Fernando Mendoza grew up less than 15 minutes from Miami’s Coral Gables campus. The eventual Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback for the Indiana Hoosiers played at the same high school as Mario Cristobal, Christopher Columbus High School.
Yet, The U wouldn’t have him, and the lifelong Hurricanes fan never forgot that. And after leading the Hoosiers to a 27-21 win at Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night for the program’s first-ever national title, Mendoza reminded Miami of its massive mistake.
“This victory is so sweet,” Mendoza told ESPN’s Holly Rowe on the field postgame. “For everybody, for the entire Hoosier nation, but also, it’s super sweet for myself. I was a two-star recruit coming out of high school. I got declined a walk-on offer to the University of Miami. Full circle moment here, playing in Miami, in front of all my friends and family. I can’t thank Coach Cignetti enough and Coach Whitmer and Coach Shanahan for taking a chance on me.”
Fernando Mendoza got his revenge for Manny Diaz overlooking him in the 2022 class
A two-star recruit in the 2022 class, Mendoza wasn’t recruited by Manny Diaz, Mario Cristobal’s predecessor at The U. Cristobal took over in 2022 and salvaged the No. 16 recruiting class in the country with 15 enrollees, including one quarterback, four-star Jacurri Brown.
Through two years at Miami, Brown attempted just 76 passes and threw for 411 yards before transferring to UCF. Mendoza, instead, went to Cal, where he quickly emerged as the program’s starter and one of the better quarterbacks in the country in 2024, passing for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns. When he entered the transfer portal, with Miami and Cristobal needing a quarterback to replace Cam Ward, that bridge was already burned.
As ESPN’s Chris Fowler mentioned on the game’s broadcast, Fernando and his mother, Elsa Mendoza, still felt the sting of Miami’s rejection and never considered a homecoming. He landed at Indiana with Curt Cignetti, and Miami took Carson Beck. In the biggest game of the year, Mendoza came through with a legendary touchdown run on fourth down, while Beck ended his lengthy collegiate career with a heartbreaking interception. The juxtaposition couldn’t have been more stark, and the pain will be tough to shake for Canes fans.
To make matters worse, the man who caught Beck’s final pass as a college quarterback, Jamari Sharpe, a redshirt junior from Northwestern High School in South Florida, a 2022 three-star recruit who never received an offer from his hometown Hurricanes.