Cal football fandom was rocked today by the announcement that redshirt quarterback Fernando Mendoza would be leaving the program via the portal and forgoing an appearance in the Bears’ LA Bowl game next week against UNLV.

Mendoza’s departure is particularly jarring for Cal fans because it comes just weeks after his famous late-minute “98 yards with my boys” drive that clinched the game in the Bears’ 24-21 big-game win over Stanford won in which he completed 25 yards on 36 passes for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions.

Mendoza began his unlikely path to stardom with a late offer from Cal after committing to Yale in 2021 and landed with the Bears as a fairly unheralded 2-star recruit. After spending the 2022 redshirt season as head of the scout team, Mendoza got his chance as a reshirt fosh, taking over for injured and struggling QBs Sam Jackson and Ben Finley and putting together a solid first season for the Bears.

Mendoza’s departure appears to have less to do with money, as the Bears reportedly made a very competitive offer, and more to do with a change of scenery and a fresh start. The third-year QB is rumored to play against 11-1 Indiana, which is preparing for its first college playoff appearance.

Mendoza announced his retirement today via From the walk across the glade to the sprint across the Memorial Stadium turf, I lived a dream and hope everyone can understand how grateful I am to have been given this opportunity.

“After spending considerable time in thought, consideration and prayer with my family, I have decided to enter my name into the transfer portal. Every person is faced with decisions that will inevitably shape their life and they rarely lack seriousness. But I made this decision for the sake of my footballing future.

“To my teammates, you are my brothers and always will be. I know you will all be great and be leaders in whatever you choose to do, football or not. The level of care, dedication and brotherhood you all have for each other is unmatched and I am honored to have walked the field with you.

“To Coach Wilcox and the coaching staff: You have all helped me mature and develop as a leader. Above all, you have had a positive impact on me as a person. Her influence on my life extended far beyond the painted lines. Your wisdom, guidance and compassion are things that cannot be measured and for that I am eternally grateful.

“For the Cal community, I sincerely hope that I was able to have a positive impact as a person and not just as a football player during my time at Berkeley. Whether I’m going to class on a Monday or going to Cal Memorial Stadium on a Saturday, I beam with pride. From the highest peaks to the deepest valleys, you have stood by us all. The enthusiasm and care you all showed has left a mark on me and for that I am extremely grateful.

“And as I move forward to explore my next chapter, I wish nothing but the best for the University of California, the UC Berkeley community, the Cal football program and Coach Wilcox. “I’m with you all forever Thank you for taking the chance and giving a young man the opportunity to achieve his dream.”

Fiat Lux,

Fernando Mendoza

Cal head coach Justin Wilcox was asked about his conversations with Mendoza before his announced departure, and whether he was surprised the redshirt sophomore made his move this week.

“I will keep all discussions private,” Wilcox said. “I think this is for the best.

“Surprised? Definitely disappointed. I don’t think anything surprises me more in college football. We did our best. He came here from Miami and made it into the starting lineup a year ago, started 18 games and gave us a run for his money everything he had in these 18 games.

“We did our best to support and promote Fernando. We did everything we could to keep him. And as I mentioned, these guys have to make tough decisions and I feel for the players at this time because there’s a lot going on. It’s very, very complicated. We don’t have enough time to talk about it, and I don’t necessarily think it would be productive to talk about it, but nothing really surprises me anymore.

“Nothing surprises me anymore. I think college football has changed dramatically. And I think when you’re there – as much as you probably look at it from where you’re sitting and see how different it is when you’re there, it’s just a 180 (degrees) from three and four years ago and like that Things are working now. And there are a lot more people involved, be it families, agencies and trainers, and there are always a lot of voices.

“I feel for these players, this complicated environment for them, and so we want to provide some stability, an environment where we don’t want to get overly emotional. And it’s an emotional time, and I think people are making decisions and emotions are running high, and I understand that, but we have to keep the most important thing – train these guys, support these guys and help them as best as we possibly can can.

“And then decisions are made that are out of our control. And then we have to think about, “Okay, what do we do next?” Planning a path forward. I think that’s a challenge with all of this. But I can’t tell you that I thought December was going to go a certain way, because the things you might expect could be turned on its head in an instant when it comes to players, coaches or whatever .

After sitting out the SMU game in which the Bears suffered a lopsided 38-6 loss in Dallas, Mendoza finished his season completing 265 of 386 passes (68.7%) for 3,004 yards and throwing 16 touchdowns with six interceptions this season. He also managed 105 net yards and two more touchdowns. He finished the regular season with a rating of 34^Th in quarterback rating at 144.59, which ranks him 19th^Th among the QBs expected to return collegiately next season.

Mendoza finished his Cal career throwing for 4,712 yards, 30 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.

In Mendoza’s absence, backups Chandler Rogers, CJ Harris and Frosh EJ Caminong will compete for starts.

Rogers was injured late in the Bears’ loss at SMU and was somewhat limited in practice, with Harris and Caminong taking most of the reps, but Rogers has worked his way back onto the field and could potentially earn the starting snap if he continues to improve.

“Right now CJ and EJ are taking the majority of representation. Chandler’s day by day, so we’ll see how he does tomorrow. He did a little more today and threw the ball. So it would be great to bring him back into the mix too. But CJ and EJ take the majority of the reps and they do a really good job.”

Wilcox noted that play-calling will be a collaborative effort among multiple coaches, presumably without former OC Mike Bloesch or former wide receivers coach Burl Toler, who is expected to take over the wide receivers coach position at UCLA. New OC Bryan Harsin will not be involved in game planning, according to Wilcox, and will be more involved in player staffing and recruiting over the next week after starting his job in Berkeley today.