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It was a storybook turn of events that even the biggest dreamer would have a hard time fully believing that saw a lightly recruited two-star commit from Columbus High School in Miami headed to Yale to eventually reaching the highest pinnacle of collegiate athletics as QB Fernando Mendoza saw his wildest hopes and expectations come true over the last half-decade.
The story began with a late offer from Cal in January of 2022 when then offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave lobbied for an offer for the Yale commit as Mendoza quickly opted for the Bears to start the first three years of his career.
A transfer, a National Championship and a Heisman Trophy season culminated in Mendoza earning the top slot in the 2026 NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders - the second former Cal quarterback to earn that distinction after Jared Goff went #1 overall to the Los Angeles Rams in 2016.
“I couldn't have dreamed that, but I always had to trust in God and His plan for me,” Mendoza said. “And with that, it was just the focus of every single day, continually trying to get better.
“The practice of kaizen makes sure you get better every single day, and so that was something that I took from my freshman year at Berkeley when I didn't play, from my redshirt freshman, sophomore, and then to my senior season at IU, was something that I try to practice every single day, and a lot of those experiences I was able to take that were failures and turn them into successes later on, which just went back to just getting better every single day.”
After not playing his true freshman season, Mendoza got his first taste of action in the Bears’ romp over North Texas late in the fourth quarter, when the game was out of reach, throwing one incomplete pass. He sat the next four games before finally taking over the starting spot for good in game five vs. Oregon State.
The game was a loss, falling to the Beavers in a 52-40 shootout, but the redshirt frosh acquitted himself well, going 21-for-32 for 211 yards with two TDs and one interception in the loss. He ended the season with a respectable line of 153-for-243 (63%) for 1,708 yards and 14 TDs and 10 interceptions.
His redshirt soph season saw solid improvement as Mendoza went 265-for-386 (68.7%) for 3,004 yards and 16 TDs and 6 interceptions.
The season was enough to catch the eye of burgeoning national power Indiana, who brought former Bear in through the portal before the Hoosiers’ 2025 season.
The quarterback they brought in was far from the underrecruited two-star prep recruit the Bears first got their hands on but rather a young QB with two seasons of starting experience with pro size, a strong arm and a continually evolving ability to lead his team behind center.
“I would say freshman year was just learning, just seeing what college was like, seeing what college football was like, and it was crazy at first,” Mendoza said. “I saw the speed. I was like, ‘This is crazy. I don't even know if I'm playing college at this level.’ And then (redshirt) freshman year, got put into the action, got my first playing experience. There were some high points and low points, and I realized how important it is to protect the ball that year, especially at the end of the year. I was a little too loose with the ball.
“So that was a big emphasis going into year three, and I was a lot better with the ball that year. However, that year I saw the emphasis on footwork and timing, and how quarterbacks play their best ball when they're on time and on schedule and making the right reads, and I felt like I was able to see the defense a lot better, but my feet weren't synced up with me.
“And then going to Indiana, I believe my footwork improved, my recognition of defenses improved, and I just took a next confidence step where it just was like a snowball and just turned larger and larger and larger, and led to a lot of success. Things just slowed down. Everything was slow motion. At the end, it became very slow, but also it was very slow because I had great teammates and great coaches who were able to implement a great system.”
Much of what set the stage for Mendoza being able to continue to improve were his many conversations with Cal Hall of Fame QB and Cal football and Bear Insider analyst Mike Pawlawski. Much of the talks revolved around the mental aspects of the game that can take an average quarterback to the next level by mastering what he sees on the field, how he processes information, and a mindset for success.
“I talk to him like every week, even still now,” Mendoza said. “He's been a huge part of my mental performance. And that's gone from visualizing and mentally seeing it, whether it was my redshirt freshman year when I started doing it on Thursday nights when the band was practicing out there, I used to try to see like, ‘Hey, it can be like 20 yards over here, so I can visualize the plays that we're playing in the game, whether it was Oregon State. And the next year, just grew and grew and grew, and to now where I try to visualize almost every day that we have preparation and football activities, because I believe it's such an important aspect of having that muscle memory in the game, so you can play fast and free.”
One of the key elements of Pawlawski’s mental training is to move on from errors and learn from and build on mistakes.
“Yeah, it's all about one play control, and that's another thing. I used to hang my hat (helmet) a lot on a play and try to get back and make a big play to try to erase the past mistake, and it was really big for me to really play one play at a time, which is why I believe I became so efficient at the end, especially at Indiana,” Mendoza noted. “The Auburn game first half was very efficient, but the second half, I didn't have the focus yet to do that and sustain that for an entire game. And at Indiana, it's like that one play at a time, where you look up and like, wow, I really helped my team.”
Helped them he did, leading the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 record, including a 13-10 Big Ten Championship win over #1 Ohio State, a 38-3 playoffs quarterfinals drubbing of #9 Alabama and a 56-22 semifinal romp over #5 Oregon. In the National Championship game, the Hoosiers pulled off a gritty 27-21 victory over #10 Miami to secure the Hoosiers’ first National Championship.
“It was a storybook season and a storybook win, and I couldn't have done it with better people,” Mendoza said. “And it was just a credit to the great staff and great players I had around me. They made it a lot easier and facilitated that win for sure, especially with a great defense. But it was a storybook. It's like you said, it's something that I never thought could happen.”
More storybook moments were in store for the Miami native as Mendoza pulled off the rare triple play of winning a National Championship, the Heisman Trophy and being drafted the number one overall player in the next draft, joining Auburn’s Cam Newton and LSU’s Joe Burrows as the only players to pull off the trifecta in the same season.
The special moments didn’t end there, however. In May, Mendoza came back to Berkeley to walk for his Haas School of Business diploma - an experience the former Bear treasured and one he went into with a bit of trepidation after his transfer.
“I was very emotional because I love Berkeley, and it was such a great college experience while I was there, especially at the Haas Business School,” Mendoza said. “And to go back and to be welcomed, it meant a lot to me because Berkeley has a big place in my heart, and it was emotional.”
Even though the diploma came after all the milestone events for Mendoza’s football career to date, the draft was a real capper to his college career as he reached the pinnacle of what a collegiate player could achieve, both in college and in his transition to the NFL.
“It was great,” said Mendoza of the draft day experience. “It was a lot of emotions. Like, okay, now it's time we have to work. Because before, it was like speculation, and now it's like, wow. Now I have the expectation to be a contributing member of the team in the NFL, and that's something that maybe four years ago, it wasn’t imaginable. But now, I believe it's my duty to try to best serve my teammates and prepare and try to get better every single day.”
Mendoza has had the benefit of working with veteran QB Kirk Cousins and not being rushed into a starting role right out of the gate. He’s appreciated the opportunity to work with the 38-year-old, 15-year NFL vet to see up close and personal how to lead a team.
Cousins got off to a solid start this season and led the Raiders to three straight victories before they dropped the last two. Cousins has thrown for 12 TDs, four interceptions and 1,269 yards so far this season. But when the team faltered badly in their 45-17 loss to New England last weekend, Mendoza got his first opportunity to see the field in a regular season game, coming on in the fourth quarter. The rookie acquitted himself well, completing 6-of-8 passes for 75 yards in the loss.
“Fantastic, he's been the best,” said Mendoza of his relationship with Cousins after the Raiders’ 30-27 loss to Kansas City in the prior week’s game. “Me and him are very close, and I see him as a great teammate and mentor, and he's been fantastic. Obviously, we're not happy with the outcome, but he played a fantastic game today. So let's wait to learn from him.”
Mendoza took note of some of the biggest takeaways he’s gathered from Cousins.
“Preparation - the way he prepares, the way he processes different things and there's been so many different experiences and situations that he's been in that it’s great to learn from. He's a wealth of knowledge.”
Now the rookie has some live snaps to add to his learning process in his rookie campaign. When he will get his first starting opportunity is open to speculation, but for now, the former Bear is more than thankful for the opportunity to see his dreams continue to come true on the biggest stage.
