Brotherly Love Helps Smooth Transition For Indiana Quarterback Fernando Mendoza

Alberto Mendoza has been with the Hoosiers for one season. Fernando Mendoza joined from California in the offseason and has noted the help his younger brother has given him as both share the quarterback room.

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks to the media after a spring practice on March 27, 2025. / Hoosiers On SI | Todd Golden

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been with the Indiana football team for months now since he transferred from California, but that doesn’t mean the acclimation process isn’t still in progress.

Indiana’s football team is at the beginning phase of spring practice. So when Fernando Mendoza needs a helping hand he can turn to a trusted source in the Indiana quarterback room.

His younger brother, Alberto.

“My brother and I would do everything together. We watch film together. We get better together. We have tough times together. So it’s been great. He’s been a stepping stone to me learning the offense and my early steps here in spring ball. I can't think of him enough,” Fernando Mendoza said.

Alberto is younger than Fernando, but he has been on the Hoosiers for a year already. Alberto Mendoza committed to Indiana in 2023 after Curt Cignetti took the Indiana job. Cignetti had originally recruited Alberto Mendoza to James Madison.

Even on Thursday, during Indiana’s fourth practice of the spring, Alberto was showing the way for Fernando, even if by example.

“My brother has been a tremendous resource. Today was practice four. He's out there dicing the defense up, he's a fantastic player, so when I'm able to lean on him on certain plays, how the play moves, throughout the plays, after plays, he gives me tips. Little key instances that you would get from experience in the offense,” Fernando Mendoza said.

The brothers both starred at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. The Mendoza surname could be attached to the Indiana quarterback position for a while.

But make no mistake about it. While Alberto Mendoza – who made a cameo appearance against Western Illinois in 2024 – has the experience within the Cignetti system, Fernando Mendoza is Indiana’s quarterback for the 2025 season.

Fernando Mendoza had a breakthrough season for California in 2024. He threw for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns against six interceptions. During his two-year stint with the Golden Bears, Mendoza passed for 4,712 yards and threw 30 touchdown passes.

The learning process continues for Fernando Mendoza, but he’s confident he’s getting up to speed.

“I would say the offense has a kind of simplicity, but also the complexity of it. There's so many shifts, motions, different RPOs and everything that we run,” Fernando Mendoza said.

“But in reality, when you learn the concept, when you learn the ins and outs and little intricacies of each play you're able to master the high level. Personally, I feel like I needed more reps at that to get to that mastery level,” Fernando Mendoza said.

Indiana's Alberto Mendoza (16) takes the snap during the Indiana versus Western Illinois football game at Memorial Stadium on Friday, Sept. 6, 2024. / Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK

And that’s where Alberto enters the picture again.

“I would say that having that (Indiana) playbook at home already, because Alberto was at my house when I committed from my parents’ house,” Fernando Mendoza recalled.

“In Christmas break, in the off time, I started diving into the playbook. Ever since, I’ve been trying to be consistent in the film room, in the playbook, in order to gain a mastery by the end of the spring,” he added.

Fernando Mendoza knows what’s expected of him in 2025 as far as performance is concerned.

Mendoza has the formidable task of following Kurtis Rourke at quarterback. All Rourke did was pass for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns as he led Indiana to a surprise College Football Playoff berth.

Preparation is what eases Fernando Mendoza’s mind as he tries to step into those shoes.

“When you're in the film room all day … When you're prepared and you know it like the back of your hand, you don't second guess yourself,” Fernando Mendoza said. “That allows you to have full confidence and not to be able to think about (plays) on the field.’’

Fernando Mendoza reserved special praise for new quarterbacks coach Chandler Whitmer. They get to develop together within Curt Cignetti’s offense.

“He is the best quarterback position coach that I've been around. So I've been extremely grateful to have him,” Fernando Mendoza said. “Although I'm a veteran, I've been learning so much, and I feel like I've been getting it better every day. I'm only on the up curve.”

“He's extremely detailed, extremely thorough with all his explanations. However, it makes it very digestible for the quarterback,” Mendoza added.

Fernando Mendoza also had high praise for Indiana’s newly rebuilt offensive line. He’s working with center Pat Coogan so the quarterback, quarterback coach and center are all in alignment as far as starting on the same page is concerned. Mendoza also thinks the Indiana line will knock his sack total down from 2024. At California, Fernando Mendoza was sacked 45 times in 2024.

As Indiana continues with spring practice, Mendoza feels good about where he’s at and where he can lead Indiana to in 2025.

“Football is all the same. Everybody runs similar concepts,” Fernando Mendoza said. “There's a lot of variables to it, but I feel like I'm picking it up from day one to day four.”

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