Cristobal Highlights Columbus High Bond With Fernando Mendoza’s Father Ahead of Miami–Indiana Title Game
The Miami coach praised his former offensive line teammate on The Pat McAfee Show, underscoring a personal thread running through Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza V’s championship moment.
Overview
- Cristobal and Fernando Mendoza Sr. were 1980s teammates on Christopher Columbus High School’s offensive line, a unit he lauded on McAfee’s show.
- Columbus ties span the matchup, with Miami assistant Alex Mirabal also part of that famed line coached by Dennis Lavelle.
- Mendoza Sr., now an emergency physician at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, previously won the 1987 World Junior Rowing Championships and later rowed at Brown.
- Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza V, a Columbus alum who began at Cal before transferring, won the Heisman Trophy and leads the Hoosiers in the title game.
- The national championship at Hard Rock Stadium is expected to spotlight the family connection, with cameras already frequently finding Mendoza Sr. in the stands during the playoff.