Indiana co-offensive coordinator and QB coach Chandler Whitmer to leave IU, head to NFL

After winning the 2025 national championship, Indiana will be without co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer in 2026, as he has accepted a job coaching quarterbacks with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a source has confirmed to TheHoosier.com and On3.

It’s a return to the NFL for Whitmer, who coached in the pros from 2021 until 2024 before joining Indiana’s staff for just one season. He was with the Los Angeles Chargers from 2021-23 as an offensive quality control coach, then served as a passing game specialist with the Atlanta Falcons in 2024.

Before that, he was a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2019 and Clemson in 2020, meaning that Whitmer has advanced to the CFP in every season he’s coach college football.

But in 2025 with the Hoosiers, the 34-year-old was a key piece in developing Fernando Mendoza into a Heisman winner and national champion, with the expected No. 1 pick praising the quarterbacks coach seemingly whenever possible.

Whitmer was crucial in Mendoza’s 3,535 total passing yards throughout Indiana’s 16 wins, as well as 41 touchdowns to just six interceptions. While Mike Shanahan called plays, Whitmer still played a major role in the Hoosiers’ prolific passing game in 2025.

Both Mendoza and Whitmer are moving on to professional football now, leaving IU with an entirely new quarterback and coach duo. The Hoosiers have found their signal-caller in TCU transfer Josh Hoover, with the replacement for Whitmer currently unknown.

It’s not an unfamiliar position for Curt Cignetti and his staff, though, as Tino Susneri, who served in Whitmer’s role in 2024, departed after IU’s CFP season to become UCLA’s offensive coordinator.

Whitmer is the third coach from Indiana’s national title-winning staff to depart, as strength coach Derek Owings left for the same role at Tennessee, while defensive quality control coach Cam Haney left to coach cornerbacks at Tulsa.

The search for the next quarterbacks coach at Indiana has most likely already begun, and TheHoosier.com will provide updates when they become available.

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