Columbus Hoosiers: Former IU football players thrilled with recent success

Tom Kendrick remembers being one of six quarterbacks to share the job at Indiana University when he played from 1956-58.

Almost 70 years later, the Hoosiers have needed to play only one quarterback outside of mop-up duty, thanks to the talent of Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza became IU’s first Heisman Trophy winner earlier this month and will lead the undefeated and top-seeded Hoosiers into Thursday’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal matchup with Alabama in the Rose Bowl.

“We had a half dozen quarterbacks that split the job, and we changed formations every year,” Kendrick said. “My last year was a full single wing, and I played tailback then, which was a little out of my comfort zone.”

A Lancaster, Ohio, native, Kendrick, now 88, has lived in Columbus since 1963. He worked at Cummins for five years and for IBM out of Indianapolis for about 25 years. He remembers his first college game as a sophomore (freshmen weren’t eligible then) playing against Notre Dame.

“They were not very good at the time, but they had Paul Hornung, who won the Heisman. I went in to punt at the end of the first half, and with limited substitution, I stayed in on defense,” Kendrick said. “When we got on offense, I was expecting someone to come in and replace me at quarterback. But they left me in, and I called a play or two, then I called a play with a pass that fooled a defensive player or two, and I lobbed a pass to my halfback, who had a clear line to the goal, and he wasn’t fast enough, so he got tackled at about the 1. Then my coach called a quarterback sneak, and I scored. It was the only touchdown I scored.”

In addition to quarterback, Kendrick played safety, held for extra points and punted on occasion.

“In my era of football, there was limited substitutions, so everybody played both ways,” Kendrick said. “So nobody did anything real well. The quality of athletic ability is much less than it is now. I could never play with these teams now. They’re so fast and strong and athletic. We had about 35 players and six coaches. Now, they have a hundred players and 20 coaches. It’s totally different.”

Kendrick played for Bernie Crimmins his first two years and for Phil Dickens his last two years. The Hoosiers went 5-3-1 in 1958, beating Michigan and Michigan State and tying Purdue.

The win vs. Michigan was extra special because the Hoosiers were prepared to wear blue uniforms instead of their traditional crimson and cream.

“My senior year, our coach donned us in blue shirts, just to change things up,” Kendrick said. “Michigan objected to our blue shirts because they wore blue, so we had to change. But someone went out and got us blue undershirts, and it rained and they faded through, so we ended up with blue shirts anyway. We didn’t lose a game after that.”

Kendrick is one of at least four former Hoosier football players who moved to Columbus following graduation. Two players — the late Bill McCaa, who played on the last Rose Bowl team for John Pont in 1967, and Steve Gobert, who played for Pont from 1969-72 — spent several years as head football coach at Columbus North. Another, Brian Lewis, who ran for 1,321 yards and seven touchdowns for Cam Cameron and Gerry DiNardo from 1999-2003, has been the Bull Dogs athletics director the past 5 1/2 years.

Current Columbus North athletics director Brian Lewis runs the football against Northwestern during his playing days at Indiana University.

Photo courtesy of IU Athletics

Lewis credits coach Curt Cignetti with coming in and instilling a winning culture. Cignetti came in last year and led the Hoosiers to an 11-2 record, top-10 national ranking and a berth in the College Football Playoff. This year, they’re 13-0, Big Ten champs and top seed for the playoffs.

“It’s not surprising to me because I know the history of IU,” Lewis said. “I was there when they had some good players. Coaching matters, putting players in the right positions to succeed matters. It clearly shows that you’re bringing in the right kids, and having buy-in from the admin like (athletics director) Scott Dolson and everyone involved with the program. When the head man says this is the system we’re trying to build, and everybody is on board, it makes it easier to be yourself. There’s a certain foundation when you come in. You’re starting roster doesn’t have to be five-star kids. They just have to be put in the right positions. There’s so many different factors that people don’t really understand.”

One of the talented players that Lewis played alongside was quarterback Antwaan Randle El. Randle El was named Big Ten Player of the Year as a senior in 2001, but the Hoosiers finished 5-6, and he finished sixth in the Heisman voting.

“If you talk about pure talent, Antwaan is one of the best athletes I’ve ever been around,” Lewis said. “We really didn’t have a successful year when he was a senior, so that got shot down. It’s awfully strange how you can have a .500 team but still have a person that’s a Heisman candidate. It just shows you how talented he was. If IU doesn’t have success now, Mendoza doesn’t win the Heisman Trophy. His name wasn’t even mentioned at first. When you look at the history of our program, people think it’s a fluke. You win every week, and now people are saying he’s the real deal. It’s why you have to show up to perform every single day.”

Meanwhile, at least five Columbus natives have seen game action for the Hoosiers since the 1990s. North graduate Jonathan Martin, who played for Bill Mallory from 1989-93, returned to Columbus and has been an assistant football and track coach at Columbus East the past three decades. Former Olympian Andrew Wilson was a running back for Kevin Wilson at IU from 2012-16.

North graduate Will Horn played for Mallory from 1991-95 as a wide receiver, kicker and punter. The Hoosiers played in the Copper Bowl and Independence Bowl while he was there.

“We had a pretty good run,” Horn said. “Senior year was a little bit of a struggle, but before that, we actually were very competitive. That was kind of during Mallory’s special run at the time. I played with a lot of really great players.”

Horn, who works for Atmus Filtration Technologies, which was part of Cummins before spinning off about a year ago, wasn’t sure he’d ever see the Hoosiers be ranked No. 1 in the country.

“A Heisman winner, yes; ranked No. 1 in the nation, no,” Horn said. “I think it’s an amazing story, and what they’ve been able to do in such a short amount of time has been pretty unbelievable.”

Another North graduate, Jake Reed, played tight end and offensive line for Kevin Wilson from from 2011-15. The Hoosiers went 6-7 and played in the Pinstripe Bowl, where they fell to Duke in overtime, in his senior year in 2015.

“My time there, our offense was really good,” Reed said. “Other years, the defense has been good, and the offense was a little behind. It’s looking like it’s all put together right now. You have a Heisman-winning quarterback, one of the most efficient offenses, and the defense has been great. I’ve been really impressed with both sides.”

Reed signed with Falcons as an undrafted free agent in 2016, played in a preseason game and was injured in practice. He took strength and conditioning and graduate assistant jobs before moving to Chicago, where he works in orthopedic device sales.

Earlier this month, Reed attended the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis, where IU beat Ohio State for the first time since 1988.

“It’s been great,” Reed said. “We’re very happy to see it. I think last year, too, the season they had was super exciting. I went to the playoff game thinking this is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and here they are back again this year.

“The climate is a little bit different with the NIL and the transfer portal,” he added. “They’ve been able to work those avenues. It’s been one of the quickest turnarounds in sports history. You just think about how many years of recruiting goes into rebounding. I think college football is also designed to where the rich keep getting richer. It’s kind of hard to come up, so that’s been the sweetest part. Credit to the players and coaches. It’s super impressive.”

Former Indiana University football players Tom Kendrick, left, and Harry Crider pose for a photo.

Submitted photo

Columbus East graduate Harry Crider is the most recent Columbus native to play for IU. Crider played on the offensive line for Tom Allen from 2017-20.

The Hoosiers went 8-5 and 6-2 in Crider’s final two seasons, playing in the Gator and Outback Bowls. Those were their first winning seasons since 2007.

“It always seemed like the potential was there,” Crider said. “Even before I got there, it seemed like they were so close. In those big games, they were always competitive, were maybe just a couple plays away.

“In today’s environment, it has changed even since I was there with the NIL and transfer portal,” he added. “Why couldn’t work it at IU now in today’s age? It just took the right guy in charge there. It’s been pretty fun to watch from the sidelines.”

Crider, who returned to Columbus after graduation and works for Greater Horizons Financial Group, tries to make it to at least one IU game a year. He went to the Wisconsin game and Big Ten championship game this season and said it’s been a lot tougher getting tickets the past couple years.

“It used to be, you were guaranteed tickets,” Crider said. “Now, you have to e-mail by a certain time. The Wisconsin game, one of my former roommates and I were able to go, but our other roommate couldn’t get a ticket.”

After Crider graduated, the Hoosiers slipped to 2-10 in 2021, 4-8 in 2022 and 3-9 in 2023, ending Allen’s tenure. IU hired James Madison coach Curt Cignetti, and he immediately turned the program around.

Last year, the Hoosiers went 11-2 and made the College Football playoff.

“The quality of the coaching I think is just exceptional,” Kendrick said. “Cignetti came from Pennsylvania, which is a football place. He said it’s not magic, it’s fundamentals. I think the team would be good without Mendoza, but not as effective. (Cignetti’s) motto is fast, physical and relentless, and it’s the relentless part that is the effective thing in the fourth quarter. He’s a good manager and knows how to organize the coaching staff and manage the team. We Hoosiers would probably vote for him if he ran for president.”

Kendrick exchanges texts with former teammate Tom McDonald on game days. Kendrick has gone to a game most years, but now has peripheral neuropathy, which limits his mobility. His wife Mary, daughter Sarah Couch and Sarah’s son Connor and daughter Susan Kaufman are going to Thursday’s Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California.

The Hoosiers have become the darlings of college football in just two years under Cignetti, who has earned national coach of the year honors both seasons.

“You had an inkling after last year’s record, and knowing this guy is a good coach with a good staff and can inspire the team and demand and expect and get results,” Kendrick said. “Like many IU fans and former players, we are very happy, very proud. I’m even wearing my old letter sweater. I wear it to church and to parties. Purdue fans even are nice to me or tolerate me and are nice and fun. One person said we Hoosier fans are only recently learning how much fun it is to win.”

They hope that winning continues for another three games, which would give IU it’s first football national championship.

“They made it this far, and people thought they wouldn’t get here,” Lewis said. “They weathered the storm. They haven’t given up. It goes back to the coaching and what they’re trying to instill. The game isn’t over until it’s the fourth quarter, and the time says 0:00.”