Alberto Mendoza is leaving no stone unturned as he prepares to carry on family name at Georgia Tech

ATLANTA – Chris Weinke, Georgia Tech quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator, attended the Heisman ceremony in New York in December on the 25th anniversary of him winning the award as Florida State’s quarterback.

He met the three finalists and their families over the course of the weekend before Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza won the award after the Hoosiers’ perfect season.

One month later, Weinke reunited with Fernando’s younger brother Alberto, who was looking for a new place to play quarterback after Indiana decided to bring in Josh Hoover to replace Alberto’s older brother at IU. After some speed dating-style recruiting, Georgia Tech and Alberto decided to make things official, and Mendoza has not once stopped trying to absorb every aspect he possibly can of Georgia Tech’s offense and football program.

“(The Heisman ceremony) was the one time that I've had a conversation with him that wasn't just strictly football,” Weinke said. “Ever since he stepped foot on campus here, every single conversation has been about football.”

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Weinke says Mendoza is relentless with questions for him and co-offensive coordinator George Godsey, who is in his first year in Atlanta after 15 years in the NFL, most recently with the Baltimore Ravens. Mendoza is learning the new offense in the facility first thing in the morning. He’s in the facility late at night. He’s around before meetings, after meetings, you name it.

Head coach Brent Key said he went home the other day and told his wife that Mendoza and Godsey “have their own little love language.”

Mendoza’s appetite for football is nothing new. Dave Dunn, the head coach at Christopher Columbus High in Westchester, Fla., just outside of Miami, told The Sporting News that Alberto had lunch with him every day for the two years he was the starting quarterback after Fernando left for college.

“Everyone's like, ‘Oh, you must have had these really deep, meaningful conversations,” Dunn told SN. “I go, ‘No, we talked about football and pretty much football only.’”

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Dunn saw how Alberto handled the challenge of replacing Fernando as the Columbus QB1. He lost just one game when he was healthy, and that was to the No. 1 team in the nation 42-35. He owns all the high school’s passing records, led his team to the most wins in a single season and reached the state championship in Florida’s largest classification. He was the state Player of the Year as a junior and completed over 70 percent of his passes with 58 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in his two years as a starter.

And yet, the offers from big-time programs did not come rolling in. He committed to Curt Cignetti at James Madison, then followed him to Indiana before he enrolled. He backed up Kurtis Rourke in Year 1 in Bloomington, then Fernando in Year 2. But when it came time for him to take the reins, he was again passed over at the FBS level. Does the kid with the same perma-grin at press conferences as his older brother carry a chip on his shoulder?

“He keeps all the receipts, I’ll put it that way,” Dunn said. “He’ll remind me years later of something I said, or something that transpired in practice that bothered him out of nowhere. He remembers everything.”

The Georgia Tech coaching staff is hoping he does indeed remember everything as they work to install a fairly complex system. Key said they are leaning into being able to give their players a multitude of plays, formations and schemes as they look to replace Haynes King.
 
“In all my years of coaching, we've not put this much volume in ever, and that's a credit to (Mendoza) because he can handle it,” Weinke said.

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Mendoza admits he’s a perfectionist and never feels satisfied that he has a complete handle on everything Georgia Tech is trying to accomplish. He compares notes with Fernando, who is learning his own pro-style offense with the Las Vegas Raiders this summer.

“It's it's kind of funny because (Fernando) is learning a Klint Kubiak scheme,” Alberto said. “We talk about some of the same protections, some of the same concepts, just comparing those things. ‘What do you think about this? He's like, ‘Oh, this is what we're doing for this, this, this.’ So I just get a another another view, another opinion on how to do something and how to see it. So it's been amazing.”

Alberto will get his first college start Thursday night when the Yellow Jackets welcome Colorado at 8 pm ET on ESPN. It is the headline game of the night for college football’s four-day Labor Day weekend kickoff, and there will be plenty of eyes on Fernando’s little brother.

But Alberto is doing more than carrying on the Mendoza name. He’s stepping into the shoes of King, a three-year starter and one of the more beloved players in school history. He had a Tebow-esque battering-ram style and humble nature that resonated with the Jackets, who reached three straight bowl games and contended for the ACC championship last season.

Key has tried to temper expectations around Mendoza, emphasizing he has yet to start a college game. But he was quick to name him the starter in the spring, making it clear there was no need for a quarterback competition in fall camp. Weinke says Mendoza has set the standard inside the football facility of what is expected. He’s not ready to predict how his quarterback will fare, other than to say he will be well-prepared.

“He’s competitive as hell,” Weinke said. “ And that will shine through when he is on the football field.”

Mendoza has a lighter side, of course. At an August press conference, he was asked near the end of the session to give his best impression of Godsey.

He put on a serious face, used a deep voice and said, “Alberto! We’ve gotta see that. Come on!”

The rest of the college football world is about to see what the next Mendoza can do.

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