Fernando Mendoza is eyeing a ‘mastery level’ of the Indiana football offense. So far in spring practice his work ethic and preparation have him well on his way to doing so

Indiana football has been through only four practices this spring but transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza continues to impress his teammates and coaches as he makes the adjustment into a new system and scheme.

When he went into the transfer portal after two successful season at Cal, he was highly coveted and that was shown by the programs that made it to his final list; Indiana, Miami and Georgia. As Mendoza continues to get adjusted to the Indiana offense, he’ll lean on his work ethic, something that has been highly noticeable by teammates and coaches at every level.

“Preparation builds confidence,” Mendoza said on Thursday during his first time meeting reporters. “Whether you’re in the film room all day, the entire week before the game, before practice, even a day or two before the walk through, or whatever it is — when you’re prepared and you know it like the back of your hand and don’t second guess yourself, that allows you to have full confidence and not think about it on the field. When you think about it on the field — you don’t want to literally think ‘oh shoot, what’s my read on this play’. When you have that total confidence and you see the look and remember talking about it with Coach Whitmer it’s an easy boom, boom, bam. It gives you a lot of confidence and allow you to play free.”

Related: Kurtis Rourke knows Fernando Mendoza will succeed with Indiana football but reminds him to ‘just go in and play ball’

Just as Mendoza is, Chandler Whitmer is new to the offense as well. Whitmer joined the Indiana football program as its quarterbacks coach following the departure of Tino Sunseri this offseason. Whitmer, who comes from the Atlanta Falcons, has a high pedigree and it’s a growing partnership between the two that has Mendoza excited about his potential growth at Indiana.

“Coach Whitmer is probably the best — he is the best quarterback position coach I’ve been around so I’ve been extremely grateful to have him,” Mendoza said. “Although I’m a veteran I’m learning so much and getting better each day. I’m only on the up curve. I’m extremely grateful to have him. He’s a phenomenal coach, phenomenal person. I’m blessed. He’s a special quarterback coach, nothing like I’ve ever had before.

“His mind. He’s extremely detailed. Extremely thorough with his explanations, however he makes it very digestible for the quarterback. He’s a very type A personality, so he’ll have all the details for the play, any scenario you can think of, all the different coverage combinations, he’ll have a distinct answer.”

Mendoza threw for 3,004 yards including 16 touchdowns and only six interceptions this past season at Cal. He completed 68.7 percent on his passes, second-best in the ACC. He had three games with at least 300+ passing yards and seven total of at least 275 yards.

Earlier this spring, head coach Curt Cignetti emphasized Mendoza’s ability to ‘make all the throws’. While the talent is there, the chemistry needs to be there as well. Mendoza enters an offense that returns Elijah Sarratt, an All-Big Ten selection in his first season with the Hoosiers, Omar Cooper and EJ Williams. It also adds the likes of Michigan transfer Tyler Morris, Appalachian State addition Makai Jackson and others.

So, while there is certainly a level of confidence that Mendoza brings to the group, it’ll come with some ups and downs at times as he and his new teammates build the needed chemistry.

“It’s been great. We have a phenomenal receiving core and that’s one of the main reasons I came here as well,” Mendoza said. ” … these guys are fast and they’re really good. It’s been a little bit of an adjustment to get used to these guys, build chemistry, how they get out of their breaks because they get out of their breaks extremely fast. Like pros. All those guys are future NFL receivers … It’s pushed me and I hope to be a point guard and get them the ball because that’s my job.”

While that adjustment is still ongoing, his ability to connect with his teammates is noticeable — as is the talent.

“First impression is he loves the game of football,” Sarratt said earlier this month of Mendoza. “Just going out there on 7-on-7 routes, he is throwing passing and yelling at us like ‘good job’ and ‘great catch.’ He flips the switch a little bit when he’s on the field and I like seeing that. He throws the ball great as you’ve all seen during Pro Day — he was spinning it, just out there he’s spinning it to me. It’s all a process. It’s not going to happen in one day so we are just building reps.”

Mendoza enters an offense that was one of the most explosive in the nation a year ago. The expectations are extremely high for the Cal transfer as he takes the playbook from Kurtis Rourke — a one-year player who ended the season in the top-10 of the Heisman Voting.

And while there has been the adjustment period, this staff holds the standard high for Mendoza despite being just a few weeks into his Indiana football career.

Until game one, the learning won’t stop and neither will the growth until Mendoza gets to that ‘mastery’ level.

“The big thing we’re going to be working on him this spring is getting the ball out of his hand on rhythm,” Cignetti said. “A lot of the concepts he’s been exposed to, they were probably called differently. Some of the concepts will be a little bit new. Most of the guys the first two weeks, they’re thinking and playing at the same time, and then the last two weeks they’re playing more than they’re thinking. I suspect it’ll be the same way with him. We’re very high on him.”

“The offense — the simplicity but also the complexity of it. There’s so many shifts, motions, different RPOs and everything we run. But it’s very concept based,” Mendoza said of IU’s offense.”As far as you learn the concept there’s so many ways to dress things up. But in reality, when you learn the concept, when you learn the ins and outs and the intricacies of each play, you’re able to master it at a high level. Personally I think I needed more reps at that to get to the mastery level, but that’s why it’s great having a veteran in the room (my brother) Alberto, and a great coach in Coach Whitmer.”

SEE ALSO: Everyone across the country will ‘come out of spring football undefeated’. But Indiana football is out for more. It’s a group that feels it still has ‘some things to prove’

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