Mendoza did not pull this number out of thin air. Famously, it was the landing spot 26 years ago when the Patriots used a sixth-round pick on Tom Brady, now a minority owner of the Raiders. In an official interview with the Raiders, Mendoza said he could say a “quick hi” to Brady on the phone and that he would love to meet Brady in person one day. Brady was part of the Raiders team in Indiana’s Orange Bowl win over Miami, but Mendoza said he didn’t know Brady was there — despite Brady chasing the sideline — until after IU won the game.
The Stars feel aligned with the Mendoza-Brady summit soon enough. Mendoza is not working out at practice, but plans to throw for NFL evaluators at Indiana’s pro day, scheduled for April 1, in Bloomington. Mendoza is also very likely to visit the Raiders in Las Vegas. Mendoza has been open about what Brady meant to him as a player, and he doubled down on that admiration on Friday.
“Yeah, I mean, who hasn’t admired Tom Brady? I mean, more Super Bowl rings than anybody… anybody!” Mendoza said. “So this opportunity would be great. Tom Brady, I believe, is the greatest quarterback of all time — by a wide margin — and to be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him would … mean so much.”
“Especially to learn, and I’m all about learning. So from day one, you know, I have to learn a lot. It’s going to be a long journey and to potentially have a mentor like that, that would be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful.”
Mendoza led the Hoosiers to a 16-0 record last season and has won 19 of his last 20 starts in college football dating back to the 2024 season at Cal. He may be leaving for the Raiders, who have gone 7-27 over the past two seasons and are their sixth head coach since 2020, with Klint Kubiak taking over this season.
Still, Mendoza didn’t seem daunted by the potential challenge of helping turn around a down-and-out franchise.
“I mean, we see how the NFL rotates so much,” Mendoza said. “NFL, the difference is so small. There are so many games decided by so few points and the difference between, you know, a losing record and a winning record is a few drives, a few key plays.
“And then whatever team I’m on, I’m just going to take that advice and take the coaching from the coaching staff, and however I can best serve my teammates on that team, I’ll do the best I can.”
From a recruit no major college team seemed to want just a few years ago to a Heisman Trophy winner and national champion, Mendoza’s story has been well told. But he credited the middle part of that journey, struggling to succeed at Cal, with his development thus far.
“My first two years, out of probably 18 games I played – I don’t know the exact number, so don’t quote me on it – but a lot of them were one-goal games,” he said. “Had a lot of tough losses, whether it was (a 50-49 loss to) USC and Caleb Williams two years ago, whether it was a (39-38 loss) to Cam Ward and the Miami Hurricanes (the next year).
“I believe a lot of that experience of failing, which is so short, has helped me in this new area with Indiana, whenever we’ve gone behind and dug yourself in the hole with Penn State, with Oregon, with Iowa. I’m able to learn from those mistakes and turn them into successes, and then they would be able to help my teammates.”
Mendoza is two months away from knowing who his new teammates will be, but everyone else expects his new team to be the Raiders. Wherever it is, Mendoza laid out what he believes needs to be the formula for success and how he plans to integrate the new franchise.
“I believe with an NFL franchise, to lead it, you need equity, and then you need two things to build equity. You need, one, to play well. And that’s where all my focus goes in: football, football, football,” Mendoza said. “If you want to lead, you have to play well first. And then second is having the respect of your teammates. Through your work ethic, through your leadership, through your tenacity — how you deal with mistakes. And so those are all things I’m looking to work on.”