Jon Gruden praises $2.6 million QB after college football season

Jon Gruden lauded the play of a quarterback at a major college football program after the end of the 2025 season.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden talks with quarterback Derek Carr (4) during the second half against the Los Angeles Chargers | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images

The 2025 college football season came to an end when Indiana defeated Miami (27-21) in the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Jan. 19.

One of the most prominent storylines leading up to the game was the play of Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, whose unorthodox path to stardom and humble beginnings took the nation by storm.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pounder began his college football journey at California in 2022 and did not see the field, using his redshirt as a result. Mendoza appeared in nine games for the Golden Bears in 2023, throwing for 1,708 yards, 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. California finished 2023 at 6-7 overall with a loss to Texas Tech in the 2023 Independence Bowl.

Mendoza was the Golden Bears' starter heading into the 2024 season. He passed for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions in his final season at California. He entered the NCAA transfer portal prior to the Golden Bears' trip to the LA Bowl.

Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (15) gets loose before the Indiana versus Ohio State Big Ten Championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The lone season at Indiana for Mendoza was nothing short of spectacular. He finished the year with 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions while rushing for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.

He won the Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in addition to consensus All-America selections on the national scale. He was named Big Ten Most Valuable Player and All-Big Ten First team on a conference level.

Thanks to his heroics in 2025, Mendoza is projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft. Barring a trade, he will be selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the No. 1 overall slot.

The play of Mendoza was something that caught the eye of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden. He discussed Mendoza on a Barstool show in the week leading up to Super Bowl LX.

.@BarstoolGruden likes Fernando Mendoza a lot and hopes the Raiders build the roster for him pic.twitter.com/3Uns3ggun4

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) February 5, 2026

"He has athleticism, he has size, he has grit and toughness. He is a bad dude, man," Gruden said. "He's what the Raiders need, but they need (Klint) Kubiak, they need a system, and they need to start surrounding him with some linemen who can block."

Gruden knows a thing or two about the Raiders organization, having served as its head coach in two different stints. His first stint began in 1998 and lasted until 2001, when the Raiders sent him to the Buccaneers in a trade the following offseason. He finished the first stint 38-26 in the regular season and led the Raiders to a pair of playoff appearances.

After nine seasons as an analyst for ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcasts, he returned to the Raiders in 2018. The Raiders were 22-31 in his second stint, which abruptly ended in 2021 when Gruden was fired with cause.