Fernando Mendoza reveals details on how close he came to playing for Georgia

Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy this past season and led the Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship. It was an incredible season for the former Cal quarterback, who transferred to play for Curt Cignetti’s program last offseason.

But Mendoza now claims he came very close to ending up with the Georgia Bulldogs. In a radio interview with Sportsradio 96.7 & 1310 The Ticket in Dallas, Texas, Mendoza shared that his decision to transfer from Cal came down to Georgia and Indiana.

Georgia knew at the time it would have to replace Carson Beck. In December 2024, Georgia was preparing for its College Football Playoff game against Notre Dame. Gunner Stockton was set to be the starting quarterback for that game and was the widely presumed favorite to be Georgia’s starter for the 2025 season.

Even with that being well known, Mendoza still very much considered playing for Kirby Smart.

“It was a tough situation. I mean, I was really, really going in between the two,” Mendoza said. “And honestly, I was, I was confused. I was lost in the sauce because they were both great situations. And at this point, I was like, oh, this is a win-win, you know.”

Indiana was coming off a berth in the College Football Playoff and also had Mendoza’s brother, Alberto, on the team. Yet despite all of that, Mendoza claims he still wanted to commit to play for Smart’s program.

“I think there actually might have been even one time where I was going to call, like literally about to call Kirby to commit to Georgia,” Mendoza said. “And the call didn’t go through. And I was like, all right, let me just sleep on it for the night.”

Mendoza never did end up calling Smart back, as he ultimately ended up with Indiana. Mendoza praised Smart, raving about the UGA coach as a recruiter and program builder. He also noted the Bulldogs were a few plays away from facing Indiana in the national championship game this year.

As for why he picked Indiana, Mendoza pointed to Cignetti.

“I kind of went back to my morals and my values where coach Cignetti told me, hey, we, we don’t know what the success is going to be because all other schools are selling me on the success of the school and how the team is going to be.

“He’s like, ‘Hey, you’re going to become the best quarterback you can become here. I know I can develop you. I develop quarterbacks.’”

Mendoza is now the favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.