Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza could potentially become the Hoosiers’ first-ever Heisman winner. The redshirt junior is having the best season of his collegiate career, throwing for 2,980 yards with 33 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He led Indiana to its first Big Ten title since 1967 in his first season as the Hoosiers’ starter. Mendoza spent three seasons at Cal before transferring to Indiana. Although it may seem as if he was a highly touted recruit coming out of high school, he was anything but.
Here’s how a former two-star recruit with just one power-conference offer became the odds-on favorite to capture the Heisman Trophy.
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Where is Fernando Mendoza from?
Mendoza started his high school career at Miami’s Belen Jesuit Prep School before transferring to rival Christopher Columbus High School as a sophomore. A private all-boys school, Columbus has a strong reputation both athletically and academically. It has produced numerous college and NFL stars, including Mike Shula, Alonzo Highsmith, Brian Griese and Miami head coach Mario Cristobal.
Under head coach Dave Dunn, the program has won three state titles: in 2019 — when Mendoza was a backup as a sophomore — and again in 2022 and 2023.
"He's deadly serious about becoming a great football player," Dunn told AllSportsPeople. "He would eat lunch with me every day just to go over, like, whatever it was that day. It might be practice film from that morning, we'd watch opponent film. He would have a question or an idea that we would go over on the board."
When Columbus' starting quarterback got hurt in 2019, Mendoza showed flashes of his ability in clutch moments. Leading up to a game against Dillard High School, Dunn says Mendoza was out sick all week. Mendoza's father, Fernando IV, played offensive line with Cristobal at Columbus, and was a national and collegiate rower. The older Mendoza called Dunn that week to ensure his son would be in school on Friday to suit up, in case the coach needed him. Lo and behold, he did.
"The only other quarterback we had gets a concussion in the game," Dunn said. "We are down by seven. I think there's maybe 20 seconds to go, and we had the ball. His first pass ever—he did not practice the whole week—he threw a touchdown pass."
Although Columbus missed the extra point and lost the game, Mendoza's performance impressed Dunn.
"I'm like, 'this kid's, he's unbelievable,'" Dunn said. "It was literally, like an eight-day period of him not practicing, coming in the worst possible situation, and putting us in position to win the game."
"It's the exact same stuff you see on TV when he's playing for IU right now," Dunn continued. "Knows where to go with the football. Deadly accurate, very decisive. All the qualities you want in a quarterback."
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Fernando Mendoza recruitment
Mendoza became a starter for the Explorers as a junior and senior in 2020 and 2021. Although he threw for 2,195 yards with 24 touchdowns over those two seasons, his college recruitment was relatively quiet.
His offers included the likes of Yale, Penn, Lehigh, Bryant and FIU. He attended camps at Miami, FIU and LSU, but COVID disrupted his process. Columbus played just eight games in 2020, choosing to opt out of the FHSAA postseason due to COVID concerns. There was also far less in-person scouting that year. He was rated as a two-star per the 247Sports Composite, ranked as the No. 140th overall quarterback for 2022.
"It was beyond frustrating," Dunn said of the lack of interest from major schools in his quarterback.
But Fernando wasn't fazed by the lack of interest from major schools.
"He had faith that it eventually would work out," Dunn said. "[He knew] how hard everybody was working for him. At the end it was his faith in the process was what was able to kind of pull him through that tough time."
He was committed to Yale for most of his recruiting process until Cal — his first and only offer from a power-conference school — came along late. Current Cleveland Browns quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave, who was Cal's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2020-2022, learned about Mendoza from a well-known quarterbacks coach in South Florida, David Lee.
"He called and said, 'I don't know where you are with the recruiting, you probably have a guy committed there at Cal, but there's a guy down here I've been training, and COVID adversely affected his recruiting."
The Bears had planned on signing 4-star QB Justyn Martin, but he flipped to UCLA in the fall of 2021.
"'When I work him out, I swear, he's actually really good at football,'" Musgrave continued, recalling what Lee told him about Mendoza.
Lee writes quarterback scouting reports for the Miami Dolphins, and is credited with helping bring the Wildcat to the NFL.
"There aren't a lot of tall guys playing quarterback anymore," Musgrave said of Mendoza as a passer. "They're smaller guys that can move and run around and ad-lib, which is great — that's one way to skin the cat, but another way to skin the cat is to be a precision passer from the pocket, and that's what he is. He's deadly accurate down the field, intermediate. He throws with anticipation."
Mendoza visited Cal during the last week in January and flipped his pledge to the Bears a few days later on National Signing Day.
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Fernando Mendoza high school stats
| Season | Comp | Att | Pass Yards | Pass TD |
| 2021 | 107 | 169 | 1,109 | 11 |
| 2020 | 91 | 129 | 1,086 | 13 |
| 2019 | 26 | 34 | 227 | 5 |
(Stats via Mendoza's Indiana bio)
Why did Fernando Mendoza transfer from Cal to Indiana?
As a true freshman at Cal, Mendoza shined bright in simulated late-game situations during practice.
"This kid would make some throw or some scramble or great fade or post down the middle," Musgrave said. "And just feather it perfectly. Or drive it and frozen rope it right in for a touchdown. I mean, time after time after time in those clutch situations."
Mendoza took a redshirt in 2022 before starting for Cal in 2023 and 2024. He threw for 4,712 yards with 30 touchdowns and 16 interceptions with the Bears, having three different offensive coordinators during his time at Berkeley.
But at Indiana, Mendoza has elevated himself as a passer. Under head coach Curt Cignetti, Indiana has produced top-five scoring offenses two seasons in a row. His offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan (coincidentally, no relation to that Mike Shanahan), has been with Cignetti since he was a head coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2016.
"I just think it's the combination of the stability of the coaching staff at IU," Dunn said. "And the system from year to year that has allowed him to flourish."
Just like he did in high school and at Cal, he's come through clutch in late-game situations. He's led game-winning drives on the road against Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. The road game against Penn State on Nov. 8 is one that vaulted him to the front of the Heisman race. Trailing 24-20 with two minutes left, Mendoza led the Hoosiers on a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.
His touchdown pass to Omar Cooper Jr. In the back of the end zone is one of the best throws of the season.
Dunn texted Mendoza after the game, congratulating him on the win.
"I said 'epic composure, leading your team down the field.' He texted me back, 'just like [the] Deerfield Beach game junior year, just louder.'"
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Fernando Mendoza NFL Projection
Mendoza’s impressive season has him climbing up draft boards. He is a redshirt junior with one year of eligibility remaining, but he could declare for the NFL Draft after this season.
"He would want to be compared to Tom Brady, because that's his idol," Dunn said of his NFL outlook. "I will not throw that comparison out there."But, he's a big, strong, intelligent quarterback that will do everything possible to make himself ready to play on Sundays and make his team better."
ESPN's latest mock draft has him going No. 1 overall to the New York Jets, CBS puts him at No. 2 overall to the Raiders.
"He's not going to be surprised by anything on the field," Musgrave added, comparing him to Matt Ryan, whom he coached with the Atlanta Falcons. "He prepares, and when he sees something on the field, he's got a real fast processor. He's got a real lightning quick chip there in his brain. He can process what he sees and be decisive in a nanosecond."