The last we heard from Rob Mendez, the football coach born without arms and legs, he was hoping to become a head coach after years as an assistant.

Last season, Mendez got his long-awaited opportunity.

He coached the Prospect High junior varsity, and ESPN cameras documented the dramatic and inspiring ride from beginning to end.

They were there when Mendez was introduced to his players last June. They followed him to his home in Gilroy. Interviewed his family and caregiver. They captured the highs and lows of the team’s final game, a battle in Morgan Hill against Sobrato for a league championship.

ESPN’s finished product — titled “Who Says I Can’t” — will premiere this weekend on SportsCenter. It will air Saturday during the 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. shows and Sunday on the 8 p.m. broadcast. It also will be available online, and a longer, 30-minute documentary will be shown on ESPN+.

Kristen Lappas, who produced the feature, caught wind of Mendez’s story a couple of years ago while in the Bay Area for ESPN. Sitting in a coffee shop, she noticed a feature about the coach in this publication — “No arms, no legs, no problem: San Jose coach defies the odds.”

The producer reached out to Mendez and met with him at a Starbucks near his home. She told him to let her know if a school hires him as a head coach.

Mendez called last April, and ESPN went to work.

“Originally, this was supposed to air in August,” Lappas said Wednesday. “We did do a lot of filming with him and the team over the course of the summer and then we decided, ‘Man, this story is so great, let’s see what happens during the season.’

“I am so happy we did because obviously they did really well and got to the championship game. It ended up working out.”

“Who says I can’t” is Mendez’s rallying cry, words he lives by as he continues to defy the odds.

Two weeks before Prospect opened its season, Mendez suffered severe facial injuries from falling out of his custom-made wheelchair.

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“I didn’t want to let them down,” Mendez said in the feature. “I didn’t want to let the kids down.”

ESPN spent about 20 days with the coach between June and November, capturing little and big moments as Mendez molded the team into a winning one.

“Who says I can’t originally came from me just having a drive to accomplish whatever people doubted me for,” Mendez said.

“He’s willing do all that,” one player added. “Then what are we willing to do?”