DoubtfulBear said:

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ncbears said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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southseasbear said:

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FrankBear21 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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That was a different era. It's only about money, now. The stakes are too great for even signing a rookie contract. IIf people are foolish enough to believe players care an iota about the school and the fans, well, enjoy that fantasy.

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Ridiculous. Look at Devin Brown who played the entire regular season including the conference championship and then informed Ohio State that he was transferring after the playoffs. He has two years of elibibilty remaining, just like FM.

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Isn't Devin Brown the backup? He's barely played.

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So...?

You think that being the starter justifies FM sabotaging the team on his way out?

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He doesn't need to sabotage the team, it was already pretty dysfunctional already. You think JKS had no clue about Wilcox's on field record, NFL draft record or his revolving door of OCs?

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JKS knew all those things and was still committed to Cal prior to the (alleged) phone call from FM.

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It's hilarious that prior to his announcement, the mutual expectation here was that JKS will either flip to Oregon or Georgia. Yet now that Mendoza is gone, the narrative shifted to him being a lock if it wasn't for a traitorous snake that whispered into his ear? You guys are hilarious, doing all kinds of mental backflips to defend the honor of Wilcox's regime.

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What's ridiculous is you posting gibberish about something many on this site are intimately aware of.

Y'all really need some psychiatric help. Smh.

Now you blame Mendoza for the records instead of the coaching?

I didn't realize Mendoza missed those key field goals that lost us multiple games

When did Mendoza take over as Offensive Coordinator losing us the game against Miami?

Y'all are seriously embarrassing yourselves.

Without Mendoza that memorable Big Game goes the other way, and we would've finished with 3 victories each season, if that

Alkiadt said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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ncbears said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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southseasbear said:

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FrankBear21 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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That was a different era. It's only about money, now. The stakes are too great for even signing a rookie contract. IIf people are foolish enough to believe players care an iota about the school and the fans, well, enjoy that fantasy.

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Ridiculous. Look at Devin Brown who played the entire regular season including the conference championship and then informed Ohio State that he was transferring after the playoffs. He has two years of elibibilty remaining, just like FM.

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Isn't Devin Brown the backup? He's barely played.

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So...?

You think that being the starter justifies FM sabotaging the team on his way out?

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He doesn't need to sabotage the team, it was already pretty dysfunctional already. You think JKS had no clue about Wilcox's on field record, NFL draft record or his revolving door of OCs?

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JKS knew all those things and was still committed to Cal prior to the (alleged) phone call from FM.

---

It's hilarious that prior to his announcement, the mutual expectation here was that JKS will either flip to Oregon or Georgia. Yet now that Mendoza is gone, the narrative shifted to him being a lock if it wasn't for a traitorous snake that whispered into his ear? You guys are hilarious, doing all kinds of mental backflips to defend the honor of Wilcox's regime.

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What's ridiculous is you posting gibberish about something many on this site are intimately aware of.

---

Absolutely zero people on this site are intimately aware of this, unless JKS is on this site. Recruits have zero incentive to tell teams where they stand in recruitment and absolutely every incentive to make everyone involved think they are the leader. Desean Jackson was a reported silent commit at three schools. Cal and UCLA both reported before signing day that he was a lock. (Cal reporters backed off some saying they were very confident, but it was clear that UCLA was very confident too) Every recruit with any sense should negotiate NIL deals with everybody just in case. Justin Wilcox doesn't know. Cal Legends doesn't know. Players don't know. Parents don't know. People with a premium subscription don't know. Because the only thing they can know is what a recruit tells them and recruits are notoriously untruthful. Oregon thought they had him at the same time we thought we had him. People who make it their lifelong business to know, get it wrong every year.

Some things to consider assuming it is in fact true that Mendoza bad mouthed Cal:

1. None of us know Mendoza's motivation. I'd submit it is at least as likely that he gave him his genuine thoughts on the situation than he was getting back at Cal.

2. Players do not have loyalty to a program and they do have a bond with other players. I've seen this in youth travel ball. Parents and kids will generally give honest assessments to other players and parents about the program they are in. At this point, a lot of you don't get this. To many, College programs are glorified AAU/travel clubs - just the next step. Many more players have no allegiance to the university and every year are just going to go to the program they think is best suited to train them for their athletic career. That is the system now.

3. Given #2, the coaching staff better know what their current players think so they can account for that in recruiting. You better know if your starting QB is ticked off so that 1. You can try and repair that relationship; 2. You assess whether it is beyond repair and if so, look for other options; 3. You make allowances for the fact that the QB isn't going to sell your program and keep him out of recruiting and if you can't, make plans to deal with that. It is the coach's job to know how his starting QB is feeling. Period. If Mendoza was going to stab Cal in the back, Wilcox should have seen it coming.

4. You have no idea what Oregon may have offered to sweeten the pot. It is far more likely that turned the deal than comments from Mendoza.

5. Any QB picking Cal over Oregon at this point simply doesn't pass the reasonable man test unless it was clear Oregon only wanted him as a backup or contingency plan, which it isn't in this case. That is not gibberish. Unless someone was live with JKS, in person or on Zoom, with him pen in hand about to sign with Cal and saw him take a phone call from Mendoza and back away from the table, you have no idea what was in JKS' head. There are so many other reasons to make the decision he made that it seems incredibly unlikely that a stranger who obviously may have their own reasons for being unhappy was the deciding factor in someone making the most important decision in their life to date.

I know this won't sway you because you think you are very important and know more information than we do. The thing is the information you know isn't nearly as good as you think it is. So you can keep condescending to people who frankly are stating the obvious if you want, but you are ignoring serious problems with what you think you know. Your sources are most certainly reliable. The meaning of the information is not.

I will point out that right now, the QB from OSU has flat out publicly responded to reports that he is going to Cal saying that he has not committed anywhere. And yet many sources are sticking with the story that he is going to Cal. Why? Because they know he has reasons to lie. Don't know why we believe one guy with 100% certainty and we disbelieve the other guy. You don't know where a guy is going until he signs. I think any head coach in the NCAA who is not a fool will tell you that.

BearlyCareAnymore said:

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Alkiadt said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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ncbears said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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southseasbear said:

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FrankBear21 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

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That was a different era. It's only about money, now. The stakes are too great for even signing a rookie contract. IIf people are foolish enough to believe players care an iota about the school and the fans, well, enjoy that fantasy.

---

Ridiculous. Look at Devin Brown who played the entire regular season including the conference championship and then informed Ohio State that he was transferring after the playoffs. He has two years of elibibilty remaining, just like FM.

---

Isn't Devin Brown the backup? He's barely played.

---

So...?

You think that being the starter justifies FM sabotaging the team on his way out?

---

He doesn't need to sabotage the team, it was already pretty dysfunctional already. You think JKS had no clue about Wilcox's on field record, NFL draft record or his revolving door of OCs?

---

JKS knew all those things and was still committed to Cal prior to the (alleged) phone call from FM.

---

It's hilarious that prior to his announcement, the mutual expectation here was that JKS will either flip to Oregon or Georgia. Yet now that Mendoza is gone, the narrative shifted to him being a lock if it wasn't for a traitorous snake that whispered into his ear? You guys are hilarious, doing all kinds of mental backflips to defend the honor of Wilcox's regime.

---

What's ridiculous is you posting gibberish about something many on this site are intimately aware of.

---

Absolutely zero people on this site are intimately aware of this, unless JKS is on this site. Recruits have zero incentive to tell teams where they stand in recruitment and absolutely every incentive to make everyone involved think they are the leader. Desean Jackson was a reported silent commit at three schools. Cal and UCLA both reported before signing day that he was a lock. (Cal reporters backed off some saying they were very confident, but it was clear that UCLA was very confident too) Every recruit with any sense should negotiate NIL deals with everybody just in case. Justin Wilcox doesn't know. Cal Legends doesn't know. Players don't know. Parents don't know. People with a premium subscription don't know. Because the only thing they can know is what a recruit tells them and recruits are notoriously untruthful. Oregon thought they had him at the same time we thought we had him. People who make it their lifelong business to know, get it wrong every year.

Some things to consider assuming it is in fact true that Mendoza bad mouthed Cal:

1. None of us know Mendoza's motivation. I'd submit it is at least as likely that he gave him his genuine thoughts on the situation than he was getting back at Cal.

2. Players do not have loyalty to a program and they do have a bond with other players. I've seen this in youth travel ball. Parents and kids will generally give honest assessments to other players and parents about the program they are in. At this point, a lot of you don't get this. To many, College programs are glorified AAU/travel clubs - just the next step. Many more players have no allegiance to the university and every year are just going to go to the program they think is best suited to train them for their athletic career. That is the system now.

3. Given #2, the coaching staff better know what their current players think so they can account for that in recruiting. You better know if your starting QB is ticked off so that 1. You can try and repair that relationship; 2. You assess whether it is beyond repair and if so, look for other options; 3. You make allowances for the fact that the QB isn't going to sell your program and keep him out of recruiting and if you can't, make plans to deal with that. It is the coach's job to know how his starting QB is feeling. Period. If Mendoza was going to stab Cal in the back, Wilcox should have seen it coming.

4. You have no idea what Oregon may have offered to sweeten the pot. It is far more likely that turned the deal than comments from Mendoza.

5. Any QB picking Cal over Oregon at this point simply doesn't pass the reasonable man test unless it was clear Oregon only wanted him as a backup or contingency plan, which it isn't in this case. That is not gibberish. Unless someone was live with JKS, in person or on Zoom, with him pen in hand about to sign with Cal and saw him take a phone call from Mendoza and back away from the table, you have no idea what was in JKS' head. There are so many other reasons to make the decision he made that it seems incredibly unlikely that a stranger who obviously may have their own reasons for being unhappy was the deciding factor in someone making the most important decision in their life to date.

I know this won't sway you because you think you are very important and know more information than we do. The thing is the information you know isn't nearly as good as you think it is. So you can keep condescending to people who frankly are stating the obvious if you want, but you are ignoring serious problems with what you think you know. Your sources are most certainly reliable. The meaning of the information is not.

I will point out that right now, the QB from OSU has flat out publicly responded to reports that he is going to Cal saying that he has not committed anywhere. And yet many sources are sticking with the story that he is going to Cal. Why? Because they know he has reasons to lie. Don't know why we believe one guy with 100% certainty and we disbelieve the other guy. You don't know where a guy is going until he signs. I think any head coach in the NCAA who is not a fool will tell you that.

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So many assumptions stated as absolute truisms followed by unsupported "inescapable conclusions". Over many years, you've written many well reasoned posts on this board. This is truly beneath your own standards.

MoragaBear said:

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BearlyCareAnymore said:

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Alkiadt said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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ncbears said:

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DoubtfulBear said:

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southseasbear said:

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FrankBear21 said:

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southseasbear said:

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Bobodeluxe said:

---

That was a different era. It's only about money, now. The stakes are too great for even signing a rookie contract. IIf people are foolish enough to believe players care an iota about the school and the fans, well, enjoy that fantasy.

---

Ridiculous. Look at Devin Brown who played the entire regular season including the conference championship and then informed Ohio State that he was transferring after the playoffs. He has two years of elibibilty remaining, just like FM.

---

Isn't Devin Brown the backup? He's barely played.

---

So...?

You think that being the starter justifies FM sabotaging the team on his way out?

---

He doesn't need to sabotage the team, it was already pretty dysfunctional already. You think JKS had no clue about Wilcox's on field record, NFL draft record or his revolving door of OCs?

---

JKS knew all those things and was still committed to Cal prior to the (alleged) phone call from FM.

---

It's hilarious that prior to his announcement, the mutual expectation here was that JKS will either flip to Oregon or Georgia. Yet now that Mendoza is gone, the narrative shifted to him being a lock if it wasn't for a traitorous snake that whispered into his ear? You guys are hilarious, doing all kinds of mental backflips to defend the honor of Wilcox's regime.

---

What's ridiculous is you posting gibberish about something many on this site are intimately aware of.

---

Absolutely zero people on this site are intimately aware of this, unless JKS is on this site. Recruits have zero incentive to tell teams where they stand in recruitment and absolutely every incentive to make everyone involved think they are the leader. Desean Jackson was a reported silent commit at three schools. Cal and UCLA both reported before signing day that he was a lock. (Cal reporters backed off some saying they were very confident, but it was clear that UCLA was very confident too) Every recruit with any sense should negotiate NIL deals with everybody just in case. Justin Wilcox doesn't know. Cal Legends doesn't know. Players don't know. Parents don't know. People with a premium subscription don't know. Because the only thing they can know is what a recruit tells them and recruits are notoriously untruthful. Oregon thought they had him at the same time we thought we had him. People who make it their lifelong business to know, get it wrong every year.

Some things to consider assuming it is in fact true that Mendoza bad mouthed Cal:

1. None of us know Mendoza's motivation. I'd submit it is at least as likely that he gave him his genuine thoughts on the situation than he was getting back at Cal.

2. Players do not have loyalty to a program and they do have a bond with other players. I've seen this in youth travel ball. Parents and kids will generally give honest assessments to other players and parents about the program they are in. At this point, a lot of you don't get this. To many, College programs are glorified AAU/travel clubs - just the next step. Many more players have no allegiance to the university and every year are just going to go to the program they think is best suited to train them for their athletic career. That is the system now.

3. Given #2, the coaching staff better know what their current players think so they can account for that in recruiting. You better know if your starting QB is ticked off so that 1. You can try and repair that relationship; 2. You assess whether it is beyond repair and if so, look for other options; 3. You make allowances for the fact that the QB isn't going to sell your program and keep him out of recruiting and if you can't, make plans to deal with that. It is the coach's job to know how his starting QB is feeling. Period. If Mendoza was going to stab Cal in the back, Wilcox should have seen it coming.

4. You have no idea what Oregon may have offered to sweeten the pot. It is far more likely that turned the deal than comments from Mendoza.

5. Any QB picking Cal over Oregon at this point simply doesn't pass the reasonable man test unless it was clear Oregon only wanted him as a backup or contingency plan, which it isn't in this case. That is not gibberish. Unless someone was live with JKS, in person or on Zoom, with him pen in hand about to sign with Cal and saw him take a phone call from Mendoza and back away from the table, you have no idea what was in JKS' head. There are so many other reasons to make the decision he made that it seems incredibly unlikely that a stranger who obviously may have their own reasons for being unhappy was the deciding factor in someone making the most important decision in their life to date.

I know this won't sway you because you think you are very important and know more information than we do. The thing is the information you know isn't nearly as good as you think it is. So you can keep condescending to people who frankly are stating the obvious if you want, but you are ignoring serious problems with what you think you know. Your sources are most certainly reliable. The meaning of the information is not.

I will point out that right now, the QB from OSU has flat out publicly responded to reports that he is going to Cal saying that he has not committed anywhere. And yet many sources are sticking with the story that he is going to Cal. Why? Because they know he has reasons to lie. Don't know why we believe one guy with 100% certainty and we disbelieve the other guy. You don't know where a guy is going until he signs. I think any head coach in the NCAA who is not a fool will tell you that.

---

There are a lot of assumptions and declarations in this post. For one thing, Oregon themselves confirmed that JKS told them he was going to Cal and when he signed with them, he caught them completely off guard and told them as well as Cal that his phone call with Mendoza -which he took upon himself to make on his own, not at Ca's request - was the deciding factor in him flipping to Oregon. If Mendoza wanted to leave, that's his prerogative but to then further decimate the QB room by taking it upon himself to call JKS and say whatever he said to spook him is particularly problematic.

You can believe that people with connections don't know anything if you want but the fact is that some people know plenty. They just don't know everything.

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Thank you for your response to BCA - the phone call from FM did take place and it did result in JKS flipping his solid verbal commitment. JKS reacted emotionally (who wouldn't?) and felt clearly not accepted by whom He would be supporting, competing and learning with. To be told that "the locker room supported FM and to not think that He would have a shot at earning a starting role, rightfully rattled JKS. Unforgivable phone call from FM.

Folks, read 4thGenCal's post above to get an idea of what was said in "the phone call". So Mendoza did not "badmouth Cal" in so many words but what he said probably caused JKS to get cold feet about coming here. It was totally inappropriate. Mendoza, for all the smarts and maturity he showed in interviews, was very insecure.

(True, of course, that only FM and JKS know exactly what was said -- or even if they talked at all -- but this is all we have to go on at this time and many people with "inside info" are supporting this story.)

What is problematic and totally inappropriate is for Fernando to even talk to JKS. Especially if it was the reason for JKS flipping to Oregon.

Grrrrah76 said:

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What is problematic and totally inappropriate is for Fernando to even talk to JKS. Especially if it was the reason for JKS flipping to Oregon.

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Why would this even be real, if anything Mendoza could tell JKS that he is on his way out and JKS could be starter day 1, nothing makes sense with this idea

MoragaBear said:

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Strykur said:

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Grrrrah76 said:

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What is problematic and totally inappropriate is for Fernando to even talk to JKS. Especially if it was the reason for JKS flipping to Oregon.

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Why would this even be real, if anything Mendoza could tell JKS that he is on his way out and JKS could be starter day 1, nothing makes sense with this idea

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That's not what he said Mendoza told him

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If Mendoza did have any concern for "his boys", that would have been the message he would have pushed to JKS, having JKS come in to replace him would have relieved him of much of the burden of having bailed out on his teammates for greener pastures and more money elsewhere.

I guess we will never know the full story. But skipping his last two games and then leaving town make me glad that he is gone.

Johnfox said:

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If anything, I feel like FM called JKS to not come as an act of retaliation for how bad the staff treated him.

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Did they forget to tuck him in at night with a blankie and good night kiss?

Johnfox said:

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If anything, I feel like FM called JKS to not come as an act of retaliation for how bad the staff treated him.

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I can't pretend to know FM's thoughts. But it doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to conjure up a motive.

It seems likely FM didn't want the competition, both on the field and for NIL $$. At the time of the call, FM was still at Cal, not in the portal, and already very focused on his NIL $$ (as per first person reports). JKS coming to Cal would have reduced FM's leverage on NIL issues and, at least in FM's mind, reduced the available NIL $$.

Even if he had legitimate reasons to feel mistreated, it was a cut throat (and incredibly disloyal) bridge burning move. The staff relies on players to support - not undercut - recruiting. By all accounts, FM initiated the last minute call to JKS.

It looks even worse for FM if he made the call knowing that he was planning to leave Cal. However, there is no proof of that.

I don't remember a quarterback ever being so fixated on NIL. FM was truly a bag chasing quarterback and selfish person in the inside

FM deserves an oscar award for his acting during postgame press conferences and interactions with his teamates though!

Johnfox said:

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I don't remember a quarterback ever being so fixated on NIL. FM was truly a bag chasing quarterback and selfish person in the inside

FM deserves an oscar award for his acting during postgame press conferences and interactions with his teamates though!

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Really? I mean it's just one example but it just happened

Sluka leaves UNLV after 3 games because of NIL dispute

BearForceOne said:

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BearGoggles said:

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BearForceOne said:

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One interesting thought I had was this: if it's true that Mendoza's phone call to JKS was the reason he flipped to Oregon, why would JKS make this reason public? Whatever Mendoza said to JKS, he might have told him with the expectation that JKS keep the conversation private.

Now all of a sudden JKS says Mendoza's call is the reason he flipped to Oregon, when he could have just as easily said he changed his mind on his own. I'm wondering if JKS found it convenient to give this as the reason to avoid looking like the bad guy (to Cal), and in the process, intentionally or otherwise, throwing Mendoza under the bus…

I'm thinking Mendoza is not at all happy with JKS that he aired this out to the public, and now it makes Mendoza look like the bad guy…

Thoughts…?

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Moragabear answered your question in this thread.

https://bearinsider.com/forums/2/topics/125156/replies/2446668

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Sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but do you mean to say that JKS intentionally threw FM under the bus?

If this is true, maybe it says something about JKS's character as well, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he is still a not mature enough to have thought about the consequences saying such things publicly can have on the other party (Mendoza).

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Where did I say that. I'm saying the exact opposite.

JKS said nothing publicly. Full stop.

As explained in Moragabear's post, Oregon was ONE of the sources of the information - Oregon having been surprised by the flip. Why would JKS tell Oregon that the call was the determining factor if it wasn't tree? He could have just told Oregon "I like you better" but he didn't.

BearForceOne said:

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BearGoggles said:

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BearForceOne said:

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BearGoggles said:

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BearForceOne said:

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One interesting thought I had was this: if it's true that Mendoza's phone call to JKS was the reason he flipped to Oregon, why would JKS make this reason public? Whatever Mendoza said to JKS, he might have told him with the expectation that JKS keep the conversation private.

Now all of a sudden JKS says Mendoza's call is the reason he flipped to Oregon, when he could have just as easily said he changed his mind on his own. I'm wondering if JKS found it convenient to give this as the reason to avoid looking like the bad guy (to Cal), and in the process, intentionally or otherwise, throwing Mendoza under the bus…

I'm thinking Mendoza is not at all happy with JKS that he aired this out to the public, and now it makes Mendoza look like the bad guy…

Thoughts…?

---

Moragabear answered your question in this thread.

https://bearinsider.com/forums/2/topics/125156/replies/2446668

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Sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but do you mean to say that JKS intentionally threw FM under the bus?

If this is true, maybe it says something about JKS's character as well, but I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt and say maybe he is still a not mature enough to have thought about the consequences saying such things publicly can have on the other party (Mendoza).

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Where did I say that. I'm saying the exact opposite.

JKS said nothing publicly. Full stop.

As explained in Moragabear's post, Oregon was ONE of the sources of the information - Oregon having been surprised by the flip. Why would JKS tell Oregon that the call was the determining factor if it wasn't tree? He could have just told Oregon "I like you better" but he didn't.

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Ok, so maybe JKS didn't say it "publicly" as in posting something on X or something, but he still gave FM's phone call as the reason he was flipping, to both the Oregon and Cal staff.

My point was that FM might have expected JKS to keep the phone call (contents and occurrence thereof) to himself. JKS could have done that and just said "I like Oregon better" but he didn't. Instead, JKS said FM's call is why he flipped, and in the process, either inadvertently or intentionally, threw FM under the bus.

Maybe JKS had already decided in his mind that he would sign with Oregon, but when FM called him, it provided a convenient out for him.

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Have to clear up the suppositions and extreme stretch on a few opinions regarding FM completely inappropriate, insecure and wrong in every sense phone call to JKS. JKS didn't "throw FM under the bus" He was definitely going to Cal and the phone call completely swayed him to change his mind. The NIL monies were even, He was excited about the path described to him from the staff, recruiter lead and several people connected with the program including prominent current and past players. Family, agent, JKS were blind sided by an insecure FM who clearly did not like the fanfare, and pursuit of a highly heralded QB, who posed a challenge to him. JKS felt that He would not be accepted by FM and that the locker room would could also be mainly supporting FM (direct conversation convinced JKS of that belief). JKS rightfully explained honestly when asked about his sudden last 24 hour decision - what was the factor behind the flip in schools. FM created the distrust and JKS clearly felt that He would not be accepted by FM first and potentially the locker room as well. In no way does any of the change of programs fall on JKS.