On Monday night, Fernando Mendoza will step onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium with a shot at making history - leading Indiana to its first national championship. For Mendoza, it’s more than just a title game.
It’s a homecoming. The stadium sits just a few miles from where he grew up, and even closer to the University of Miami - the school he once dreamed of playing for.
But dreams don’t always go the way you draw them up.
Back in high school, Mendoza was a two-star recruit, ranked 140th among quarterbacks in the 2022 class. Despite playing for a powerhouse program at Columbus High and earning All-Dade County honors as a junior, major programs - including his hometown Hurricanes - weren’t biting.
He hit every camp Miami hosted, hoping for a shot. What he got instead was a noncommittal “we’ll let you know” - and then, silence.
“He wanted to go to Miami in the worst way,” said his high school coach, Dave Dunn. “But we never heard back.”
That wasn’t just a Miami thing. Mendoza’s recruitment was quiet across the board.
Cal ended up being his only Power 4 offer, and even that came late - just a week before signing day. Before that, he was committed to Yale, ready to combine football with an Ivy League education.
Part of the challenge was timing. Mendoza’s junior season - typically a critical evaluation year - was wiped out by the pandemic.
Coaches didn’t get to see him live. And when they did, his mechanics raised eyebrows.
His private quarterback trainer, Danny Hernandez, described him as “awkwardly athletic.” In a recruiting world that’s become increasingly obsessed with clean footwork, polished posture, and aesthetically pleasing throwing motions, Mendoza’s unorthodox style didn’t exactly win over the skeptics.
“This isn’t the era where a guy like Philip Rivers gets recruited just because he gets the job done,” Hernandez explained. “Now coaches are more tuned in to what a textbook throw looks like. Fernando didn’t have that early on.”
But those close to him saw something different. Dunn, who’s been coaching in South Florida for decades, believed Mendoza had the tools.
And he’s convinced that if Mario Cristobal had been in charge at Miami back then - instead of Manny Diaz - things might have played out differently. Dunn has known Cristobal since the '90s.
Cristobal and Mendoza’s father were offensive line teammates at Columbus High. Miami’s current offensive line coach, Alex Mirabal, is one of Dunn’s closest friends.
The connections were there. The timing wasn’t.
“The hardest thing was getting people to listen to my opinion,” Dunn said. “If Mario had been the head coach, I think Fernando would’ve been a Hurricane.”
Even Alabama showed some interest. Nick Saban’s staff - specifically Alex Mortensen, now the head coach at UAB - told Dunn that Mendoza was better than two quarterbacks already on the Tide roster, including one on scholarship.
But there wasn’t room for another scholarship QB. No offer came.
So Mendoza stuck with Yale - until Cal swooped in late and changed everything.
“It kind of validated my belief,” Dunn said. “I kept telling people, ‘He’s going to be a great quarterback for you.’”
Still, the missed opportunity didn’t go unnoticed. Dunn recalled a moment at a 7-on-7 tournament in Miami where two defensive coaches from another Division I school were talking nearby, unaware he was within earshot.
“One of them said, ‘There’s the Mendoza kid… he was on campus yesterday.’ And the other guy goes, ‘Yeah, I guarantee you we’ll screw this one up.’ That’s exactly what he said.”
Miami did circle back after Mendoza entered the transfer portal following last season. But by then, the decision was about more than just football.
Mendoza chose Indiana - not just for a shot at the Big Ten, but to play alongside his younger brother, Alberto, a redshirt freshman quarterback. Their mother, Elsa, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis nearly two decades ago, and keeping the family close mattered.
Indiana offered that. So did head coach Curt Cignetti, who made an impression during Mendoza’s recruitment.
“If Alberto wasn’t at Indiana, I don’t think Fernando goes there,” Dunn said. “That was a big part of it.”
Now, Mendoza is the face of a program on the brink of something historic. He’ll take the field in crimson and cream, not green and orange, trying to take down the team he grew up rooting for. On the other sideline: Carson Beck, the Georgia transfer now leading the Hurricanes.
The Hoosiers are favored. And it all starts with the guy under center.
Looking back, it’s hard not to think things worked out exactly how they were supposed to. The road was unconventional, but Mendoza got the reps he needed at Cal, developed into a legitimate Power 4 starter, and now finds himself on the sport’s biggest stage.
“That Miami quarterback room was probably so loaded that I’m not sure Fernando would’ve had the opportunity,” Hernandez said. “He might not have gotten those live reps to show how special he is.
“It worked out. He’s probably better off that Cristobal wasn’t there.”