On Monday, Indiana University star quarterback Fernando Mendoza led the Hoosiers to their first national championship in program history. On Tuesday, he updated his LinkedIn profile.
“Monday night, my teammates and I had the honor of raising the National Championship trophy and bringing a CFB title back to Bloomington, Indiana, for the first time in history,” he wrote below his professional bio. “With the guidance of our coaches and the unwavering support of Hoosier Nation, our band of brothers made the unbelievable believable. Here’s what winning a National Championship taught me about B2B sales (kidding...kinda).”
Most of his teammates were most likely drained from a late night of celebrating one of the most historic turnarounds in sports history. Indiana, after all, entered the season with the most total losses of any Division I college program yet ended as national champions after a 27-21 win against Miami. But Mendoza — who threw for 186 yards and rushed for a big fourth-quarter touchdown — had enough energy to explain the valuable business lessons he learned on the field in a new post.
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“1. Believe in yourself: Four years ago, I was a two-star recruit playing high school football 30 minutes from Hard Rock Stadium with a dream of playing at the highest level. Two days ago, I became a National Champion in that same stadium, surrounded by the family who never stopped believing in me.
“2. Take the risk: When it’s 4th and 5 at the 12-yard line, go for it.
“3. Remember who got you there: Thank you to my teammates, coaches, support staff, professors, and everyone behind the scenes who helped make this happen.”
In the “Honors & awards” section, Mendoza wrote “National Championship — Issued by College Football Playoff — Jan. 2026.”
It isn’t his first update this season, just the latest. Last month, Mendoza added “2025 Heisman Trophy” after he won the award given to the best player in college football. He threw for 2,980 yards and 33 touchdown passes while rushing for six scores during the regular season.
He has spoken publicly about rarely using other forms of social media.
“There’s a lot of employers on LinkedIn that not only post good things about their business, they also put good things about their life,” he told ESPN earlier. “I don’t think it’s the same detriment of scrolling through an Instagram or Twitter.”
More from the national championship
Most people update their LinkedIn pages when they are on the hunt for new jobs. And while he’s about to graduate with a master’s degree in business administration and management, Mendoza is all but assured a multimillion-dollar opportunity in a matter of months.
Mendoza is expected to be taken with the No. 1 selection in the upcoming NFL draft. The holders of that top pick, the Las Vegas Raiders, had both owner Mark Davis and minority owner (and best quarterback of all time) Tom Brady at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, to watch the national championship game.
