On this most hallowed of war celebrations, we learn via Pete Thamel, that the University of Connecticut has found its new football coach, and it’s… Jim Mora?
It’s safe to say that few anticipated this, as Mora’s name was rarely (if ever) mentioned by national writers in connection with the job. We’d been hoping for Joe Moorhead, with many ready to accept other options like Al Golden, Bob Chesney, Joe Harasymiak, Todd Orlando, and others. Having coached the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons and the PAC-12’s UCLA Bruins, Mora clearly has a much bigger profile than anyone UConn fans were imagining. So are we happy?
Not particularly.
Let’s start with the obvious: Mora hasn’t coached since 2017, having mostly worked as a commentator in the interim. Perhaps this was why he was available, and UConn wanted someone to sign on before players and recruits decided to skip town. But it’s hard not to feel like this is another retread option after having seen that fail with Paul Pasqualoni and Randy Edsall -2.0, both of whom ended as embarrassing failures. Bringing in a coach who hasn’t coached a game in over four years seems like an easily avoidable error.
Also like Pasqualoni and Edsall, Mora, who turns 60 years old next week, is not too far from the end of his career. Most fans were hoping for someone younger, someone hungry to build the program up. Mora is probably taking his last job, so what is his incentive?
On the other side of the coin, there are some things to like. First of all, Mora was an excellent recruiter while at UCLA, bringing in top-25 ranked classes every year he was with the Bruins. His name still holds some cache, and it could help UConn get its recruiting from abysmal to acceptable. Don’t expect top-25 classes anytime soon (or ever), but top-50 or top-60 would be enough to dramatically increase the Huskies’ talent level.
Mora also has a lot of connections with media types, and he may help stem the tide of overwhelmingly negative press that national football reporters seem to gleefully pile on the program. Is this a huge deal? Probably not, but it would mean slightly less annoyance in my day, and that matters to me.
Additionally, he has a pre-existing relationship with interim HC Lou Spanos, who was his defensive coordinator at UCLA. This could mean that Spanos, who appears to be popular with the players, is staying on, which could mean that more of them stay on as well. Whether this one is actually good or not is open to interpretation.
Finally, he was willing to take the job. The program is in a unique situation, and it’s hard to know who was actually willing to sign on for this. It’s possible Mora was the best we could do. If that’s the case, then hopefully he actually comes in and gets some sort of job done, and then next time, the best we can do might be a little better.
