QB Mentality 101: Fernando Mendoza on Visualization, Routine, and Winning Culture

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Stay Tranquilo
Episode: QB Mentality 101: Fernando Mendoza on Visualization, Routine, and Winning Culture
Date: January 14, 2026
Guest: Fernando Mendoza (Cal quarterback, Miami Columbus High alum)
Host: Stay Tranquilo Network

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Overview

This episode delves deep into the mindset and journey of Fernando Mendoza, current starting quarterback at Cal, as he discusses his formative experiences at Miami Columbus, the recruiting rollercoaster through COVID, building a winning locker room culture, and the importance of visualization and routine in high-performance competition. The conversation stays true to the Stay Tranquilo philosophy: stress less, enjoy more, and tackle life’s challenges with the right mentality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. High School Championship and Culture Shift (Columbus High)

[01:32 - 06:59]

• Mendoza recalls the challenges and hype around his high school team, loaded with national prospects, that started their championship season at a disappointing .500 record.
• Senior leaders and coaches enforced new levels of discipline, exemplified by sitting a star player for being late even during pivotal games.
• Quote [03:50]:
  “Anyone that’s late, 1, 2, 3 minutes, even a star—there were repercussions. That was to show: this is discipline, this is the Columbus way. No superstar massage treatment.”
  —Fernando Mendoza
• After the culture shift, the team went undefeated and won the state championship, igniting massive community celebration.
• The sense of brotherhood and alumni network from Columbus played a big role, even in anecdotes like a car accident with an alumni making things easier.

2. The Recruiting Journey & COVID Disruption

[07:09 - 14:20]

• Recruiting described as "subjective"—unlike sports with objective metrics, football recruiting relies on potential, size, and character.
• Pandemic impacted visibility:
  “No one could see me. Coaches couldn't come by… after junior year, with the film, I could actually get recruited, but the big schools already made commitments.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [08:49]
• Initially committed to Yale, only major offer after junior year.
• Funny anecdote about Harvard recruiting slip:
  Mistakenly referred to Yale in a call with a Harvard coach leading to an abrupt end:
  “He was like, ‘That’s the bad side of the river, don’t even talk about that school.’ Never heard from Harvard again.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [11:51]
• Cal comes in at the 11th hour, after a QB decommits. Mendoza visits for two days, signs, and quickly transitions from Miami to the Bay Area.

3. Transition from Miami to the West Coast

[15:03 - 18:35]

• He describes Cal and the Bay Area as “literally Miami flipped upside down”—different culture, food, and social cues.
• Homesickness and culture shock, but ultimately aided by strong support system and adaptability.
• Cuban food at Cal fails to match Miami standards; “No croquetas. The Cuban sandwich… not the same.”

4. Local Recruiting & Missed Miami Opportunity

[18:35 - 20:48]

• FIU’s offer was essentially honorary, with coaches on the way out offering simply to get his name more exposure.
• University of Miami offered him only a potential walk-on spot, despite his resume—a “heartbreaking” moment for the lifelong Canes fan.
• Now, Mendoza will have the chance to play against Miami and FSU as a starter at Cal.

5. The College Football Experience & Earning the QB1 Spot

[21:12 - 27:12]

• Details the wild rise to starting QB at Cal, going from 3rd string to starter after a tumultuous season and a pivotal birthday phone call from the coach:
  “‘You’re starting next week…no matter if you throw 20 million touchdowns or 20 million interceptions, you’re playing the whole game. Prove me right.’”
  —Coach to Fernando, [22:45]
• First start against highly-ranked Oregon State, seven days after getting the call—preparation and nerves, but leads a shootout and locks down the job.
• Describes playing against top programs and NFL talent, culture of Power 5 football, and the difference from high school:
  “It’s wild—two years ago, only Yale. Now facing UCLA for bowl eligibility. It’s surreal.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [26:10]
• Stresses the play-by-play mentality: “Quarterback, you can’t just ride momentum, you have to stay grounded, play by play.” [28:04]

6. Program Culture, ACC Move & Expectations

[29:38 - 34:02]

• Mendoza credits program turnaround to a renewed locker room culture—player accountability, coming together post-defeat.
• Cal’s move from Pac-12 to ACC brings new rivalry and a sense of needing to prove themselves: “Everyone’s like, ‘Some low-level teams coming to the ACC…’ We’re going to win this thing. We have a chip on our shoulder.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [33:28]
• Confident they can compete in the new conference:
  “Our goal is ACC championship. We know if we win the games we need to, we have a real shot.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [32:06]

7. NIL (Name, Image, Likeness): The NCAA’s “Wild West”

[34:33 - 44:23]

• Mendoza explains his personal NIL experience: a charity burrito raising money for the National MS Society, a cause close to his heart.
• Observations on NIL:
  Rules and enforcement are unclear and rapidly evolving. Some programs are ultra-cautious, others aggressive—creates disparity.
• Money and locker room culture:
  “Suddenly we’re being valued… you’re worth 100K, I’m only worth 20K. Money changes the politics of the locker room.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [38:21]
• Lack of parity and new tensions—walk-ons pay out of pocket, transfer portal moves are leveraged for higher NIL deals.
• Mendoza notes that focus is drifting away from football as some players focus more on branding/social media than their on-field craft.
• “If you grind now, you can actually get ahead, because guys are so distracted with everything else.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [45:25]

8. Visualization, Routine & Leadership Focus

[48:47 - 55:54]

• Pre-game prep: visualization and mental routine over hype music.
• “As a quarterback, the work is done in the offseason. During the week, it’s all about mental study—prepping for every possible situation.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [51:19]
• Play-by-play, staying “grounded,” never letting emotions spike too high or low.
• Adopts the mindset of greats like Tom Brady and Kirk Cousins: preparation, visualization, controlling the mental game.
• Quote [53:55]:
  “Visualization is key… in those pressure moments, all the adrenaline, you recognize it so it doesn’t affect you. Take the energy and put it into the fight.”
  —Fernando Mendoza

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Notable Quotes

• On Locker Room Standards:
  “No superstar massage treatment. At Columbus, we’re playing the best players and being disciplined.”
  —Fernando Mendoza [03:50]

• On Recruiting during COVID:
  “No one could see me… after junior year, with the film, I could actually get recruited, but the big schools already made commitments.”
  [08:49]

• On Cal’s Surprise Interest:
  “I was sweating bullets—do I got Cal with Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, or do I go Ivy League?”
  [13:56]

• On Being Thrown into the Fire:
  “‘You’re starting next week…no matter if you throw 20 million touchdowns or 20 million interceptions, you’re playing the whole game. Prove me right.’”
  [22:45]

• On Program Culture:
  “It all starts internally… players rally, got to keep everyone focused on what the end goal is.”
  [32:23]

• On NIL Tension:
  “Money changes the politics of the locker room… now we’re being valued side by side, which changes dynamics.”
  [38:35]

• On Visualization:
  “Visualization is key. In those pressure moments, all the adrenaline, you recognize it and take all the energy and put it into the fight.”
  [53:55]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Columbus Championship and Culture: 01:32 – 06:59
• Recruiting Rollercoaster & COVID: 07:09 – 14:20
• Miami to Cal Transition: 15:03 – 18:35
• Missed Miami Offers: 18:35 – 20:48
• Earning QB1 – The Oregon State Start: 21:12 – 27:12
• ACC Move and Expectations: 29:38 – 34:02
• NIL: The New Wild West: 34:33 – 44:23
• Preparation, Routine & Visualization: 48:47 – 55:54

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Memorable Moments

• Recounting the time he mixed up recruiting calls and inadvertently ended his Harvard shot by saying “Go Bulldogs” (Yale’s mascot) to a Harvard coach. [11:51]
• The first “game day” as starter at Cal: “First two throws in the dirt. I was nervous. 50,000 in the stands is a lot different than 200 at Tropical Park.” [24:39]
• Describing the discipline shock at Columbus: star player benched for being two minutes late—even in playoffs. [03:50]
• NIL “burrito campaign” funds going to MS Society—inspired by his mom’s journey and unconditional support. [35:11]

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Tone, Flow & Final Thoughts

The episode is both lighthearted and sincere, blending competitive anecdotes with honest reflections and a positive, brotherly vibe. Mendoza comes across grounded, grateful, and focused—embodying the Stay Tranquilo mindset, taking adversity in stride and emphasizing how success is built through culture, discipline, mental preparation, and their values.

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For listeners: This episode is a blueprint for high-level athletic pursuit and personal growth, with insights relevant to anyone navigating transitions, adversity, or team dynamics. Mendoza’s stories will resonate with athletes, fans, and anyone looking for inspiration on resilience and staying tranquilo—on and off the field.

Transcript

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[Fernando Mendoza]

Foreign.

[Interviewer]

We'Re here with Fernando Mendoza, class.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Of 2000 classes to 2022 from the.

[Interviewer]

From the. From the sea. Sea Pride and also quarterback at Cal. Right now we're going to get into a ton of things, but before we get started, would love for you to give a little intro about yourself and tell. Tell the people some of the things you got going on.

[Fernando Mendoza]

For sure. Yeah. First of all, thank you so much for having me on. Of course. Truly a blessing and you know, amazing to connect with the brotherhood. As he said. I went to Columbus Class of 2022, so to show how the brotherhood is reinforced. That's the best, you know, all boys school in Miami.

[Interviewer]

We got the camera guy back there also. Columbus guy.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Oh yeah, pooch. The pooch. And then I'm now the Cal quarterback. So it's been a long journey from Miami all the way to kind of the San Francisco area. But it's been an amazing journey. I'm blessed through it all.

[Interviewer]

Hell yeah. I think let's rewind to before the Cal days. Right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And your. Your time at Columbus, you guys won a state championship, which also was a big deal at Columbus. After a long stretch of not being able to get it done. Can you talk about what that year looked like a little bit at Columbus and kind of how everyone rallied around you guys?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So that was a special year in Columbus history. That year had been hyped up as we had a ton of national prospects like Xavier Henderson, Elijah Roberts and the famous Henry Parish. Especially with the sports center run every. Everybody in the Columbus community was like, that was a. That was a stiff arm, right? Yeah, that was a stiff. I was like, especially on Belen. That was like the epitome of Columbus football.

[Interviewer]

Oh, my God, I forgot about that. So iconic.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So we started the year off really, really strong and I was lucky part enough to be a part of it. And throughout the season, by our sixth game, although we had all the hype, especially the national level with SportsCenter and I know, we're pretty ranked pretty highly on Max preps. We ended up being like three, I believe it was three and three, like 500. And we lost some subpar teams at the time which like South Dade and a couple other teams that we were highly favored to win. So at that point, some of the seniors like Jordan Garcia and so many other guys like Max Velar, Elijah, you know, Dubey, which is Xavier Henderson, they all kind of brought us together and was like, hey, like we need to turn this around. This is our last chance. Because they lost in the States the last year by like a two point conversion. So they already favor to go to states being 500 in the start of the season. And usually like Columbus, they go to the start of the season a little easier and then they pick up the games like more than that.

[Interviewer]

Later in the season it starts to pick up.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So being already 500, they're like, oh shoot, like we need to pick it up or else that's it. Our promise that going from junior year, all those guys to senior year, we're finally going to win it. We're finally going to get over that hump. Like we need to change something. And that was when a big culture shift happened and we had so much talent on the team. But one of the things that stood out to me is when they played Mandarin and they lost to them, they're like, hey, Mandarin came out. They were all in the same matching uniform. They were all like single file line. And although that's, you know, it's insignificant, you know, they're like, oh, whatever. Maybe they're like, the coach makes him do it like that. It was a big thing, is that we had so much talent on the Columbus roster, but it needed to be more disciplined.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Needed more discipline. And the players took that account. Anyone that who's late, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 3 minutes, even as a star player, they got like repercussions. Yeah, we played Western later in the season. Elijah Roberts, who was like American Conference defensive player of the year, he showed up like two minutes late or something like that. And Coach Dunn didn't let him play the first half of the Western game. Holy shit. Which was like a playoff game at that point. And it was like a big game, like we weren't winning by a ton and we weren't favored. And it was to show the team like, hey, this is discipline. This is a Columbus way. We're not doing like any of this superstar massage treatment like you Columbus. We're playing the best players and we're being Disciplined. I think that's like a big thing with Columbus, you know, everybody, we're kind of the grinding, you know, over there in Westchester. So I think that's when it really, the culture really connected to the football program.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And, and Elijah, I mean, he's amazing guy. I play against him this year at smu, so, I mean he's a phenomenal player. He's going to play in the NFL one day.

[Interviewer]

Got to mark that on the calendar.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. Then after that it was kind of, it was free flowing from there. The starting quarterback, Moody, ended up getting injured and I ended up subbing in for six or seven weeks and we ended up battling it out throughout the playoffs and since that 500 mark that we talked about, undefeated since then. And we were lucky enough to win the state championship against great players. We played against Jalen Carter, who was a top 10 pick in the NFL draft. I mean, you see him now in the Eagles. He is like wrecking things.

[Interviewer]

Where did he go to high school?

[Fernando Mendoza]

A pop gun.

[Interviewer]

A pop gun, that's right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And the only reason he didn't go like top five was because of character issues, which has nothing to do on the field. You know, on the field you're not, you're not asking for a handshake. You're just super scared of the guy. And so, I mean, that was a great season to see Columbus in the community. Like, even though I didn't actually. Well, I held the field goal. But although I didn't actually like really, really contribute to in the actual state game, I was able to contribute to the season and I saw the aftermath. We might have had like three or four parades. Like, it was like Columbus alumni who knew who I was and I was like the backup quarterback. There was a time that I was, I forgot what it was, but I know I was in rushing at the Sunset Place to meet with one of my friends and I backed into somebody in a car accident. I was like, oh, this is so terrible. You know, I was like a 10th career, it's my first time driving. And the guy was like. We ended up figuring, obviously with insurance. But it was a lot easier through the process because he was a Columbus alumni, he's from the brotherhood. He was like, yeah, just one. Let's go Columbus story.

[Interviewer]

It's like you, you run into the guy, he was thinking like the worst case scenario and all of a sudden, of course it's a Columbus guy and he knows, yeah, you can play football at Columbus. Oh, don't worry about it, you're good.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It's a Tesla at this point. It's when they just came out, I'm like, oh, shoot. Like I'm grounded for sure. So.

[Interviewer]

That's hilarious. Yeah, that's cool. I mean, like you said, it was, it was like the parades and everything. It was like, it was like if we won like a Super bowl essentially, but at the high school level, I mean, that's essentially what it is. But the Columbus network, like took it personal and like they, they really rallied behind. I mean, there was watch parties at Sports Grill. Like it was a big deal.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

So you win the night, the, the state championship, obviously, then you become the, the starting quarterback the year after, right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And then you play, you finish your career at Columbus and then you start getting recruited. Can you talk about that recruiting period in your life where, you know, you start getting offers from schools and kind of, you know, making that decision of like, what, what's, what's the next step in your, in your life? Can you kind of go through that process?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. And the one word I would use to describe football recruiting would be subjective, as it's not like swimming or track that they have the times, hey, we know you're this good. We know you're 39 seconds. This guy's 40 seconds.

[Interviewer]

Right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

There's so many aspects of potential, of size, of just the character development and how good they are as a player overall. And I think a big lack in my recruiting process was the COVID And obviously, you know, everyone could blame Covid and I'm really thankful how my journey ended up going out and I thank God for it all the time. But so once I started, springtime is when the coaches come and see you, especially a quarterback. Quarterback is very subjective position. You see people like Tom Brady playing and, you know, like Josh Allen. We also have quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and like Brock Purdy. They're all super different styles. It's not like o line where you want the biggest, baddest guy. It's very subjective. So at that point, none of the coaches could come. And since all the national recruits played their sophomore year, the entirety of their sophomore year, it was tough to get recruited. So I had to wait till after junior year, after I had all the film, because the camps were still shut down. So I couldn't, the coaches couldn't see me in spring nor summer. And it was like wishy washy if we were even going to play because of how bad it was in Miami day.

[Interviewer]

Whole Covid time. Yeah, that puts a wrench in things.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So no one could See me. And then after my junior year, we had a great junior year. We went undefeated. We unfortunately did not win state because we didn't have the opportunity. We won the Tri county, which we got a ring for because we were the two highest ranked teams. It was Deerfield beach and Columbus, and we won that game. So nice. We hold that as a championship. It's not a state championship, you know, but it's definitely a championship. And so after that, my film, after junior year, going to senior year, that's when I was really able to kind of mobilize my recruiting process. But all the schools, like Alabama, Georgia, all these huge schools already have their guys going into junior year. I mean, senior year.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like, if you see the elite 11, like, those guys make bank off of, hey, like watch our Elite 11. We have the Georgia guy, we have the Alabama guy. And all these huge fan bases come together.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. They're recruiting way early in the process.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. And you already know who the dudes are by 10th, especially 11th grade. Yeah, that's when it really is 11th grade. And then so up to my senior year, the only real offer that I had was Yale. And I was like, bro, I mean, yeah, let's go. Like, I guess like when I leave football.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Great academic program, obviously. Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Great academic. Like, hopefully I make big bucks on Wall street one day to make up for football. But. And then against Yale, I mean, it.

[Interviewer]

Could have been like the next Ryan Fitzpatrick. Yeah. And he's funny enough. He went to, he went to Harvard. Harvard, that's right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Funny enough, that's. I talked to all, like most of the Ivy Leagues, I talked to everyone except everyone except Harvard. And every one of the recruiting pitches were, you can be like Ryan Fitzpatrick. All. They didn't even go to the school and. Which was. Showed a little bit of a red flag because I'm like, you don't have your own NFL players to talk about another guy. You know, I want to play in the NFL. That's my dream. That's my aspiration. That's what I'm going to do. So my whole heart, that's what I believe. So, you know, did a little red flag. But I'm like, hey, it's a great opportunity, great school, and it's a platform. It's a platform to play football. And actually, funny story, the reason I didn't talk to Harvard is because I got on one phone call with them because Coach Dunn, he actually coached at Harvard.

[Interviewer]

Really.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So he said, I know he coached.

[Interviewer]

At Catholic for a little bit.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So he Coached at Harvard. And he sent the contact. And at the same time, the school is committed to Yale, said, hey, we're gonna call you soon, like, from, like, the recruiting room with all the coaches and stuff like that. So I get a call, I'm like, okay, cool. And I pick up the phone and, oh, it says Connecticut because the coach was from Connecticut. And so I pick up the phone thinking it's Yale, but it's really Harvard. So I'm on the phone with this guy for 10 minutes, not knowing, and Yale and Harvard, this is like real deal. Presidents of this game.

[Interviewer]

That's a rivalry right there.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And I'm like, I can't. And one, like, five minutes of the call in, I'm like. He's like, you gotta come up to campus. I'm like, I can't wait to come up. You know, New Haven's a great place. And they're like, you know, go, Bulldogs. And he's like, whoa, what? What did you just say? And I was like, yeah, go Bulldogs. You know, yay, Yale. And I was like. At that moment, I just knew. It was like, you know, the moment where you're like, yeah.

[Interviewer]

You're like, I'm not getting anything.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Nice language. You fricked up. You know, I was like, oh. And he was like, that's a bad side of the river. Like, don't talk about that school, like, and all that stuff.

[Interviewer]

Was he, like, genuinely upset?

[Fernando Mendoza]

He was genuinely upset. He was genuinely upset. And obviously they want to recruit.

[Interviewer]

Crazy story.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And I was like, shoot. And then from there on, I never heard from Harvard. Well deserved. But, yeah, you know what?

[Interviewer]

It wasn't meant to be.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It wasn't meant to be.

[Interviewer]

It wasn't meant to be.

[Fernando Mendoza]

But then, yeah. So I was committed to Yale my senior year. We had a good senior year, but good is we made it to the semifinals. But now in Columbus, my little brother, he just won two back to back junior senior state. So that's a down year. So we had. So we had a down year for Columbus football. And after that season, I was kind of like, okay, I'm going to Yale. We got accepted January. I mean, everyone already signs in December. January. I was like, okay, I'm gonna press, like, hey, like, let me matriculate to the system. Let me go to Yale, you know? And then I get a call and I'm like, okay, like, what's this call? And it's the cow coach saying that the. Their quarterback flipped to UCLA on signing day, and now they're scrambling all ahead. They're like, oh, shoot, like, all the quarterbacks already signed. Where do we go? And since legally you can sign people until, like, February 3rd, they still, like, had an option to sign me. And the only reason, the sign period so above.

[Interviewer]

And you had no contact with them?

[Fernando Mendoza]

No contact. West Coast. I barely even knew, like, I always knew Cal and Stanford, of course. Yeah. I knew, like, Aaron Rodgers, Marshawn lynch, but, like, I never watched, like, a Cal game. I was like, cal, you know what I mean? I literally caught one of my friends, Marcelo Mueller. He's at Michigan now. I was like, hey, man, like, you know anything about Cal? Because we're on the phone, like, and stuff like that. He's like, yeah, great. Business school. I'm like, all right, sounds good. And I talked to the coach. I obviously researched more about California, and I was lucky enough, he said, hey, we're going to come down and see you throw. And that day, I was sweating bullets. I'm like, okay, this is my chance. Because do I got cow with Aaron Rodgers, Jared Goff, or do I go.

[Interviewer]

To, like, the Ivy League?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Ivy League with. I'm a Miami guy. I went on my fetch, a visit to Yale. Loved everything except about it. Except it was negative four degrees when I went. Yeah, I mean, I can't play football. Negative four degrees, you know, every day. That's rough. So I was like, let's go. Ended up going, well, they offered me a scholarship and I signed like, three days later.

[Interviewer]

Wow, what a crazy turn of events at the last hour, too.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Last, like, I really thought that I was gonna go to Yale. And my mom kept on saying, like, hey, you're gonna get a Power 5 at that point. There are five conferences, right? Rip the PAC 12. I was like, no way, Mommy. Like, there's no way, like, I'm going to Yale. And then magically happens.

[Interviewer]

So moms always know.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Mom's always know.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Always know.

[Interviewer]

It's weird. So, damn, that's pretty awesome. Well, so then now you sign with Yale. I mean, with. With cow. And then you start that process. You fly in basically that summer, essentially, right. And start doing all the practices, taking your classes and all that. How was that transition from east coast to West Coast?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So before I say that, funny story, Yale doesn't have any scholarships because they're Ivy League, right. So I actually signed on the December signing date with Yale, and then I, for real, signed in February with Cal. So Mr. McKeon, athletic director is like, you're the first player that's ever signed twice in Columbus history, but that's funny signing that paper. I mean, I didn't know what my life was going to come to. I mean, the West Coast.

[Interviewer]

Had you visited the campus before?

[Fernando Mendoza]

I visited once for two days, but it was like really quick. They got to get back and sign the documents and go because a deadline. And I never been to California in the first place, like prior to that. So I was like, okay, nonetheless, San Francisco, like I visited campus and stuff, but.

[Interviewer]

Cause where, where exactly is Cal?

[Fernando Mendoza]

It's 20 minutes out of San Francisco. Okay. And it's. It's literally sandwiched San Francisco, Oakland, and then sandwich in between there and then up above you have like Napa and stuff like that where Stanford is.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So it's right by the coast. You can see the water from the stadium and everything like that. And so I was like, okay. And when I tell you it's literally Miami flipped upside down, like everything opposite it is. I mean, everyone's a little bit more relaxed. Yeah, it's definitely very different. And luckily I had great roommates and a great support system to kind of get adjusted there because I saw like couple kids who, you know, it's tough moving away from home. You know, moving away from home for.

[Interviewer]

It's a tough transition.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Full time job. Yeah, full time job. And they're kind of like, okay, like, maybe should I sign with my hometown team? You know, And I was lucky enough to have a great support system and have a smooth lane. Like, obviously there was a points where I was homesick once.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And smooth points that, you know, I didn't get a. The culture. It was a little bit of culture shock. Like, especially in Miami, like in the high school, whenever you meet somebody, you're like, hey, how you doing? And give them like a little hug and stuff like that.

[Interviewer]

So there's like a lot of athletics. We're like, touchy.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, like, very touchy. You know. And there's a little athlete thing, you know, going with all the new athletes. I'm like, okay. And so I'm obviously with my football boys and we meet another sport, like another woman's sport. I think it was like a track team or something. I can't remember. And I go like, hey, how you doing, Fernando? They're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?

[Interviewer]

That's like the. The kiss, the kiss on the cheek. The first time I did that was like, I think in like New York or Boston or something. And it was the same shit. I went. I went there to like, say, hi, I'm Andre. And they're like, Was this guy trying to kiss me right now?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like, what's going on here? Where are these guys manners? It's got a little bit of reality check there. And I gotta, like, check back in when I'm Miami and you gotta adjust Berkeley. So that was definitely a little bit of a. A culture thing. And there's a ton of. Ton of amazing Asian food over there.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Ton of amazing Asian and Indian and a lot of Mexican food over there. So that's something I've been kind of exposed to.

[Interviewer]

No, no croquetas.

[Fernando Mendoza]

No pastor. There was like. At the facility we had, there was like a day. It was like Cuban sandwiches. And everyone, like, knows I'm Cuban, you know, being from Miami and stuff. And they're like, oh, Cuban sandwiches. And I ate it. And the chefs at our school are amazing, like, world class because they got to serve world class athletes. And I love all them. Shout out, Mr. Rob. That's my guy. But the human sandwich. And I was like, oh, it's just not the same, you know, like, it was so good, but it was not the same. And I. All my. All my friends were like, oh, it's a human sandwich. Tastes like.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. For them it's like, holy shit is amazing. But yet for you, you're like, this.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Is like, come down to Versailles or Casa Whoa or something, man. You know, so.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah, that's cool. One question I actually wanted to ask you. Did you ever get recruited by like, um or FIU or, I mean, considering like the local. Right. It's tougher to get recruited from. I know yours was a little bit different because it was like at the last hour kind of thing, but they like to recruit locally. Did anything really happen there, conversation wise?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, like you said, like, all schools like to recruit locally.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like Miami, like their motto, recruiting. Obviously I want to pull.

[Interviewer]

Plus there's plenty of talent down here.

[Fernando Mendoza]

They want to build a fence.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

You know, that's what they've said in multiple interviews and stuff. They want to build a fence. All the talent to go right to Miami. And I did get recruited by fiu, but the coach knew that he was getting fired.

[Interviewer]

And he was like, that was butch at the time.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It was. But it was under that. And it was like the quarterback coach, he was like, hey, I know I'm getting fired in two weeks.

[Interviewer]

They already told me during that time mess.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And they're like, hey, I know I'm getting fired in two weeks, but I'm gonna give you this offer just so you can get their name out.

[Interviewer]

Got It.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Okay, but I mean, there's no saying that the new coach is gonna.

[Interviewer]

Right. He's gonna have his system and who. Who's to know that he's actually going to bring in the people that he was trying to bring in.

[Fernando Mendoza]

He just said that he liked me a lot and that if he was still the coach, that he would take me in, but that he didn't have that opportunity anymore, but he wanted to give me kind of for like social media, that if, if some school says, oh, look, if I. You offered him, let me take a look at him.

[Interviewer]

Right, exactly.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And then that senior year beforehand, it was still the Manny. It was the Manny Diaz reign.

[Interviewer]

And.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And so I went to the camp and I was, I was pretty heartbroken because, you know, I had a really good camp and stuff like that. Like, they knew who I was because the Columbus quarterback and stuff like that. And the coach at the time kind of told me like, hey, like, well, maybe look at you for a walk on spot.

[Interviewer]

Got you here.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And I was like. And I accomplished myself. I thought it was good enough for a scholarship spot, you know? Yeah, like, you proved.

[Interviewer]

You proved it.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And I was definitely heartbroken then. I was huge Miami fan growing up and everything and it kind of did something like, something similar to my little brother. They were kind of like, hey, like, gotcha. We really like you, but you know, we don't think you're. You're that guy.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So it was a little heartbreaking for both of us, but luckily I have the chance to redeem myself as you play him this year.

[Interviewer]

Oh, yeah. So let's get into that. Let's talk about. So that was year one for you, right? That count?

[Fernando Mendoza]

So this is year two. I registered my first.

[Interviewer]

So you. You registered year one and then. But technically, eligibility wise, first. Year two. Yeah, yeah. You play this year. So from what I remember, quarterback one gets hurt at Cal. Right. And then that's where you came in and started playing, Right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So it was kind of a weird scenario. I know you want to talk about nil later.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, but I do.

[Fernando Mendoza]

One of this great guy, amazing guy. We bring in this, we bring in this court. Two quarterbacks actually, one from TCU and run from NC State. And throughout the entire fall camp, we're all battling, all three of us. And it ends up shaking out like the last practice. Like at one point I was starting and it ended up shaking out. The last practice that I was actually third. Holy. Going into the game, like it was very like hairs. Wow.

[Interviewer]

Like, it was this competition could be 1A, 1B and 1C, essentially.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Basically. And so the starter goes in and the start of the second string, they kind of battle it out for the first four or five games. They kind of like, they both, like. One of the first has minor injuries, but then he ends up getting the starting job again, but then he loses it to the second string guy. So it was kind of like our quarterback situation was shaky at the time.

[Interviewer]

Gotcha.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And the sixth game, I was like, a little impatient, but I was also like, okay, like, my time will come, you know, My time will come. No one's playing lights out here, you know, like. And to take our team to the next level, we need good quarterback play especially. That's what, like, all teams need. NFL.

[Interviewer]

You know, reality is quarterback is arguably the most important position.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And although they're great guys, great quarterbacks, they know they're doing great things at their next school. Like, at that point in time, the production wasn't there. And the coach called me, funny enough on my birthday. I was talking to my family. I gotta call, I gotta hang up.

[Interviewer]

Coach is calling.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, coach is calling. Coach is calling. This might be important. He's like, Sunday night and he's like, hey, Fernando, just want to let you know we, we value your preparation. Everything done for the program you're starting next week. No matter if you throw 20 million touchdowns or 20 million interceptions, you're playing for the entire game. Prove me right. Get ready. I'm like, oh, shit. Wow. Yeah, I'm there. I'm like, gotta hang up, guys. Like, you know, days before the game. Seven days. Seven days. And at that point, like at a midterm that week, at that point, I'm like, all right, this is my, this might be my only chance ever, being a two star recruit, like, very lowly recruited, like, to ever play, like, and start a college football game, especially at Cal, at a power five level, 100%. And that. We grew up playing Oregon State, who at that time had the number one defense in the PAC. 12 over Oregon, over Washington, over UCLA.

[Interviewer]

Were they ranked at that time?

[Fernando Mendoza]

They were ranked, yeah. They were like 13.

[Interviewer]

Top 15.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Top 15. They're 12 in the nation, I think. And I was like, wow. So that night I literally go. And that entire week, 7 and 9pm, just in the film room, learning everything about them, Learning everything about them. And I was able to find out, like, a little bit of tendencies with them, which helped me on the field. And I was like, no matter what, I want my preparation to be so well. And so, I mean, Just be so, like, well thought of and just be so deliberate my preparation that I'll be able to sleep well at night. Whether I throw 20 million interceptions or 20 million touchdowns. I want to sleep well at night knowing that I did everything possible that humanly possible that I could do to make sure I have a good performance. And I get out there. The first two throws in the dirt. I mean, I am nervous. Like, my body's my cool. Like, oh, my God. A college football game. Like Columbus. Columbus.

[Interviewer]

In cow or in cow. Okay.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It's a night game. And it was like, I'm like, oh, okay. Like a tropical park. We have 200 to 500 people. That game, it was like 50,000 people there.

[Interviewer]

Holy cow.

[Fernando Mendoza]

You know, and you just look up the stands and you kind of get a little shell shock. You're like. It's like the lights like this that you can barely see if you look in the lights.

[Interviewer]

You could try to mentally prepare for that moment, but you can't because you have nothing to like as a foundational piece to do that.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And that's a big thing. Why everyone red shirts? They're like, none of these quarterbacks are ready enough to play. You got to get thrown in the fire. And I ended up picking it up. We had a great game offensive wise. I mean, we boat raced the number one team in the Pac 12. It was like we lost 40 to like 50 that game.

[Interviewer]

I remember it being a shootout.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It was a shootout, though. And that game, I mean, they've. The Oregon State defense only averaged like 12 points allowed per game. That's incredible. Until. Until up to that point. And so that was. That kind of led me into, hey, you're starting the next week.

[Interviewer]

Exactly.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And then we played Utah. And let me tell you, you guys.

[Interviewer]

Had a crazy stretch of of games.

[Fernando Mendoza]

The first five games I played. Oh, no, I played the last six. The last six games, all teams were ranked at some point. Top 20. Yeah, at some point we play Utah, then you play USC, who's top 10 nationally. I watched that whole game.

[Interviewer]

That game was insane.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Usc, then we play Oregon, who was a new year. They were like number six one time. They're number four in the nation. And then we play Washington State, who was ranked early in the season.

[Interviewer]

That's right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Ucla, who was ranked at that time. That we played him. And it was crazy. And being from the east coast, you don't understand. And I don't understand. I didn't understand the west coast environments when I went to Oregon, when I went to Utah, when I Went to the Rose bowl, ucla. It's things I've always thought of, you know, Doe Campbell and Hard Rock and like all these other. And like Clemson. But going to these stadiums, it was surreal. It was like, wow. Like I'm really playing in this. Like two years ago I was. Didn't have. I only had an offer to Yale. And now like I'm playing against UCLA to fight for bowl eligibility. The first bowl we've made in the last four years. You know what I mean? It's like this is a big game or Stanford sold out. I'm like, this is like huge rivalry.

[Interviewer]

I'm talking about historic environments too.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Historic. Historic. I mean, Stanford, no matter who wins by how much or how well they're doing that year, they stormed the field.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[Fernando Mendoza]

The year before we only won four games. They stormed the field when we beat Stanford, you know, so.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, no, I, that I, I can't even fathom, you know, and it's. It's crazy like hearing it from you what the emotional side of it is, you know, like there's you as a fan, right? Like growing up, watching that as a kid and looking at those environments and being like, damn, that is sick.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Like, I want to witness that at some capacity and then being in that situation without really much of a expectation, you know, like you're saying, hey, week, whatever that week was that you started, you're starting here and well, by the way, you're going to keep starting now because you're performing well. So every week is a new level of preparation that you're not necessarily used to. Obviously you did your preparation at Columbus and you had your level of preparation there, but you're, you're in a Power 5 program going against some of the best teams in the country and it's just like, go figure it out.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, like it's crazy. Exactly. And like you said, like there was no expectations. So I have a wristband. The three things my wristband was, praise God, it was play by play because something like quarterback, you do preparation. You got to analyze the defense. At Columbus, all we got is to put it into non football audiences. Cover three and cover one, which are very simple defenses.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And Cal, through the entire stretch of like those six games, I saw over 30 different coverages. So it was like. And it all happens very fast. And no one just in high school, no one disguises, right. They're disguising. You're out there trying to like on.

[Interviewer]

The level too, on the other side of the ball. I mean, you're talking about Speed is way higher in that level of football. Size, smart, you know, everything. You're getting the best of the best on both sides of the ball.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. And, I mean, this year, we played last game at ucla. I don't know if you watched the NFL draft, but it was very offense heavy. And the first defensive player took was Lai Latu. We played him.

[Interviewer]

That's right. He's Utah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

No, he was ucla.

[Interviewer]

Ucla. Ucla.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Ucla. So I look at them looking at the draft, and I'm watching him sack me. I'm like, all right, cool. I'm like, hey, that's me. I, like, all of a sudden, like, three people call me, like, my Columbus guy buddies, and they're like, hey, it's on your tv. I'm like, I don't want to hear about it.

[Interviewer]

You know, not the right way to see.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Not the right way to see me on tv, so.

[Interviewer]

Wow.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I mean, it was really cool, like, being in these environments and seeing how much it meant to everybody, and it's a surreal experience. It was definitely very surreal.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. So what's. What's kind of the expectation this year?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So this is the best we've finished in a while. And the one thing that I would say that is why we had to. We were so improved last year was because of the culture change. Like, mid year, we're kind of like, hey, we lost to Oregon. We got killed by Oregon. It was like, 60 to, like, 20 or 30.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, it was bad. And we were like, all right, we need to win the next three games to make a bowl game. No matter what the coaches say, no matter what anybody says. Administration, like, we need to come together, players in differences. We gotta, like, start being accountable, and we need to just level it up and all. Work harder, prepare harder, play harder. And I was like, okay. Kind of sounds pretty familiar.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It's like Columbus little turnaround. And so going into next season, we're going to the acc, which is crazy because I could see the Pacific Ocean from my apartment.

[Interviewer]

I was talking about that before. Holy.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I can see the Pacific Ocean from the football offices. And now we're playing Atlantic Coastal Conference.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. Holy cow.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So it's gonna be a lot of long flights, but next year, I mean, the Pack 12 is super competitive. Last year, I mean, I think almost every team was, like. Almost every team was, like, ranked.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like, so going to the acc, I mean, our expectations are, you know, through the roof. I mean, we're definitely like. We made you.

[Interviewer]

You realize you guys can compete in that conference. Coming from the Conference that you guys came from last year, like you're saying was stacked essentially. And what seems to be a weaker ACC essentially, obviously still got the Clemsons, the FSUs, the Miamis. Can't ever take anything away from those programs, obviously. But realistically, I think you guys got a shot.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Y.

[Interviewer]

So what side are ACC are you guys on?

[Fernando Mendoza]

I mean, what is it?

[Interviewer]

The division?

[Fernando Mendoza]

What is it? Remember the.

[Interviewer]

It's. Is that what they're called? Coastal?

[Fernando Mendoza]

I don't even know, to be honest. It should be more educated on that. I don't know. I mean, I just know the opponents who play and although people.

[Interviewer]

It's all that matters. It's not important.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. Weaker ACC confidence. You still never want to take anyone for granted. Like Wake Forest 2022, they were in the ACC Championship and then this year they had like a down year. They're worse than acc. So that's like that. Those turnarounds can be super quick. Obsessive all the time because of the transfer portal.

[Interviewer]

True.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like a team has a need, they fill it up like this. Boom. Like fsu, Miami, both new quarterbacks.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So the transit portal, you really never know who's going to be good.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And who's going to be a little bit more poor. So I mean, this year our goal is ACC championship. And we know that if we win the games that we need to win, you know, even if we have one road bump or two road bumps, you know, throughout the way, that we still have a really good shot at it.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And we're all really confident in it.

[Interviewer]

It's a long season and you're going to run into those road bumps along. Along the year and it's obviously coaches got their job, but I think you said it best, like the players are going to rally and that sense of leadership obviously in the locker room is extremely important. And keeping everyone focused on what, what the end goal is to, you know, I think that's. That's always crucial. You look at the most successful programs historically and it all starts with the internal kind of cultures inside and, and the attitude and you know, no big egos in the locker room where no one's better than anybody else. It's. It's a team sport at the end of the day and you got to rally amongst each other through the good times. Right. Because it's always good. Everyone could be on the high horse when you start the season 4 0, but guess what? You can go lose the next four games. And it's a completely different temperature in.

[Fernando Mendoza]

That locker room for sure, for sure. And like you said, it all starts internally. And I think that we all have a chip on our shoulder. Just because you see, and you see, like we see the articles and stuff like that. Oh, Cal, Stanford and SMU are coming to the acc and everyone's like, all right, we got a couple low level teams coming to the accident. Like, what? Like we're gonna go win this thing.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And you see FSU trying to get out of the ACC conference obviously for playoff reasons, but we're like. And in their thing, they said that Cal and Stamford weren't like competitive enough or something like that. And we're like, okay, we play you guys. Like, like, we'll see about that and stuff like that. Obviously they're a powerhouse program and we respect them, but it's. We have a chip on our shoulder. We know a lot of teams don't want to come out all the way to the west coast and make that six, seven hour flight. They'll come play us. I know they're not going to be excited to come play us.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So we know we can take advantage of them there. Or hey, Cal's coming in our house, you know, whatever. It's Cal. And then boom. And then we could surprise them.

[Interviewer]

So. Yeah, no, yeah. You guys got a chip on your shoulder. A ton to prove. I think that's exciting. Do you play Miami?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Play Miami and fsu?

[Interviewer]

Miami here?

[Fernando Mendoza]

No, we play Miami there and then next year we play Miami here.

[Interviewer]

When's that Miami game over there?

[Fernando Mendoza]

I think it's a little, it's like later in six seasons or sixth game.

[Interviewer]

Maybe make a little road trip out there. Obviously. Yeah, I'm not a Miami fan though. He's a Miami fan.

[Fernando Mendoza]

There you go.

[Interviewer]

But yeah, man, that's exciting.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I love it.

[Interviewer]

I forgot that you guys were going to the acc. We talked about it before, but now that we're talking about it again, I'm like, yeah, that's, that's a, that's a big shift and a lot to come with that, which is exciting. So let's get into some of that nil talk. Obviously, that's the talk of land. And ironically enough, something happened, you know, yesterday with the whole NCAA lawsuits stuff. So there's a ton going on in that world. What's your point of view of like nil right now and kind of the landscape that you've kind of seen. I know you guys did a campaign too with a burrito or something over there and so in California.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, so. So we launched the Mendoza burrito. At the local Mexican Berkeley spot that everyone goes to, La Burrita. And I've been friends with the employees for a long time, ended up getting to meet the owners, and we ended up creating this burrito where all the proceeds go to the National Ms. Society.

[Interviewer]

Nice.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And my mom has ms, so it's a cause and very dear to my heart. And I love my mom. She's my inspiration. We talked earlier on the podcast about her, you know, having the belief in me. And Tom Brady said that all the great ones have always someone that loves them unconditionally. And my mom loves me unconditionally, and I love her unconditionally as well. So that was something that was really cool. It would have a positive impact in the community. You know, walk around campus, you're like, you know, I have a burrito, you know, so it's pretty cool. But no, it's a burrito. It's. It's like.

[Interviewer]

It was like, Cuban inspired, too. Right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

So it's Cuban inspired. So, you know, it's. You know, we try to do a little pork, but the restaurant doesn't serve pork. But we. But we got around and did some chimichurri and stuff in it, and we're doing some future. More Cuban heritage aspects later down the line that we have planned. But like you said, the nil space, how I see it, and a lot of my teammates see it, and a lot of people just that, like, people that in the nil space. Like, I wouldn't say agents, but I would say people that. You know, Collectives. Yeah, maybe agents, stuff like that. The rules are changing so rapidly. There's so much overturn. No one knows what's legal, what's not, what do you get in trouble for, like. And stuff like that. You saw, like, there's still a ton.

[Interviewer]

Of gray area in there.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So much gray area. So some programs are very. Oh, I don't. We don't. We don't want to take that risk.

[Interviewer]

Which you've seen a couple programs, I think Boise State came out saying something like, no, nil deals are coming through here. And it's maybe probably part of that reason. It sucks because players are obviously looking for that because they want to get.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Paid players looking for that.

[Interviewer]

But it's. Yeah, I didn't know it was like that.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And a lot of programs are like, all right, no gray. We're going to attack. You know, and so there's been a lot of discussion, I mean, especially the administrative level, if you want to get in trouble or not. But it's not being enforced. It's not. It's truly not really being enforced. And that's where you see FSU got.

[Interviewer]

Hit with some sanctions on nal, right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

I think. I think they got some sanctions, but I think none of them is severe. You know, they're not. None of them are losing. I mean, to what does NIL outweigh the costs? You know, they bring in this amazing transfer class. They're great. They go to the College Football Playoff. They don't care about those sanctions anymore. You know, and all this and all the NIL stuff is just other programs trying to blackmail and, you know, bring down other programs.

[Interviewer]

Exactly.

[Fernando Mendoza]

But the one thing that's super interesting, but that kind of salad mix of everything together, the NIL transfer portal and all these new rulings, is that you said all the great teams start inside the locker room, is the ego thing now. Hey, I'm not better than you. You and me are the same. We're brothers, right? I'm a fight for you, you're going to fight for me. No ego. We're saying, now.

[Interviewer]

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Now we're being valued. You're worth 100k. I'm only worth 20k. What do you mean, we're the same? You know, maybe you get on me. It's like your lease. You're getting paid more.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, exactly.

[Fernando Mendoza]

So money makes.

[Interviewer]

It changes the whole dynamic.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Money changes the politics of the locker room. You don't see it at cows. You have a really good culture. And no one's, like, putting money in other people's faces and stuff like that. But other programs that I've heard I have friends at, not gonna disclose that, they say, like, hey, like, people are like, hey, I'm making this. Much, like, what are you making? And they're not making anything. And nonetheless, there's still walk ons on the team that are paying for college, right. That, like, especially like at Cal, we have a couple walk ons who are gonna be like, great this year, coming.

[Interviewer]

Out of their own pocket.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And so, I mean, it puts a lot of politics in the locker room. And especially with the schools now. Now the rulings even makes it more complicated. The rulings, the school's paying directly. Like, for example, FSU public school that needs to go on record how much they're paying everybody because they're employees, right? So now you can search up online. How much is the FSU quarterback?

[Interviewer]

Very true.

[Fernando Mendoza]

How much is all these? How much are they all the Gator players getting paid? And I think that's going to have A lot of animosity within the locker room.

[Interviewer]

And people set an expectation, too. Imagine you're going to go. You're a player that's being recruited. You're going to go. Now look, it's like, okay, FSU, they're getting paid 50k here, you know, UCF, they're getting paid 25 Bama, they're getting paid 100. And then you're like, well, I'm going to go there then, because I'm seeing that they just are paying their student athletes X amount of dollars.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

And it just alters decision making now, too. It's, it's. That to me is kind of like the part that I wish they could have maybe put a little bit more emphasis on when they were kind of trying to build this program out of all nil and, and some of these other things that the NCAA is doing right now. But right now it's like highest bidder just go there, you know, and then what's, what's, what it's creating is these players aren't even folks so focused on football. Obviously they're extremely talented and they have every right to go to these programs. But, but they're so more worried about their personal image as a person. Right. And building their brand and getting the social media followers and, and having all this hype around them. Because then what is it going to do? That big donor that's got a million dollars is going to say, hey, go over here. And I'll never forget the day that Travis Hunter got flipped to Jackson, Jacksonville State or Jackson State. Right?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Portnoy basically bought him for a million dollars, essentially. And because he was boys with Dion, and Dion got him to go there, but he was an FSU guy, number one recruit in the nation at the time, and flipped for a million dollars. Obviously they went to Colorado and he got a bigger platform and a bigger stage. But if you're thinking NFL, Jackson State or Jacksonville State was Jackson State, right? Jackson State, Jackson State. Jackson State was not going to give you the best shot of making it to the NFL because the NFL scouts, even though he might have all the raw talent in the world, are looking at him and saying, hey, you know what? You're not really playing against the best of the best, so how can we really accurately grade you to make it to the pro? He just took the money and rode. They maybe had a plan of action that Deion wasn't going to be there for a while and then obviously made it to Colorado and, and all that. But you, you can already see that people were altering decisions based off of the fact that, where am I going to go get the money? And I get it. Imagine being that kid that didn't have that comes from a rough, you know, rough neighborhood. Their mom is working six jobs. Their, you know, the brothers all share a bedroom, and there's six of them in the bedroom. Like, money is essential, but at what cost does it become a problem? Right? Like, obviously, there's the essential component that these kids deserve to get paid, but there's also. The component is like, greed and like you said, egos that get involved. And I think that creates a larger problem in the long term of all of this.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah, it creates a large problem. I mean, a couple of things I'll say about is football, first off, always. Everybody understands it's in the business. Football is a very, very physical sport.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Any point you saw, like, Jordan Travis.

[Interviewer]

Boom, that's a good. That's another good point.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Let's say. Let's say if he was, like, in his first year, boom, yeah, his nil value goes down at least like $500,000, you know, with a torn, like, like, destroyed knee and everything. Like, luckily, he's like, playing the NFL now, which is amazing for him. But it's very physical. I mean, you never know when your last snap is going to be. I mean, and you never know, especially, like, Drew Bledsoe, like, his last snap and he could come back, but, you know, never know, someone could rise up. So, I mean, the nil. I mean, especially with the transfer portal is that kids are entering the transfer portal now and they're getting these offers, and whether they go to these schools or not, they have value and they have leverage of their own school. They're like, hey, FSU wants to pay me 50, right? What are you gonna. Are you gonna match it or what's gonna happen?

[Interviewer]

Yeah. And then it's a mini NFL, basically.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And especially with the egos and stuff like that, with the brotherhood. Like, one thing you see about the Columbus. Well, I think Columbus is so great at football now is the brotherhood. The culture is established, and I mean, we all go work out there, like you said.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like Jordan, you know, like Elijah Roberts, Henry Parrish, Xavier Henderson, Shiloh Conway and Trinity Conway. I mean, you just see all the Columbus guys working out there, and we're all working is because we were together for three, four years. Transfer portal. You're me and you are boys. And let's say you're the receiver. They bring in somebody and he starts right over you because they pay Him. That creates a little bit of tension in the locker room.

[Interviewer]

Absolutely.

[Fernando Mendoza]

You know, we've been boys for four years, and all of a sudden they bring somebody else in. That could throw off the entire locker room dynamic. Very true. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

[Interviewer]

Chemistry.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Our boy Johnny.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Like, he was the guy. Now all of a sudden, you're bringing somebody else in. Oh, you're bringing someone else. In my position. You don't believe in me. You're paying him more than me. So it gets really, I mean, is. It's a fierce landscape, and I mean, hopefully some regulations get put on.

[Interviewer]

It's going to take a while, I think, to balance out. I mean, I think it was the inevitable of what was always going to happen.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Sure.

[Interviewer]

But it was just like. I think they just said, we're going to open the floodgates up and we're. We're going to figure it out as we go. I mean, the reality is the, you know, college football was making a ton of money, you know, so they had to make a way for everybody else to kind of benefit on the player side of it. But they kind of just said, it's the wild west and we'll figure it out as we go, and we don't really care what happens in between. But I mean, eventually, with all this money that's going to be poured, you're going to assume that there's going to have to be some sort of, like, cap.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. I mean, you would think so, but you never know. Especially with. I saw a lot of, you know, private equity. They want to get into college football. That it's been like a whole Saudis are. The Saudis are talking to the Saudis.

[Interviewer]

About trying to buy them out to go to another conference.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So, I mean, it's. I mean, it is crazy. But the one thing I will say, and the one hope it has for a lot of players is, like you said, a lot of players aren't really focusing on football now.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

You know what I mean? There's a ton of, like, YouTube channels and this. Ton of, like, all this ways you can monetize all these other distractions, which is great because they're monetizing. But for the people who, you know, have that Tom Brady mentality, that Kobe Bryant mentality, whatever you want to deem it as, there is so many distractions if people are getting so, so distracted that it's. I would say that it's pretty. Not easy, because nothing's easy, but it's easier than ever to get to the NFL because kids want to stay an extra one or two years to get paid more. Kids are now like, hey, let me just. I'm doing social media now. You know, and so if you were to be a college player who would grind back in the day, everyone used to grind head down. No, everyone's like, I need to make the league for the money. You know, no matter what neighborhood or where you grew up, like, I need the money. I want to be successful in my career. So everyone puts their head down, grinds, grinds, grinds, grinds, grinds. Then you have that whole entire pack of players, like, hey, trying to enter their third year, the year of eligibility, or their fourth year. But now you have players who are grinding distractions, you know, like doing photo.

[Interviewer]

Like, photo shoots, just doing whatever brand deals, whatever. All that stuff that goes into it. Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And maybe too much at some point that if you were to really grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, grind, it could put you ahead. It could put you a step ahead. Not saying that it's a golden ticket, but it could put you a step ahead 100%. Then you would not have been exposed to. And kind of.

[Interviewer]

That's a good point. Before you almost look at it as, like an advantage compared to, you know, a distraction, essentially, where, hey, I'm not going to partake in that for the most part. You know, I might do a thing here and there, but my goal is football, and I'm going to double down on football because that's what I want to do.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. And like, I heard a story. It was a kid at. Don't quote me on this, but it was a kid. It was ACC Conference. It was a team. ACC Conference and a quarterback. You get four games for redshirt. And basically he played four games in the middle of the season because the starter got hurt. And they wanted him to start the last three games of the season, but he said, no, I want to forego those three games, not play, let someone else play, because I know my nil value is high and I want to transfer somewhere else.

[Interviewer]

Are you serious?

[Fernando Mendoza]

So they let another kid play who ended up being better than him, and then a kid's nil value dropped and he ended up transferring. But like, holy snap. But also, like, people need to realize, like, if you're not playing those three games, like, that shows other schools how you like what your character is.

[Interviewer]

That's exactly a quarterback.

[Fernando Mendoza]

You're a leader. But still, people are so enamored with their nil value. Oh, being treated amazing. I'm not being treated enough that they're Always looking for the quick way out. Hey, like, I, like, just look at what's in front of you. Like, you're starting at this ACC program, you know, like, yeah, this is amazing.

[Interviewer]

Opportunity, what you have.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Don't take for granted. Like, yeah, like, you might make an extra whatever, a couple dollars. I mean, the end goal should be the NFL. I mean, my end goal is NFL because that's where, you know, that's been my dream.

[Interviewer]

Stuff like that. That's awesome. That's a good. That's a good point. That's. It's cool hearing that, you know, from you as a player and hearing like, kind of like that internal point of view, because it's a monster of a topic right now.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Before we wrap up, we're gonna do like a quick rapid fire questions. So first question I wanted to ask you was, what's your favorite Cuban dish? Like, when you're back here in Miami, do you have like a go to dish that you have to go to?

[Fernando Mendoza]

The one thing I will say is it's not really a dish, but I would say it's a side.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Arroz con frijoles, everyone. I gotta have it. I. I was a fairly skinny kid, and now I've bulked up because these guys, like, I see on tv. But when they're hitting you in person, I mean, it is like, I'm like, how could someone even grow and be that muscular? Get up.

[Interviewer]

If I took one of those, I didn't show you.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I'll show you a picture after. Maybe put it on the screen. Whatever. This guy organization, he sacked me, and I'm like, this guy can't be real. Like, how's he really? He's like tall. I think I'm a tall guy. Yeah, he's way taller than me. Way stronger than me. Just so I needed to bulk up a little bit. And even from a young age, like playing in Columbus, like higher level football.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And so my mom would make the best arroz con frijoles. And it's not the same as just putting a can of white rice and a can of black beans. Like, there's. There's an art to making homemade.

[Interviewer]

It hits different.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It hits different. So I would say that's. That's my thing right there.

[Interviewer]

Do you have a favorite route that you like to throw?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Oh, okay. So I would say. I mean, to be honest, whatever gets me the completion would be the right answer, and whatever gets the ball to my playmaker the easiest. But I would say my favorite play, I would say kind of like with the routes, I mean it needs to be like a bread and butter play. I love especially for us, I love the play action plays as we have amazing running back and amazing offensive line running back Jayden. He's like ranked the third running back in the nation this upcoming season. So everyone bites up. We have like an either a nice big post go or corner route and a couple overs to one of my best friends at tight end, Jack Endries.

[Interviewer]

Hell yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And then a couple people in the flat that's easy to check down to. So those are some of my favorite plays. But whatever Coach Blush calls, shout out Coach Blush and Coach Gilbert. So whatever they call them, I'm good with.

[Interviewer]

You're good with that?

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What's, what's the game day playlist look like?

[Fernando Mendoza]

So funny enough, my philosophy changed on that midway through the season as a quarterback. The week of the Oregon State game, the reason I was in there 7 to 9pm Wasn't because I was working out or wasn't because you know, anything physical because at that point the work's done. You're not going to do anything in a week that's going to elevate your game major from you know, maybe like a mid performance to an amazing performance.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fernando Mendoza]

That work goes in the off season. You just gotta stay healthy mentally. A quarterback, it's like studying for a final every week. I have an entire routine every week. Saturday game, we win, happy, whatever, celebrate with my teammates. Sunday come in. I need to at least watch and label four games of that team, whether it's previous season. If he's a DC at another school, watch that team he was the year before. I need to watch these four games. Mondays, first downs, first down and tens. Tuesdays second downs. Wednesdays third downs, third. Wednesdays third down, third downs. Thursday we have like red zones, a special situation, like two minute fourth downs and all that stuff. And then Friday, kind of like a little test. So what I'll do is I'll play those four games back and I'll be like pause the pre snap and I try to go through this pretty quick. I'd be like hey, what coverage are they playing? You know what play what I call here. So I kind of have the call sheet there and I'm like hey, we'll play what I call here. And then me and the O.C. we kind of go through it. So when I'm already I'm there. We're doe Campbell. It's third and three. I'm like all right, Wednesday I already know all the Coverages, they do third and three. So I'm like, I'm expecting this call and this call and the play calls, the OC calls it. I'm already ready for it. And I'm like, we're on the same.

[Interviewer]

Mentally kind of viewing exactly what to expect in that situation.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Yeah. So I'm going through my notes the entire week. And that's why you see quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady so successful. They're not as talented as Patrick Mahomes or all these other guys physically.

[Interviewer]

But their preparation.

[Fernando Mendoza]

But their preparation. And that's the thing is when I listen to all the music, especially the music that gets disposed in the football space of all, like the rap and hip hop, it kind of clouds my brain.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

It's like the game's so hyped up. I'm getting so hyped up, I can't think straight. You know, I'm getting so hyped. I'm going with the momentum quarterback. I'd play by play because you can't go with momentum. You need play by play. Hey, new player, you got to stay grounded.

[Interviewer]

And you got to stay.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I stay grounded. The moment you go with the waves, I mean, that's. That's when it gets a little risky. Because, yeah, I can go up, but as soon as you go up, one or two back completions, you go down and the team goes down. So actually, like, I saw Josh Allen, he actually listened, like, the classical music or like, it was like reggae or something, like very chill. And so I started doing that, but then the end, I just stopped. On game days, I just don't listen to music really, because it clears my head. And that's something that I find a lot more clarity.

[Interviewer]

It's just you just getting in your head and just.

[Fernando Mendoza]

I'm thinking about it. Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Allowing you not to have any external distraction. Just literally you thinking and visualizing everything.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Visual visualization is key. And one of my mentors, Mike Paloski, who played a cow when they were number nine in the nation and played many years pro, he said the biggest thing that took a step up in his game was visualization. So that's something that I'm working on now a lot that hopefully I can implement this season.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, you. You see that a lot with a lot of the biggest athletes across the board. Golf, you know, golfers are really big about the visualization because that's such a mental drain, essentially, where you don't have a team around you to, you know, elevate you or motivate you. It's it's you thinking about the shot and not getting too much in your head when you're standing over that ball. You know, football, obviously, same thing. Baseball, same thing where they're there before the games, visualizing every scenario in their head, you know, and visioning, go make that play, you know, to left center field, where I might have to be full sprint and make that play on that wall.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Right.

[Interviewer]

Or the throw at home or the pitch that I got to throw. You know, like, all that's in your head. And it's a good point because, yeah, music, emotionally can get you up.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Right.

[Interviewer]

You know, it has that effect, but like you said, it can actually dilute it because you're not thinking about the things that are going to go into your actual performance.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Exactly, exactly. And some of those, like, visualization, one of the big things you visualize, like, especially in those pressure moments. So when all the adrenaline and cortisol runs through your body, you recognize it and you're like, okay, I'm not gonna let this affect me, because it's like fight or flight. You don't. You don't want to. A lot of people get scared in the big moment. And there's a couple moments last year that I was like, oh, shoot, like, I'm in this moment, you know, like, it's just like, hey, when you play, like, what are you. What are we gonna do? I'm talking to myself.

[Interviewer]

Yeah.

[Fernando Mendoza]

And being with a visualization this year, I mean, visualize that play. Hey, it's a game when you play, you know, let me recognize those feelings. And then I take it in order to not have the flight, but in. To take all that energy and put it into the fight. And I'm ready for those situations now, and that's something that I'm really looking forward to have this season.

[Interviewer]

That's awesome. That's. That's. That's powerful stuff right there. Like, I mean, good for you, dude. Yeah, like, that's. That's impressive because that. That showcases a powerful human being, in my opinion. Like, you know, I mean, I'm sure you've seen the. The Kirk Cousins thing.

[Fernando Mendoza]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Interviewer]

That's what that reminded me right there. I was like, yeah, you know, and that's.

[Fernando Mendoza]

That.

[Interviewer]

That. It shows. It shows, man. So good for you. Like, we're rooting for you. I think it's going to be an awesome season and keep doing what you're doing. We're definitely rooting for you. A lot of people are, and we're excited to see you play.

[Fernando Mendoza]

This.