Did anyone else watch that recent podcast of Buss'n with the Boys? Fernando, O'Connell and Cousins were all on. I don't remember hearing this story before but apparently Mendoza actually called Kirby Smart to commit to Georgia but by pure miracle, Kirby didnt answer his phone? Ha
I knew he was close to going elsewhere and he had NIL offers almost double what IU offered but never that he literally called Kirby to commit.
Well, #### him then...
J/K (mostly 
)
The Lord works in mysterious ways.
Saw somebody on reddit cfb awhile back insisting Indiana was willing to pay more money, and the only reason Mendoza picked us, was we outbid Georgia and other teams trying to get him.
'Hmm, well, about that...'
I’ll have to watch the episode.
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@yothn Haven't seen it, but someone else said Fernando said in that interview he took 55% less to come to IU. I'd heard it was estimated he made $2mill last year at IU (which seemed high to me) but it's hard for me to believe that someone was offering $4mill, but I also don't think Fernando would lie. Guessing maybe he was closer to $1 mill maybe?
@kkott Yea, Fernando was $1.8-2M here. Top transfer QBs were getting close to $4M last season -- Beck, Mensa, etc. I don't doubt Vandy, along with UGA and Miami, were in that $3-4M range for Fernando.
And of course these are all general estimates. But there is enough reporting we can sort of figure out some broad ranges.
Especially after a couple early QBs were gone or strongly leaning, Mendoza must have been hearing 3+ million at least. Maybe 3.5 legitimately, as Tammany says. A lot of talk said top amounts were 5. ( !!! )
I think it not only helped his brother was here, as he says Alberto's knowledge and development impressed him, but it seemed Cig didn't waste time. Fernando seemed like our number one target right away. Heard Cig mentioned reviewing film on several QBs. But we know no moss grows under his feet. Georgia and others may have strung several guys along waiting for their 'top target'.
Vandy? With Little Diego already in the fold?@kkott Yea, Fernando was $1.8-2M here. Top transfer QBs were getting close to $4M last season -- Beck, Mensa, etc. I don't doubt Vandy, along with UGA and Miami, were in that $3-4M range for Fernando.
And of course these are all general estimates. But there is enough reporting we can sort of figure out some broad ranges.
@gros-louis yea makes no sense. I misheard him on that pod he talked about this. It was mainly Miami and UGA.
I'd also be pretty surprised if Vanderbilt had been in on anything. Word was always Miami, Georgia. (I think maybe Mizzou or Ole Miss?)
Besides, Vanderbilt would've needed to go to the portal to get a bunch of lineman 7-8 inches taller than the Pavia-sized group.
The unanswered call to Kirby has been a thing for a while now.
Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for. - Seamus Heaney, Irish poet and likely Hoosier basketball fan.
POTFB
Whatever price IU paid for FM, it was an absolute steal.