Columbus High the center of attention as Miami-Indiana national title game looms
David Pugh has worked at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami for 28 years.
He coached football and baseball there in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and he ha’s been the school’s principal for the past 11 years.
But rarely has he felt as torn as he does this week.
Pugh’s wife is a major Miami Hurricanes fan.
But Indiana Hoosiers quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza Jr. and his brother, Alberto, were two of his all-time favorite students at Columbus.
Like so many of the alumni of the all-boys, Catholic private school known for its tradition-rich football program, it has been hard to choose sides when the Hoosiers, led by Fernando Mendoza, take on the Hurricanes, coached by Columbus alum Mario Cristobal, on Monday night in Miami Gardens with a national championship at stake.
“I’m on Team Mendoza, but it’s tough,” Pugh said. “I know the work that the Hurricanes and Mario and [Columbus alum and offensive line coach] Alex Mirabal put in. I’m not gonna choose. Let’s just have a great game and may the best team win.
“In the end, I don’t think Columbus can lose in this game.”
No matter who emerges with the trophy, Columbus is already a winner.
The Mendoza brothers represent the recent history of Columbus football.
With Fernando starting and Alberto as his backup, they have elevated Indiana to heights unachieved before, leading them to a 15-0 season, the nation’s No. 1 ranking for the first time and within a victory of the school’s first national title.
Cristobal and Mirabal are a connection to Columbus’ football history, having both played in the 1980s, coincidentally with Mendoza’s father, Fernando, Sr., who was an offensive lineman for the Explorers.
The Explorers’ connections to the Hurricanes also include freshman safety Bryce Fitzgerald, reserve offensive lineman Ryan Rodriguez and walk-on backup quarterback Vinny Gonzalez, the son of former Miami All-American offensive lineman Joaquin Gonzalez.
Rarely, if ever, has one high school had so many player and coach connections at the same time to both teams involved in such a high-stakes game.
John Lynskey, Columbus’ Ambassador of Alumni Affairs, has worked at the school for 42 years as a history teacher, assistant principal and football coach. He coached linebackers under former Explorers head coach Dennis Lavelle from 1985 to 1998, and coached Cristobal, Mirabal and Fernando Mendoza Sr. during those years.
Lynskey, like so many Columbus alums, coaches, faculty members and students, are trying to take in the moment.
“It’s a Halley’s Comet moment,” Lynskey said. “It’s surreal. But it is incredibly gratifying. The success of UM bringing back one of their own to right the ship, and he did, doing it Columbus style.”
Columbus, as a football program, has long been one of Miami-Dade County’s best and one of the top teams in the state.
The Explorers made a pair of trips to the state finals in 1980 and 1982. But in the past seven years, Columbus has won state titles in 2019, 2022, 2023 and a tri-county championship in 2020 when the majority of South Florida teams participated in an abbreviated season due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before this past season, which saw the Explorers struggle to a rare 4-8 season and lose in the second round of the playoffs, Columbus advanced to at least the state semifinals in five of the previous six seasons.
Overall, a total of 37 Columbus graduates have played for the Hurricanes. Ten of them have won a combined 15 national championship rings. And there’s been a Columbus starter on each of Miami’s five national title teams.
If Miami wins a sixth on Monday, Fitzgerald, who played a vital role in Columbus’ most recent state title team, could keep the tradition going. Fitzgerald has made four starts and appeared in all 15 games so far as a key rotation piece in Miami’s secondary.
His six interceptions are by far a UM freshman record, one of 10 UM players overall in the last 50 years with at least that many in a season and just the fifth true freshmen over the past 10 years nationally with at least that many.
“A game like this shows the level we play at Columbus and the level of football played in Dade County overall,” Columbus football coach Dave Dunn said. “A lot of people don’t realize that the last touchdown scored by Columbus in a state championship game was Alberto Mendoza throwing it to Bryce Fitzgerald against Jacksonville Mandarin — [UM starting quarterback] Carson Beck’s alma mater.”
The school’s connections to Monday’s game have brought Columbus a flood of interview requests and national spotlight in recent weeks never before seen.
The event has also brought alumni from different eras together. The school posted pictures of all the players involved in the national championship game on social media with the word “United” as soon as both teams clinched a spot in the game last week.
Dunn, who coached all the players involved in Monday’s game, said he’s hearing from people he hasn’t heard from in years.
“I’m hearing from friends I haven’t talked to in a million years,” Dunn joked. “My college QB at the University of San Diego, who I haven’t talked to in 10 years, sent me a text this week.”
The Explorers already had a signature moment in early December when they celebrated Mendoza winning the Heisman Trophy. Alums flocked to a “watch party” to see Mendoza make history as the first South Florida-based quarterback to win college football’s greatest honor.
“We’ve had some great players at Columbus, but not one of us ever said that kid will win the Heisman Trophy,” Lynskey said. “The fact that Fernando, under recruited, persevered and willed himself to success is something we’re all immensely proud of.
“To have the stars align like this? If this was a Hollywood script, they’d tear it up. They’d say no way, no one will buy this.”
The school is planning another “watch party” for its students, staff and alumni on Monday night. Coincidentally, Columbus is also having its school Hall of Fame ceremony this weekend.
It will all build up to a fever pitch on Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
“The way we’re being represented by Mario, Alex, Fernando and the others playing, we could not be more proud of that,” Lynskey said. “This is a paradigm shift for Columbus High School.”
