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Ryan McFadden
Multiple Authors
HENDERSON, Nev. — Quarterback Fernando Mendoza is a football nerd, but in a good way. Just ask his former high school coach, Dave Dunn.
As a 15-year-old quarterback at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Mendoza would skip eating lunch with his classmates in the cafeteria and take his food to Dunn’s office, where he would have a notebook and pen in hand to go over the practice plan.
Their routine meetings continued throughout Mendoza’s time at Christopher Columbus. Even in the offseason, Mendoza would go over what defenses are doing and come up with ideas for the Explorers to implement into their game plan.
“How many 15-year-old kids are wired that way?” Dunn told ESPN.
Mendoza’s meticulous preparation and dedication to his craft propelled him from being a three-star recruit in high school to becoming a Heisman Trophy winner and national champion at Indiana in 2025.
It is with these traits that the Las Vegas Raiders hope Mendoza can develop into the face of the franchise and help the organization achieve sustained success whenever the 2026 NFL draft’s No. 1 pick is called to be the starting quarterback. For now, Mendoza will look to use his studious techniques for Thursday’s preseason game against the Houston Texans (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
“[At quarterback], the expectation is to be the most prepared guy in the building,” Raiders coach Klint Kubiak said. “Out of the young quarterbacks that I have been around, I think he has the upper hand on them in that area.”
Dunn, who has been at Christopher Columbus since 2019 and even coached Mendoza’s brother Alberto, said Fernando doesn’t like to leave any stone unturned. In Dunn’s experience with Mendoza, nothing rarely caught the South Florida native off guard.
The coach attributed that to Mendoza studying and mentally preparing himself so that he could put the team in the best position to win games. Dunn recalled a moment during a regional final game in which Mendoza didn’t see anyone open so he had to improvise and scramble for a touchdown on the first drive.
Mendoza came back to the sideline, breaking down the play, step-by-step.
“Every once in a while, somebody’s going to throw something at you you’ve never seen before,” Dunn said. “… [Mendoza] knew nothing was open, and he knew where the pressure was coming from. He goes, ‘All right, I knew I had to move to my left. I had the X receiver as a possibility. Saw that he wasn’t going to get open [and] my only option was to scramble.'”
Dunn admired Mendoza’s attention to detail and studious habits. Whenever he saw Mendoza in his office or in team meetings with a notebook, Dunn loved it even if he thought it was out of the norm for younger players.
Mendoza was even preparing for Kubiak’s offensive scheme before he heard his name called in April’s draft. Last year in college, he watched a lot of NFL football on Sundays and film breakdowns of how Kubiak utilized the Seattle Seahawks‘ offense.
Since Mendoza has been a Raider, his notebook is still one of his biggest assets. During Raiders OTAs, quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan said Mendoza wrote out every pass play, detailing the progression and his footwork. Mendoza even gave his own critique of when he fell short or when he felt he did well.
It was one of the examples Sullivan used to describe Mendoza’s tireless work ethic and old-school approach.
“[Mendoza] didn’t have the neatest handwriting, but I appreciated him doing that. I said, ‘Maybe you could type this next time,'” Sullivan said. “But he went through that process, and he’s someone that I think a lot of his confidence comes from the preparation and the type of time and effort that he puts in.”
Mendoza understands he is behind the curve. Since the start of training camp, Mendoza has mostly played with the second-team offense, while Kirk Cousins has played solely with the starters.
Last week, Mendoza watched Cousins orchestrate a scoring drive at the beginning of the Raiders’ 27-14 preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals. And he still saw a significant gap between the 15-year veteran signal-caller and himself.
Still, Mendoza’s performance was good enough for Kubiak to call him an “ascending player.” He threw for 97 yards and a touchdown, showcasing that progress has been made. Mendoza, however, is a perfectionist, so he harped on his jitters during his first drive, the misthrows and misreads. Mendoza repeatedly mentioned what needs fine-tuning.
“Like you see Kirk has this time [and] anticipation. … That’s an area I’ve got to grow in,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza has been putting in extra work outside of the team’s training camp practices. He occasionally spends time with the centers on the roster to strengthen his comfort level at playing under center.
He has spent late nights in the indoor practice field, going through the team’s offensive script with some of his teammates. And following his preseason debut, Mendoza said he immediately began watching the film of his performance.
Mendoza continues to be an avid listener, soaking in the advice he receives from Cousins, his coaches and minority owner and NFL legend Tom Brady.
“You have to do everything that you possibly can to get that mental edge over your opponent, and that’s what he’s doing,” Raiders wide receiver Jalen Nailor said. “He still has a long way to go, but having Kirk as a mentor to him, Tom [Brady] as well, is really going to help his game grow.”
Fullback Connor Heyward said: “He wants to earn everything, which is that much more special. … When you have a quarterback like that, you know the future is very bright.”
Mendoza’s short-term memory has also been essential for his development. He tries not to dwell on the mistakes, such as the interception he threw in the red zone to Texans safety Jalen Pitre during the Raiders’ joint practice in Houston on Tuesday.
Instead, he views those moments as learning experiences and maintains an optimistic mindset.
“It would be letting my teammates down if I let that burden me throughout the next couple of series, because I wouldn’t be able to play on time and they wouldn’t be able to rely on me,” Mendoza said. “Tranquilo, which means ‘calm’ in Spanish. I say ‘tranquilo’ and move forward. You know, it’s all good.”
Dunn said it has been “surreal” to see Mendoza’s rise over time. When Mendoza was an unheralded high school recruit with just one Power 5 offer from Cal, Dunn knew all Mendoza needed was a chance, and his former star player would shine.
Cal gave Mendoza an opportunity from 2022 to 2024, and then the Hoosiers did in 2025. When the Raiders eventually hand him the keys to the offense, Dunn knows Mendoza will be ready because of the work he puts in.
“He is a lifelong learner when it comes to football,” Dunn said.
