 He enjoyed an average career as a player, never representing a club in La Liga and successively representing Bilbao Athletic, CD Logroñés, Sestao Sport Club and SD Lemona.Mendilibar was a key player in midfield for Sestao during the side's second division years – playing eight seasons with them in that level and appearing in nearly 300 competitive matches – narrowly missing out on promotion in 1986–87 under Javier Irureta.After retiring in 1994, Mendilibar worked in the youth categories of Athletic Bilbao before being appointed head coach of UD Lanzarote and then SD Eibar.