BERKELEY — Fernando Mendoza was certain he would never leave Cal, the only FBS school that offered him a scholarship.
“My opinion has not changed on this and I believe it will not change,” he said two years ago during the week leading to the Big Game. “Looking back on it, if I had any offer in the nation, I would choose Cal. The greenest pasture is here. I think this is the best situation for me.”
Barely a year later, Mendoza jumped into the transfer portal and found his new green pasture at Indiana. This season, while quarterbacking the unbeaten No. 2-ranked Hoosiers, he has emerged as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Cal’s current hot quarterback, freshman Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, certainly will have offseason opportunities to go elsewhere if he wishes. Schools will line up for his talented left arm, offering significant bounties, all legal in the evolving landscape of college football.
Days away from the 128th Big Game at Stanford, Sagapolutele seems happy at Cal. Certainly he has been productive as the national leader in total passing yards among true freshman quarterbacks.
Does that mean Old Blues will get the chance to cheer for him again next season? JKS, as he’s known, isn’t offering an ironclad response.
“My main focus is winning this game on Saturday, but I’m pretty sure, yeah,” he said Tuesday of potentially returning for his sophomore season.
Pressed on whether that constitutes a commitment, Sagapolutele said, “Yeah, I mean, yeah.”
Cal football general manager Ron Rivera was more emphatic when asked if he expects to retain the 19-year-old quarterback.
“I’m very confident,” said Rivera, a former All-America linebacker for the Bears who returned to campus last spring as GM after spending the bulk of his career as a player or coach in the NFL.
Part of Rivera’s job assignment is player retention and he said the Bears are better equipped this time around to meet the financial demands of the current system.
“We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve had some very good alumni engagement,” Rivera said. “These are people that are stepping up and wanting to make the commitment to the university.
“This isn’t just about football, it’s about the university. Players like Jaron, great players that you have, help elevate the profile of the university. Sports is quickly becoming the front porch to a lot of these college experiences for students.”
Already, Sagapolutele is enjoying some of the benefits of a system that allows athletes to be paid. He has filmed a TV ad for an East Bay Toyota dealership that shows him accepting the keys to a new Tundra pickup truck.
Asked about his acting chops, Sagapolutele joked, “I won’t be expecting the Oscar pretty soon.”
Cal has won four straight Big Games and Sagapolutele was on hand for last year’s 24-21 come-from-behind victory at Berkeley, walking the sidelines with Golden Bears legends Aaron Rodgers and Marshawn Lynch while on a campus visit.
“I’d say it’s a full-circle moment,” Sagapolutele said. “Being able to watch it last year and seeing the impact it had on not just the football team but the fans in general, it was really a blessing to be able to watch that.”
It was that same week when Cal wide receiver Trond Grizzell got his first impressions of his future teammate. “It was pretty special watching him throw the ball,” Grizzell said. “It was always on the money. I’d go back to the first time I played catch with him.”
The Bears’ belief in Sagapolutele, a starter from the opening game, has continued to grow.
“He’s a special person, first and foremost, then he’s obviously an extremely talented young man,” Cal coach Justin Wilcox said. “For a 19-year-old kid to start and play the whole season and go through things for the first time, I think he’s handled it exceptionally well.”