$2.5 million QB changes LinkedIn profile after CFP national championship

Indiana closed an undefeated 16–0 season with a 27–21 victory over Miami in the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday.

Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza scored the decisive fourth-quarter rushing touchdown on a fourth-down play that widened Indiana’s margin and helped seal the program’s first-ever national title.

Indiana finished the regular season unbeaten and captured the Big Ten title en route to the No. 1 seed in the CFP, marking the deepest and most successful season in program history and culminating in the school’s first Heisman Trophy winner in Mendoza.

Shortly after the title game, Mendoza posted a candid message on LinkedIn thanking teammates, coaches, and Hoosier Nation while offering three lessons: “Believe in yourself,” “Take the risk,” and “Remember who got you there.”

In recent weeks, Mendoza has said he keeps only two social apps on his phone, LinkedIn and YouTube, as part of a low-distraction approach to training and media.

Fernando Mendoza has updated his LinkedIn 👀

And it's everything you would expect and more😂👏 pic.twitter.com/VALPLLbOyK
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) January 21, 2026

Mendoza transferred to Indiana after beginning his career at California. In 2025, he led the FBS with 41 touchdown passes while throwing for 3,535 yards, completing 72% of his passes with a 182.9 passer rating, and adding 276 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

Mendoza’s breakout season earned him the Heisman Trophy, Maxwell Award (most outstanding player), Davey O’Brien Award (nation’s best quarterback), AP College Football Player of the Year, and Walter Camp Player of the Year.

He also won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors.

After capping one of the most historic seasons in recent memory, Mendoza’s NIL valuation is estimated at around $2.5 million, placing him among the most valuable athletes in college sports.

Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. — Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (15) talks to the crowd on the podium after the College Football Playoff National Championship | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Scouts and draft analysts widely view Mendoza as a top prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft, with early projections linking him to the Las Vegas Raiders as the potential No. 1 overall pick. The Raiders have been searching for a long-term franchise quarterback since Derek Carr’s departure in 2023.

At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Mendoza’s combination of size, arm strength, production, and performance under pressure in marquee games has led many evaluators to label him a generational talent.

If selected first overall, Mendoza would join an exceptionally small group of players to win the Heisman Trophy, capture a college football national championship, and be taken No. 1 in the NFL Draft.

Historically, only Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, and Jameis Winston have accomplished the feat, with Mendoza positioned to become the fourth.

Read More at College Football HQ