anyone else picked up on it. I have worried that the challenges of navigating things with the Mendozas might be a distraction. I doubt that family will ever have anything but love for IU as completely as Fernando has been embraced and the progression he's made. I think I was more excited than many when we got him, because he'd stood out to me when I'd seen him at Cal, but in my wildest dreams I'd have never thought he could lead us to where he has and win a Heisman along the way. The fairy tale would be that Alberto sticks around another year and progresses to starter caliber next year, but fairy tales don't always come true.
The portal and 12 team playoff are still new, so I expect there will be changes, but the schedule issue is just so obviously a flaw that I hope they can fix that this year. What would be the issue with moving the start of the season up a couple weeks? I know students might not be on campus, but that would seem the most obvious fix. That and 1 bye would pretty much allow the portal to open after the final game and still get kids to their new schools for 2nd semester, no?
@thehoosierhuddle Isn't there a portal implication to the teams that make the finals? Thought i heard the portal window is extended for those teams by 4 days? I'm not asking because of Alberto, but that could still have implications for us both with adds and departures and hadn't heard that before last night.
@kkott I rewatched the game and kept an eye on this...I did not pick up on any of that. She could look annoyed for many reasons. She's battling a terrible disease, her and her husband had fans taking pictures with them a couple times while panned over (so maybe more). It could have just been a moment of exhaustion.
@kkott I'll double check on that. I don;t think there is, but rules change every minutes it seems. I am recording a podcast with Matt Weaver today, so I will ask him about all of this too.
@tammany I wasn't trying to start wild speculation, I just thought it was a weird thing for my friend to say and since I didn't see the broadcast wondered if anyone else picked up on it. I have worried that the challenges of navigating things with the Mendozas might be a distraction. I doubt that family will ever have anything but love for IU as completely as Fernando has been embraced and the progression he's made. I think I was more excited than many when we got him, because he'd stood out to me when I'd seen him at Cal, but in my wildest dreams I'd have never thought he could lead us to where he has and win a Heisman along the way. The fairy tale would be that Alberto sticks around another year and progresses to starter caliber next year, but fairy tales don't always come true.
The portal and 12 team playoff are still new, so I expect there will be changes, but the schedule issue is just so obviously a flaw that I hope they can fix that this year. What would be the issue with moving the start of the season up a couple weeks? I know students might not be on campus, but that would seem the most obvious fix. That and 1 bye would pretty much allow the portal to open after the final game and still get kids to their new schools for 2nd semester, no?
I think the issue is more with the fanbase than Alberto. Think of when you were coming up in your own job. If you are looking to move up, you would ask your boss about what was needed to make the upward climb and there might be things they want to see from someone in that next level. You then work towards that.
A good manager (ala Cig) is continually having those conversations in practice on areas where Alberto did something wrong/needs to improve because Cig wants nothing more than to have this next QB be on the roster. If Alberto is falling short, you would have to imagine coach is routinely talking through the missteps or missed check downs (whatever it might be) that is keeping him from instilling that confidence that he is ready for the keys to this Ferrari. Basically, this shouldn't have been an earth-shattering surprise and if Alberto truly isn't ready in coaches eyes, they should both have a decent idea why that it is.
FYI (minor nit), the "incoming" count is now at 14, not 13
Thanks for keeping us updated!
"You can't make someone listen to reason if they aren't willing to think"-- Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
@tammany - and everyone is assuming that Alberto won't win the job in the spring.... Cig isn't the kind of guy to just give a job away without earning it first. I'm sure he promised Hoover the chance to compete for a starting position, same as Alberto. Nothing more, nothing less. We need to just let this play itself out, coach knows what he's doing.
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