Although his brother was playing with the Hoosiers in 2024, Fernando Mendoza says he had never been to the state of Indiana before his official visit to IU.
And while many believe Alberto Mendoza’s presence in Bloomington made his brother’s transfer from Cal to IU a lock, Fernando says it wasn’t that simple.
“There’s a lot of other spots I was looking at seriously,” Fernando said on a Dallas radio interview this week.
In fact, Fernando was uncomfortably close to becoming a Georgia Bulldog.
“Really what it came down to was Indiana and Georgia,” Fernando said. “Kirby (Smart), great recruiter, great coach, great program. They were this close to making a national championship.
“I was really going back and forth between the two. And honestly I was really confused. I was lost in the sauce because they were both great situations. It was a win-win. It was a really tough decision.
“I think there was one time even where I was about to call Kirby to commit to Georgia and the call didn’t go through. And I thought ‘Alright, let me sleep on it tonight.’
“I really believe God helped me with that.”
Upon reflection, the message Fernando heard from IU coach Curt Cignetti resonated more.
“‘You’re going to be the best quarterback you can become here,'” Mendoza says was Cignetti’s message. “‘I know I can develop you. I develop quarterbacks. I’m not going to give you a crystal ball and say we’re going to win a national championship. I know you’re going to be a hell of a quarterback. The best quarterback in the Big Ten.’
“And I was like ‘Alright, let’s go.'”
You know how things went from there. Fernando ultimately committed to IU and went on to lead the Hoosiers to the national championship while becoming the program’s first Heisman Trophy winner.
There were close calls along the way during Indiana’s magical 16-0 run to glory, but perhaps none closer than a phone call that didn’t go through.
A couple of Mendoza’s media appearances this week in Texas where he accepted the Davey O’Brien Award are below, including the radio interview when he made these comments.
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