Indiana Football Incoming Coach Profile: Chandler Whitmer

After a historic season in Bloomington in year one for Curt Cignetti, the head coach and Indiana's athletic director, Scott Dolson, did everything in their power to keep the staff that led the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff intact. 

While the staff is mostly intact, Indiana did lose Tino Sunseri, the quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, who took a role as offensive coordinator with UCLA this offseason. 

Such departures are inevitable for programs that achieve at the level Indiana did last season, and in no way indicative of a waning commitment to football on the University's behalf. Following its National Title this winter, Ohio State lost both of its coordinators. Such is the college football coaching world. 

More significant than the departure was going to be who Dolson and Cignetti chose to replace him and how well they'd be willing to compensate a new staff member. Tom Allen had good seasons in Indiana, but failed because he could not retain coaches or successfully replace them with comparable talent. 

If Cignetti's first replacement hire as Indiana's head coach is any indication, Hoosier fans need not worry about that problem recurring under this new regime.

To replace Sunseri, Cignetti went out and signed Chandler Whitmer, who has spent the last four seasons in various roles in the NFL. As his Indiana coaching profile notes, Whitmer "worked with top-10 passing offenses in three of his four campaigns at the professional level."

That in and of itself will appeal to recruits and help Indiana consistently land the kind of quarterback talent that will allow them to compete for Playoff spots on a regular basis. 

In a recent podcast appearance, Indiana's incoming transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza noted how many professional players Cignetti, offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, and Whitmer had worked with as one of the reasons he chose Indiana. 

Whitmer also comes to Indiana with significant college experience, both as a player and coach. He spent a redshirt season with Illinois as a quarterback in 2010 before eventually landing at UConn for the rest of his playing career. 

He went on to spend his first few seasons in the coaching ranks as graduate assistants with some prolific college offenses, like Ohio State in 2019 and Clemson in 2020. 

As a whole, Whitmer appears to have the pedigree and resume to make him a natural fit for Cignetti and his staff, all of whom have won and performed at the highest levels of the sport.