Former Notre Dame center Pat Coogan paves the way for Heisman winner
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NEW YORK — Top-ranked Indiana football doesn’t name permanent captains, but there was no denying Pat Coogan’s ringleader status in the Fernando Mendoza cheering section Saturday evening.
A Notre Dame transfer who started 26 games over two seasons for his dream school, Coogan was right there in the middle of a dozen Hoosier players waiting to celebrate with the newly minted Heisman Trophy winner.
As Mendoza entered the Playwright Ballroom a little before 9 p.m., Heisman in tow, the quarterback’s season-long starting center was ready to pounce. Bear hugs took place all around as a beaming Mendoza made his way to the lectern at the front of the room.
“So much fun,” Coogan told the South Bend Tribune. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That’s why me and all my boys are here, cheering Fernando on. It’s just an awesome day for all of us but an even better day for him and his family.”
A year ago at this time, Mendoza was in the process of selecting a new school after leaving the Cal Bears. He committed to Indiana and brash coach Curt Cignetti on Christmas Eve, a month before Coogan entered the transfer portal.
“He’s earned it,” Coogan said. “He’s earned everything about it. He encompasses everything that the Heisman Trophy stands for. He’s an awesome person but he’s an awesome football player as well. Obviously, we all know that now. Super happy for him.”
A friendship forged through faith
Coogan landed at Indiana eight days after entering the portal, fresh off a grueling run to the national championship game against Ohio State.
Cignetti called him immediately, and it helped that Coogan had some familiarity with the school where his longtime girlfriend was set to graduate. Now teaching kindergarten back in their native Chicago, Sarah Skalitzky and Coogan have been dating since their early days at Marist High School.
That educational background and faith component helped Coogan and Mendoza forge an immediate connection when the two realized they had both been taught by Marist Brothers. Miami’s Columbus High School and Chicago’s Marist High are among the six U.S. high schools founded by the religious order.
“The Marist Brothers have meant so much to myself, not only enhancing my faith, enhancing my education, enhancing the man I am today,” Mendoza said in his post-award new conference. “Without Columbus, I would not be here, so I had to definitely had to give a shoutout in the speech to the brotherhood. Adelante.”
Coogan, standing in the back of the room with his jubilant teammates, raised a fist of silent acknowledgement upon hearing Mendoza’s words.
Like former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard, who spoke openly of his Christian faith during his 2024 season in South Bend, Mendoza is publicly eloquent when discussing where he finds his motivation.
“Very similar, honestly,” Coogan said of the Leonard-Mendoza dynamic. “Very detail-oriented, very process-oriented. Emotional guys, but also just great human beings.”
As Coogan worked his way toward a decision, he took an official visit to Bloomington along with his father, Mike. Mendoza, new to campus himself, was one of the key Indiana football figures to stop by the Uptown Café for dinner with Coogan that night.
“He was one of the first people I met,” Coogan said. “Me and my dad went to dinner, and (Mendoza) was one of the first people to walk in. He was awesome. We were super tight (through the process).”
Blocking for two Heisman finalists ‘a great honor’
Through 13 games, including the Big Ten championship win over Ohio State, Coogan has yet to allow a single sack. Just eight pressures have come at Coogan’s expense, and it’s happened more than once in a single game just one time (Illinois in Game 4).
Just one offensive lineman knew what it was like to block for two of this year’s Heisman Trophy finalists. That was Coogan, who cleared the way for Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love in 2024.
“It’s so cool,” Coogan said. “I’m just happy for them both. It is a great honor. Obviously, I’m happy for Fernando to take it home — an unbelievable honor.”
Coogan, who lost his starting job at left tackle to underclassman Sam Pendleton in August of 2024, stepped in at center when Ashton Craig went down with a torn ACL against Purdue in Game 3 that year.
When it was made clear in exit meetings that Coogan would likely return to a reserve role once Craig returned to full healthy, the 6-foot-5, 311-pounder decided to move on.
“I think (Notre Dame) valued me as a person, leader and member of the team,” Coogan told the Bloomington Herald-Times in September, “but not as a football player, not a talent on the roster.”
Craig started the first six games of 2025 before going down for the year with another ACL tear on Oct. 11 against N.C. State. Third-year sophomore Joe Otting stepped in for the second half of the season and handled himself well enough, but a multiyear starter such as Coogan would have been nice to have in reserve.
Having seen the way Notre Dame integrates its transfers, roughly eight per year in recent offseasons, Coogan was asked how Indiana makes it work with far more portal turnover.
“Very similar,” he said. “It’s all about culture. Coach Cignetti has done a great job of implementing a culture and setting the precedent of what the standard is. Every player has to live up to that standard. That’s really what it’s all about.
“All the players live up to that and trust in that, and all the players believe in the standard and believe what he sees in us. It’s been an awesome journey, and I’m very grateful.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Ex-Notre Dame center reflects on Fernando Mendoza’s Heisman victory
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