INDIANAPOLIS — Soon-to-be college graduates spend their final months at school engaging in the all-important job search. No matter the profession, there’s uncertainty at one point or another.
Fernando Mendoza is no different.
The Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback is viewed as the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, held April 23-25. Still, he’s aware of his current job status: unemployed. His job search is in its most critical steps at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
“Well, right now, I’m unemployed,” Mendoza said Friday inside the Indiana Convention Center. “I have no job. So, this is my job interview right now, and like everyone says, it's the most important job interview of your life.”
The Las Vegas Raiders’ league-worst 3-14 season in 2025 earned them the top pick. After firing Pete Carroll at season’s end, they hired Klint Kubiak as the organization’s new head coach. Kubiak is coming off a Super Bowl victory as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive coordinator.
Mendoza said he was “lucky enough” to have a formal interview — which last 18 minutes and are conducted in the Lucas Oil Stadium suites — with the Raiders.
“I thought it was a fantastic interview,” he said. “The coaching staff was in there. We went over some of my preview plays — drew some plays on the board. I thought it was a great meeting.”
Las Vegas’ coaching staff taught Mendoza a play, showing him the progression their quarterbacks use. It was like Indiana’s, he said. The signal caller deemed the staff “very football savvy.”
But the pick hasn’t been turned in yet, and it won’t be for nearly two months. Mendoza recognized anything can happen in the draft. He’s just excited for an opportunity to play in the NFL.
“Whatever team drafts me, I’m grateful,” Mendoza said, “whether it’s the No. 1 pick or whether it’s the 199th pick.”
Mendoza won’t be the 199th selection — in the sixth round — like his football idol Tom Brady was.
Brady, who won an NFL record seven Super Bowls over his 23-year career as a quarterback, owns a minority stake in the Raiders but wasn’t in attendance for the meeting. Still, he interacted with the 22-year-old signal caller virtually.
The two said “Hi” on the phone as Mendoza walked into the interview room. It was “very special” for Mendoza.
“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, and especially to learn, and I'm all about learning,” Mendoza said. “So, from day one, I've got to learn a lot. It's going to be a long journey.”
Mendoza’s LinkedIn status only changed to “#OpenToWork” after leading Indiana football to a perfect 16-0 season capped with a national championship victory. The Miami native set numerous program records in his lone season in Bloomington after three at the University of California, Berkeley.
The quarterback’s last five losses — all at Cal in 2024 — came by no more than one possession. The shortcomings provided Mendoza with valuable lessons he applied at Indiana.
But the NFL is different. It’s a league of players who were the best at their positions in college.
“I mean, we see how the NFL turns around so much,” he said. “NFL, the margins are so small. There's so many games decided by so few points, and the difference between a losing record and a winning record is a couple of drives, is a couple of key plays.”
And while Mendoza arrived at Indiana as a heralded transfer quarterback, he’ll face far greater expectations should he be the first overall pick. Organizations that use early picks to select their face of the franchise often aren’t patient with their selections.
Mendoza will be tasked with leading the organization at the sport’s most important position, which he said he needs equity to do. There are two steps to building it, and he’s looking to work on all aspects of them.
“You need, one, to play well, and that's where all my focus goes in. Football, football, football. If you want to lead, you first got to play well,” Mendoza said. “And then second, it's having the respect of your teammates, through work ethic, through your leadership, through your tenacity, the way you respond to mistakes.”
His focus on football leads to obsessing over all the details, he said. It’s what gives him the advantage, just like it did at Indiana under head coach Curt Cignetti. The latter said he’d never seen a player prepare to the level Mendoza did.
Winning is all quarterbacks’ priority, and it’s something Mendoza did all 16 times he ran on the field in the Cream and Crimson uniform. But he also wants to apply all the coaching he receives from the staff and best serve his teammates.
Mendoza appears a lock to be the No. 1 pick. Should the Raiders make him their franchise quarterback, he’ll don the Silver and Black in Sin City — and his job search will come to its end.
But it’s not the end of the line. The most critical parts of Mendoza’s NFL career lie ahead.
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames and jamesdm@iu.edu) and Conor Banks (@Conorbanks06 and conbanks@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana football offseason.
