I've been going to Cal football games since I was 5 ( and I'm 76 now). Being the eternal optimist, I always thought that the program had a future ( with the right coach and players and a real commitment by the University). That belief has been shaken to the core. After the Bug Game and "Cal forever," Mendoza was really commitcommitted to zcal because he loved the place. Let's face it, it's all about NIL money now (not a potential future on the NFL, which most players will never see(. Truly a sad day for the Golden Bears.
Nope, there are so many guys in the portal, not sure why a kid would leave if he was a 1 or a playing 2, at a school with lots of tv exposure. The athletic objective is to get to the league. Sturdivant was playing just like Mendoza. Both are average compared to the talent at a consistent top 15 football school. The money is entertaining, but not life changing if you live in the Bay Area and not frugal.
Mendoza is a good, not great, college QB that figures to be totally exposed at his next stop because the ramp up in pressure to play well and win will be drastic. He had zero pressure and very little criticism in Berkeley…he’ll face plenty now.
Fernando's mother has MS so bad she can't walk or do much of anything for herself. Nando's so close to her that he wants to be near her which he can't while at Cal. I feel this is the main reason for his transferring. The Mendoza family parks near us in the Stadium parking structure and my wife, who's a Registered Nurse, made friends with Nando's father Dr. Mendoza and learned a lot about the family closeness of them.
The alternative is the endeared servitude that we had before, but this makes collegiate sports worse than pro. At least in pros, you can sign them to multi-year deals.
I’m not saying it’s not good for the players and their future…It just makes it hard to be a fan.
Went to Cal game (hoops) over the weekend and it was: who are these people? The team had like 11 players graduate/enter transfer portal. So there are only maybe three people whose names I even recognize from last season. (Which also was a bunch of new names.)
J.Michael Sturdivant is back in the portal, I hope he got paid well because he must have found out that the grass was brown not green on the other side.
“98 yards with my boys”. Sorry Mendoza, you are intentionally leaving “your boys” behind. They and Cal are no longer your boys. As far as I’m concerned ur status as a “ Big Game Hero” is rescinded. I understand u put big money ahead of Cal (such a temptation) and 99% of college football players in your position would have done the same. Too bad you were not in the elite 1%……you came across that way in your MANY post game interviews (which Cal made happen for your and the programs exposure) and you were very convincing. So go get the money. See u down the road (from a distance).
He was all smiles and basking in the adulation Saturday at the basketball game when he was helping carry the axe around. Maybe he should have skipped that event, in retrospect it makes him look like an opportunist, at least in my eyes.
100%. He knew he was leaving. Very self centered but such is the case with youth. I don't think this is a bad kid but most definitely self-centered and inconsiderate.
Here is the current state of Cal (and Furd) football programs until drastic changes are made: The Bears and the Tree will operate as "JuCos" for the real Power programs (both football and basketball). We will continue to be doormats in a Power conference, winning 2 or 3 conference games/year, and maybe getting a bowl when we are 6-6, or get an NIT invite someday. But the real value of programs like Cal and Stanford to the Power conferences will be places where 1 star or 2 star or overlooked HS players can blossom into legit college players, and then be picked up through the portal by the big program schools with lots of NIL$. This is what Nando and Hunter have already done, and possibly Jadyn and JET will do as well. I don't see Cal and Furd relegated to lower conferences, as the Power conferences still need teams like Cal/Furd that are in a Power conference but operate as 1) doormats for the big programs to beat up, and 2) places in the conference where new/missed talent can be discovered and then poached via the portal with NIL$. With the current AD and coaching leadership, the Golden Bears are in a perfect position to play this role for the Power Conferences for a long time to come, just as we have for the past 15+ years (2009 was the last year Cal had a winning conference record). Very sad, but also very true...
Forgot to add that the ACC conference and their other member schools are the big winners - as they only have to pay Cal and Furd (and SMU) a 30% share of the revenues received through 2030. So the ACC teams get their doormats/talent development at a 70% discount. Pretty sweet for the rest of the ACC, but not for Cal/Furd.
And actually, in hindsight that drive may have been his final one for Cal if he doesnt play in the bowl. Could explain some of his raw emotion after the Big Game.
The writing was probably on the wall when Hunter entered the portal. I assume Mendoza waited until he had a chance to talk to Harsin. Whatever he heard wasn’t enough.
The coaching staff disrespected Fernando when they brought in a transfer to compete with him in camp. When they didn’t name Fernando the outright starter to begin the season. When they made him split snaps in game one. Why would Fernando want to go through all of that again when he can go somewhere to be QB #1 from day one?
This never should have been a “football decision”. Fernando made the difference last year and he was the offense this year. He should have been in the inner circle with Ott. Now, as fans, we are the ones on the outside looking at the ruin of what was our team.
Oh Boo Hoo for Fernando. He had to continue competing for his starting role. That’s D1 athletics. I’m sure he left for the money, pure and simple. And I’m equally sure the money is in the hundreds of thousands.
You're right. I had forgotten about the disrespect shown to Fernando at the beginning of the season. We will probably never know how much that factored into his decision, but it's been awhile since I bashed Justin. If I could've, I would have fired him through the TV back in 2017 after the failed 2-pt. conversion 2OT loss to Arizona. How much anguish would Cal fans been spared?
Haha seriously! And I get it, Wilcox has probably forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know, but when you see the results on the field, it’s like wtf are fans supposed to think? There was a serious qb competition coming into this year to the point they were splitting reps in game 1? What are these football savants seeing that we aren’t lol???
My favorite is the former HS HC/LB coach on this board that questions the Cal fandom of anyone that dares to ask whether an obviously overmatched HC with a .348 winning % v conference foes over 8 frigging seasons is right for the job. It’s laughable really.
I wonder if the O-line is a major factor, even more than money. I think it would be for me if I'd taken the beating Mendoza has for the last 2 years. Money and being close to family are all good and well, but those can be achieved post college. But CTE lasts a lifetime...
For anyone interested in tracking who's in the Transfer Portal this site is great; you can sort by team, position. etc So far Cal has only a handful in the portal compared to many other schools (UCLA, USC, Wash State, Colorado, etc....) but that's likely to change in the next few days.
I agree. I think Rod provodes some interesting insight from the perspective of an ex player, but I think he way over estimates how much other factors beyond money could help Cal retain players...maybe in the pre NIL days, but now money talks.
Cal gave this guy a shot coming out of high school when no one else did (Yale hardly counts as a football team) and then gave him the opportunity to start last year. If not for Cal this guy would be on a bench somewhere. But in this era of professional college football the words class and loyalty are long gone from the vocabulary. Sad state of affairs.
Cal didn’t give him the opportunity to start, he earned the opportunity to start. And coming into this year, he was clearly the best option and yet Wilcox and his merry band of buffoons ran a qb competition into week one. Nando basically single-handedly dragged us to bowl eligibility two seasons in a row. Wilcox should be charged criminally with assault for what he subjected Nando to behind completely incompetent offensive lines. I blame him 0% for leaving.
You meant 100%. I hear you that he “earned” his starts, but often times in major college athletics it’s not enuf to “earn” playing time: the coach has to acknowledge that you earned it and give you playing time. Once he got significant playing time he shined.
True . There’s probably over 500,000 at stake. Not a bad pay day for a 20 year old college (professional) football player with 2 more years of eligibility.
Perhaps it's time to quit trying to play with the big boys and join the new Pac 12. Stanford is in the same boat; they've already had 16 players, including both QBs enter the portal in the first two days (Ashton Daniels has already committed to Auburn).
As much as we might wish otherwise, me thinks Cal can never attract the kind of coaches and players they'd need to be competitive at the top levels.
We'd have to cut most of the nonrevenue sports if we dropped down to the Pac-12. Our athletic department has always prioritized protecting the nonrevenue sports.
The one thing that is clear about this new world of college athletics is that as turbulent as things are, these can change very quickly. See ASU and Indiana.
I know, but nothing needs to stand forever. We have had different entry requirements under different admins. And we've moved on from coaches for the same or less. Hell, we even fired Tedford once we started losing.
I've been going to Cal football games since I was 5 ( and I'm 76 now). Being the eternal optimist, I always thought that the program had a future ( with the right coach and players and a real commitment by the University). That belief has been shaken to the core. After the Bug Game and "Cal forever," Mendoza was really commitcommitted to zcal because he loved the place. Let's face it, it's all about NIL money now (not a potential future on the NFL, which most players will never see(. Truly a sad day for the Golden Bears.
Nope, there are so many guys in the portal, not sure why a kid would leave if he was a 1 or a playing 2, at a school with lots of tv exposure. The athletic objective is to get to the league. Sturdivant was playing just like Mendoza. Both are average compared to the talent at a consistent top 15 football school. The money is entertaining, but not life changing if you live in the Bay Area and not frugal.
Mendoza is a good, not great, college QB that figures to be totally exposed at his next stop because the ramp up in pressure to play well and win will be drastic. He had zero pressure and very little criticism in Berkeley…he’ll face plenty now.
Fernando's mother has MS so bad she can't walk or do much of anything for herself. Nando's so close to her that he wants to be near her which he can't while at Cal. I feel this is the main reason for his transferring. The Mendoza family parks near us in the Stadium parking structure and my wife, who's a Registered Nurse, made friends with Nando's father Dr. Mendoza and learned a lot about the family closeness of them.
The alternative is the endeared servitude that we had before, but this makes collegiate sports worse than pro. At least in pros, you can sign them to multi-year deals.
I’m not saying it’s not good for the players and their future…It just makes it hard to be a fan.
Went to Cal game (hoops) over the weekend and it was: who are these people? The team had like 11 players graduate/enter transfer portal. So there are only maybe three people whose names I even recognize from last season. (Which also was a bunch of new names.)
J.Michael Sturdivant is back in the portal, I hope he got paid well because he must have found out that the grass was brown not green on the other side.
Should we get him back?
“98 yards with my boys”. Sorry Mendoza, you are intentionally leaving “your boys” behind. They and Cal are no longer your boys. As far as I’m concerned ur status as a “ Big Game Hero” is rescinded. I understand u put big money ahead of Cal (such a temptation) and 99% of college football players in your position would have done the same. Too bad you were not in the elite 1%……you came across that way in your MANY post game interviews (which Cal made happen for your and the programs exposure) and you were very convincing. So go get the money. See u down the road (from a distance).
He was all smiles and basking in the adulation Saturday at the basketball game when he was helping carry the axe around. Maybe he should have skipped that event, in retrospect it makes him look like an opportunist, at least in my eyes.
100%. He knew he was leaving. Very self centered but such is the case with youth. I don't think this is a bad kid but most definitely self-centered and inconsiderate.
Here is the current state of Cal (and Furd) football programs until drastic changes are made: The Bears and the Tree will operate as "JuCos" for the real Power programs (both football and basketball). We will continue to be doormats in a Power conference, winning 2 or 3 conference games/year, and maybe getting a bowl when we are 6-6, or get an NIT invite someday. But the real value of programs like Cal and Stanford to the Power conferences will be places where 1 star or 2 star or overlooked HS players can blossom into legit college players, and then be picked up through the portal by the big program schools with lots of NIL$. This is what Nando and Hunter have already done, and possibly Jadyn and JET will do as well. I don't see Cal and Furd relegated to lower conferences, as the Power conferences still need teams like Cal/Furd that are in a Power conference but operate as 1) doormats for the big programs to beat up, and 2) places in the conference where new/missed talent can be discovered and then poached via the portal with NIL$. With the current AD and coaching leadership, the Golden Bears are in a perfect position to play this role for the Power Conferences for a long time to come, just as we have for the past 15+ years (2009 was the last year Cal had a winning conference record). Very sad, but also very true...
Forgot to add that the ACC conference and their other member schools are the big winners - as they only have to pay Cal and Furd (and SMU) a 30% share of the revenues received through 2030. So the ACC teams get their doormats/talent development at a 70% discount. Pretty sweet for the rest of the ACC, but not for Cal/Furd.
This breaks my heart but I’m rooting for Nando wherever he goes. Such a class act. Grateful he was part of the Cal family.
And actually, in hindsight that drive may have been his final one for Cal if he doesnt play in the bowl. Could explain some of his raw emotion after the Big Game.
“98 yards with my boys” will live on in Cal lore. He’s already a legend.
With a bold type asterisk.
Crushing…
The writing was probably on the wall when Hunter entered the portal. I assume Mendoza waited until he had a chance to talk to Harsin. Whatever he heard wasn’t enough.
The coaching staff disrespected Fernando when they brought in a transfer to compete with him in camp. When they didn’t name Fernando the outright starter to begin the season. When they made him split snaps in game one. Why would Fernando want to go through all of that again when he can go somewhere to be QB #1 from day one?
This never should have been a “football decision”. Fernando made the difference last year and he was the offense this year. He should have been in the inner circle with Ott. Now, as fans, we are the ones on the outside looking at the ruin of what was our team.
Oh Boo Hoo for Fernando. He had to continue competing for his starting role. That’s D1 athletics. I’m sure he left for the money, pure and simple. And I’m equally sure the money is in the hundreds of thousands.
You're right. I had forgotten about the disrespect shown to Fernando at the beginning of the season. We will probably never know how much that factored into his decision, but it's been awhile since I bashed Justin. If I could've, I would have fired him through the TV back in 2017 after the failed 2-pt. conversion 2OT loss to Arizona. How much anguish would Cal fans been spared?
The staggering incompetence of Justin Wilcox…
Sssshhh, you’ll get labeled a hater that thinks he knows more than the coach! ;-)
Haha seriously! And I get it, Wilcox has probably forgotten more about football than I’ll ever know, but when you see the results on the field, it’s like wtf are fans supposed to think? There was a serious qb competition coming into this year to the point they were splitting reps in game 1? What are these football savants seeing that we aren’t lol???
My favorite is the former HS HC/LB coach on this board that questions the Cal fandom of anyone that dares to ask whether an obviously overmatched HC with a .348 winning % v conference foes over 8 frigging seasons is right for the job. It’s laughable really.
I wonder if the O-line is a major factor, even more than money. I think it would be for me if I'd taken the beating Mendoza has for the last 2 years. Money and being close to family are all good and well, but those can be achieved post college. But CTE lasts a lifetime...
Mendoza's official statement: https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/fernando-mendoza-transfer-portal
For anyone interested in tracking who's in the Transfer Portal this site is great; you can sort by team, position. etc So far Cal has only a handful in the portal compared to many other schools (UCLA, USC, Wash State, Colorado, etc....) but that's likely to change in the next few days.
https://www.on3.com/transfer-portal/wire/football/
Funny….just noticed J. Sturdivant is in the portal again: why not…..it’s another big pay day.
Just listened to the Rod Benson podcast on Bear Insider. It was a whole lot of nothing. It was a waste of my time as I really learned nothing new.
I agree. I think Rod provodes some interesting insight from the perspective of an ex player, but I think he way over estimates how much other factors beyond money could help Cal retain players...maybe in the pre NIL days, but now money talks.
Cal gave this guy a shot coming out of high school when no one else did (Yale hardly counts as a football team) and then gave him the opportunity to start last year. If not for Cal this guy would be on a bench somewhere. But in this era of professional college football the words class and loyalty are long gone from the vocabulary. Sad state of affairs.
Cal didn’t give him the opportunity to start, he earned the opportunity to start. And coming into this year, he was clearly the best option and yet Wilcox and his merry band of buffoons ran a qb competition into week one. Nando basically single-handedly dragged us to bowl eligibility two seasons in a row. Wilcox should be charged criminally with assault for what he subjected Nando to behind completely incompetent offensive lines. I blame him 0% for leaving.
You meant 100%. I hear you that he “earned” his starts, but often times in major college athletics it’s not enuf to “earn” playing time: the coach has to acknowledge that you earned it and give you playing time. Once he got significant playing time he shined.
I mean I blame Nando 0% for leaving. But yea, I also blame Wilcox 100%.
Still, I can't blame him for not wanting to destroy his long-term health playing behind a dangerously incapable O-line.
True . There’s probably over 500,000 at stake. Not a bad pay day for a 20 year old college (professional) football player with 2 more years of eligibility.
Perhaps it's time to quit trying to play with the big boys and join the new Pac 12. Stanford is in the same boat; they've already had 16 players, including both QBs enter the portal in the first two days (Ashton Daniels has already committed to Auburn).
As much as we might wish otherwise, me thinks Cal can never attract the kind of coaches and players they'd need to be competitive at the top levels.
We'd have to cut most of the nonrevenue sports if we dropped down to the Pac-12. Our athletic department has always prioritized protecting the nonrevenue sports.
I agree. Cal can not compete at this level anymore. Football or basketball.
Face reality..
Basketball is already a disaster and ACC conference (other than Stanford) hasn't even started.
The one thing that is clear about this new world of college athletics is that as turbulent as things are, these can change very quickly. See ASU and Indiana.
absolutely but let’s keep in mind that CAL has the 3.0 GPA requirement…and an entrenched coach.
I know, but nothing needs to stand forever. We have had different entry requirements under different admins. And we've moved on from coaches for the same or less. Hell, we even fired Tedford once we started losing.