Fernando Mendoza. Indiana University Athletics photo
This weekend, the college football spotlight swings to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremony – and one of the top contenders just so happens to be a business school student.
Fernando Mendoza, quarterback of the No. 1-ranked Indiana Hoosiers is one of the top players in the spotlight. He’s also a full‑time MBA student at the Kelley School of Business, a Haas undergrad alum, and the kind of person who treats LinkedIn like most students his age treat TikTok.
WHERE HE STARTED
Mendoza has been playing football since high school in Miami, where he started as a two‑star recruit before working his way up to become one of the most efficient passers in the country.
This season, he led Indiana to a perfect 13–0 record, their first Big Ten championship since 1967, and the program’s first-ever No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, says Daniel Flick with Sports Illustrated. He threw 33 passing touchdowns, completed over 71% of his passes, and even added rushing scores, making him the most productive quarterback in the nation. That’s not bad for someone who once wasn’t listed among preseason Heisman contenders.
Over the years, Mendoza has managed to make a name for himself in a very different setting: the business classroom.
He started his business education on the west coast. After three seasons at UC Berkeley, where he earned his undergraduate degree from the Haas School of Business, he transferred to Indiana to pursue an MBA at Kelley.
The move cost him his scholarship, but he made up for it with some endorsement deals. One of the first things he did with his NIL money was pay for the last two classes he needed to graduate from Cal.
BOTH A SCHOLAR & AN ATHLETE
When you look at Mendoza’s LinkedIn profile it is really quite impressive. He’s interned at real estate investment firms ACRE and Newmark, spending his summers analyzing deals and working out – all while keeping a whiteboard full of action items like a consultant prepping for case interviews.
Kathleen Elkins from Business Insider called Mendoza this year’s best college football player, and said he’s an “investing enthusiast with a stacked LinkedIn profile.”
Mendoza is very focused on his football and business his career paths, saying “the only social media that’s on my phone right now is LinkedIn and YouTube.” Laine Higgins from the WSJ reported Mendoza’s mom said he is very financially responsible and, “he doesn’t spend any money on himself… all he does is invest.”
As Mendoza heads to New York this weekend, he represents both Indiana football and the university’s business students. Regardless of the Heisman outcome, he has positioned himself for a strong post‑college career.
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