Fernando Mendoza is not your typical college football star. He helped lead the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten title since 1967, sure, but there’s more depth to the Indiana QB than what’s apparent on television. He also became the first Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy and anchored the Hoosiers to their first national title during a sterling senior season.
Off the field, Mendoza has taken an interest in business, real estate and finance. He earned his undergraduate degree from Cal in just three years and has interned for real estate firms. His LinkedIn is quite active, too. He updated it to reflect his recent accomplishments, including after he won college football's most prestigious individual and team honors. He also used it to announce that he was declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Thanks to his viral posts on the platform, Mendoza has now landed a partnership with LinkedIn, per Front Office Sports, and appears set to continue making the app a part of his brand as he heads to the NFL.
Here’s everything you need to know about Mendoza’s LinkedIn page and his degrees from Cal and Indiana.
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Fernando Mendoza LinkedIn page
For years, Mendoza has been active on LinkedIn and posted frequent updates on his page — from attending baseball games to announcing NIL partnerships with major brands like Adidas and more.
Mendoza's LinkedIn includes an in-depth "About Me" section:
"Process-driven and detail-oriented leader studying Business Administration at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business after graduating from UC Berkeley in three years," His page reads.
"As a quarterback for Indiana Football, I apply a strong foundation in leadership, time management, and communication to excel both on and off the field. I’m passionate about leveraging my background in business, real estate, and finance to build a career that combines strategic thinking, teamwork, and community impact.I take pride in fostering positive team culture, adapting to new environments, and driving success through preparation, accountability, and collaboration."
On Jan. 22, Mendoza officially entered his name into the 2026 NFL Draft pool. His LinkedIn summarily reflected his career ambitions, with his profile picture featuring the classic #OpenToWork emblem that pockmarks the website.
Fernando Mendoza announced he's declared for the NFL Draft by changing his LinkedIn profile to "Open To Work" 😂 pic.twitter.com/eO4huBtpdc
— AllSportsPeople (@sportingnews) January 23, 2026
MORE: Fernando Mendoza's college timeline
Fernando Mendoza LinkedIn partnership
With his posts on the platform often going viral, Mendoza turned his passion for LinkedIn into a partnership. According to Front Office Sports, as of January 2026, LinkedIn is officially working with the star quarterback "in a more integrated capacity."
LinkedIn also said in its statement that it is "excited to continue working with [Mendoza] moving forward.”
With the quarterback owning thousands of followers on the platform, he's now set to take a LinkedIn partnership into his NFL career.
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Fernando Mendoza college degrees
According to Mendoza's Indiana bio, he earned his undergraduate from Cal in business administration in just three years. At Indiana, he is pursuing a Master's degree in Business Administration and Management, commonly referred to as an MBA. His listed date of completion is Dec. 2026.
What did Fernando Mendoza study at Cal?
Mendoza's LinkedIn page also feartures various insights on what he has studied during his collegiate career. He has some impressive coursework listed from his days at Cal, like Analytical Geometry and Calculus, Introductory Probability and Statistics for Business, Introduction to Economics and Principles of Business.
What does Fernando Mendoza study at Indiana?
Mendoza is enrolled in Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. According to Carolyn Goerner, who is faculty chair of Kelley Executive Education Programs and clinical professor of management at the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, IU students enrolled in the program's MBA program can take a variety of courses. The school partners with various organizations like the NFLPA, Major League Baseball, the WNBA to customize a curriculum, while also requiring the 10 core courses required to earn an MBA.
"In terms of the electives, that's where folks can get some more flexibility," Goerner told AllSportsPeople via a phone interview. Our program tends to offer electives as they relate to what our partner organizations want, and so that's really the flex coming in here. So we've actually sat down with our professional sports associations and done the surveys [asking] what are your what do your folks need as they're transitioning out of sport, and then kind of put the courses together accordingly."
While Mendoza himself is expected to have a career in the NFL after his playing days at Indiana, Goerner says the program has helped former IU athletes in the next stages of their careers.
"A couple of our NFL players have started foundations," Goerner said. So they've gone through the whole 'how do I figure out a nonprofit and make that work?' A lot of the folks come through, and what winds up happening is just a series of businesses. So there's not just one thing, but a number of enterprises. Ur goal is to set them up so that they can know what the financial statements say and how to make decisions around them. Know how to evaluate people who might be working with them, and really just have a good sense of how to partner smartly with folks as they move through a variety of different ventures."
MORE: Inside Fernando Mendoza's NIL deals
Fernando Mendoza internships
Mendoza has interned for two different places, in the summer of 2023 and 2024. His first internship, with Acre Investment Company is described on LinkedIn as "a Northern California based investment firm pursuing value-add commercial and residential real estate opportunities."
According to Mendoza’s LinkedIn page, he worked in commercial real estate with Acre, where he researched available properties nationwide, compiled data for those listings, and helped streamline the acquisition process for future business endeavors.
In the summer of 2024, Mendoza interned with Newmark, a commercial real estate advisor and service provider to large institutional investors and global corporations. Per his LinkedIn page, Mendoza conducted property tours, researched commercial real estate in the Bay Area, and participated in various workshops and networking events.
MORE: Why did Fernando Mendoza transfer from Cal to Indiana?