Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who will lead his team against the Miami Hurricanes on Monday in college football’s title game, developed his love of the sport while attending St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove.
Monday night, 20 miles north of Coconut Grove, Indiana University and the University of Miami will stand head-to-head, IU chasing its first ever national football championship and The U looking for a major upset.
At the helm of Indiana’s “bunch of misfits” will be quarterback Fernando Mendoza – the Heisman Trophy winner, anticipated No. 1 draft pick, and proud Miami local.
Long before Mendoza suited up in his cream-and-crimson IU jersey, he was pulling on a red polo as a student at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Day School in Coconut Grove. The close-knit, private school of 320 students was where Mendoza got his start.
“I remember this blond little boy with a quick smile who always tried his very best to do the right thing,” his second-grade teacher Mary Jones says today.
Many of the staff at St. Stephen’s remember Mendoza, a 2015 graduate, the same way.
“Fernando was always, always kind and caring to everyone. A young student who understood empathy and was a good friend. And a smile that lit up the room,” said art teacher Ileana Nardo.
As Mendoza has emerged as a football star, he’s been just as highly regarded by the media and masses for simply being “a nice guy”, consistently thanking his teammates and family and crediting them for his success.
“His family was lovely and even his grandparents were involved. It’s easy to see where his character and goodness came from. He is so deserving of all his accolades,” Jones said.
His teachers say that kindness carried over into recess and onto the school’s playing fields, where Mendoza got his first taste of what would become a nearly 20-year sports career.
“Fernando always had great sportsmanship in P.E. class! My daughter was a classmate of his, and she would tell me that at recess he would always encourage everyone (including the girls) to play flag football with him,” said P.E. teacher Mary Aparicio.
Mendoza’s love for football was evident from the beginning.
In a copy of the school yearbook, a young Mendoza was listed as being known for “being a good football player, being a good friend, and loving sports.”
At Flag Salute, the St. Stephen’s tradition where students, faculty, and parents gather each morning to recite pledges and share updates, Inge Wassmann, Mendoza’s kindergarten teacher, said he was always eager to announce games and wins.
Although there was no official team at St. Stephen’s, Mendoza began playing football in elementary school as a member of the South Miami Grey Ghosts team. In his Heisman acceptance speech, Mendoza reflected on those early years.
“In fourth grade, I was a new kid on the park football team. Didn’t know a single teammate, and was fourth on the depth chart. By mid-season, I wanted to get out of there, I wanted to quit. My parents said I had to finish what I started. So, I learned to embrace my team, and that is when I fell in love with football,” Mendoza said.
Now the bright-eyed, sport-obsessed kid is helping flip Indiana’s football program on its head. When IU started the season, they were not highly rated, a team more noted for holding the record for the most losses in program history in the FBS, the higher of the two Division 1 football subdivisions.
The St. Stephen’s alumnus has led the team to its first undefeated season in school history and bumped them out of the top spot as football’s “biggest loser” (sorry Northwestern University).
And St. Stephen’s is all in to celebrate the man who is quickly becoming one of their most celebrated graduates.
“We have followed Fernando’s journey from Cal-Berkeley to Indiana and admired his accomplishments along the way, from being named a Scholar-Athlete of the Year and completing his degree in just three years to serving his community and being awarded the Heisman Trophy. His dedication to both his sport and his studies has always stood out,” said Liz Scholer, the school’s Director of Communications.
In honor of Mendoza and the matchup, the school hosted two “Shed Your Threads” days, where students are permitted to ditch their uniforms.
After Mendoza’s Heisman win, students wore red and white, and on Thursday this week they had the option of repping their hometown team in green and orange or Indiana’s colors.
Most sided with the ‘Canes, but in one household siblings Eva and Sebastian stood divided, as did fourth-grade team teachers Holly Montalvo, a Miami alum, and Charlotte Romano, an IU grad.
The school’s “Shed Your Threads” days were favorites of Mendoza when he was in school, Wassmann recalled, sharing how he never missed an opportunity to wear a Tom Brady jersey when he could.
Mendoza spent all of his young career in Miami, continuing his education at Belen Jesuit Preparatory School and Christopher Columbus High School, where he played on the school’s state-championship team in 2019.
Now he’s back in the 305 to claim something no Indiana quarterback ever has: a national championship.
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Of course, with the game to take place at Hard Rock Stadium, it’s irony on top of irony.
“It’s a very full-circle moment for myself,” Mendoza said, minutes after winning the Peach Bowl and punching IU’s ticket to the game.
Mendoza grew up in Coral Gables a mile from UM’s campus and the infamous Greentree Practice Fields, and like many local kids, dreamed of playing with the U on his chest.
It was only natural. Coconut Grove athletes have fueled the ‘Canes team for decades with all-star athletes, including Rodney Bellinger, defensive back on the 1983 national championship team, and 2001-2004 running back Frank Gore who went on to play for the San Francisco 49ers and Miami Dolphins.
But Miami did not extend an offer, and instead Mendoza spent his first three years at University of California, Berkeley.
“[They said] we might take you as a walk-on… that lit a fire under me. And that was a sad night, it was kind of the realization like, hey… I’m not going to be a Miami football player,” Mendoza said in an interview ahead of the 2024 season with Berkeley.
For his fourth year, Mendoza transferred to Indiana, where he joined his redshirt freshman brother Alberto Mendoza, a fellow St. Stephen’s alumnus and backup quarterback for the team.
Mendoza has played Mario Cristobal’s Hurricane squad before in a nail-biter of a game, on Oct. 5, 2024, with Berkeley falling a point shy in the fourth quarter, 39-38.
He’ll get a shot at victory again on Monday, this time with the No. 1 team in the country.
St. Stephen’s, split between supporting the local team or the “blond little boy with a quick smile,” will be watching.
