Who is Jim Mora?
New Head Football Coach Jim Mora
After ex-Head Coach Jay Norvell was fired, Colorado State was quick to find his replacement. Jim Mora was their guy. After turning around the UCONN football program, proving success at UCLA, and in the NFL, the Rams have high hopes for Mora to do the same in Fort Collins.
Mora started his football career at the University of Washington, where he walked on and was a reserve defensive back/linebacker from 1980-83. He appeared in two rose bowls for the Huskies. After graduating, he became a graduate assistant for the same program.
In 1985, Mora began his coaching career in the National Football League. He was hired as a Quality Control Coach for the San Diego Chargers. A year later, Mora moved up to assistant Defensive Backs Coach. In 1989, he became the head defensive back coach until 1991. The following year Mora went to the New Orleans Saints to be with head coach, his father, Jim E. Mora, as the Defensive Backs (DB) coach until 1996. Again, Mora changed teams, this time becoming the San Francisco 49ers DB coach from 1997-98. Alongside head coach Steve Mariucci, Jim became the 49ers Defensive Coordinator in 1999, lasting until 2003.
The Atlanta Falcons hired Jim Mora as their head coach in 2004 with a 5-year, $7.5-million-dollar contract. He led the Falcons to an 11-5 record and a first round bye in the playoffs. In the Divisional Round Atlanta hosted the St. Louis Rams, defeating them 47-17, advancing to the NFC Championship game, where they lost 27-10 on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles. Mora was honored with the NFC Coach of the Year Award for the 2004-05 season. In 2005, the Falcons went 8-8 which was characterized as a “disappointing season” for Jim Mora. The Atlanta Falcons had high expectations for the 2006 season. While in the wild card race at 7-6, Atlanta lost their final 3 games and missed the playoffs for a second straight year, going 7-9. Mora was fired shortly into the offseason.
In 2007, the Seattle Seahawks hired Mora as an assistant head coach and DB coach. Then in 2009, he was promoted to head coach, signing a 5-year contract through 2012. Jim was the seventh head coach in Seahawks franchise history, bringing super bowl aspirations along with him. The Seahawks went 5-11 in his first season as Head Coach, and Mora was fired. He then became a commentator with the NFL network.
After working with the NFL Network for a few years, Mora got another chance at coaching. In December of 2011, the University of California Los Angeles Bruins hired Jim Mora on a 5-year tenure for their Head Coach position. Less than 2 months later, UCLA had the #12 recruiting class. In his first season, the Bruins went 9-5, including a victory over cross-town rival USC, and clinching the Pac-12 South Title for the second year in a row. Building onto his success, he again landed a top fifteen recruiting class, this time grabbing the #11 rank. That season UCLA went 10-3, with wins over #23 Nebraska (41-21), #23 USC (35-14), and a Sun Bowl win against Virgina Tech 42-12. In 2014, Mora led the Bruins to another ten-win season. The following season UCLA went 8-5, with a loss to Nebraska in the Foster Farms Bowl. After extending his contract for another six years and hoping to retire with UCLA, he was fired in 2017, after losing three years in a row to USC, and going 17-19 in his last three seasons. His record over 5 years at UCLA was 46-30.
The University of Connecticut hired Mora in 2021 to be their next head coach. He served as an offensive assistant in the 2021 season, as current HC Lou Spanos was finishing out the season. In his first season, UCONN beat #19 Liberty (36-33) improving the Huskies record to 6-5, then finishing the season leading them to their first bowl game since 2015. They lost to Marshall in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. After a down year in 2023, his best season at UCONN came in 2024 where he went 9-4 and won the Fenway bowl over North Carolina. In the midst of the ongoing nine-win 2025 season, Mora was hired as Head Coach for the Colorado State Rams.
Now, after building a strong transfer portal class, revamping the coaching staff, and bringing in a solid 2026 high school recruiting class, Ram Country has high hopes and expectations for the upcoming 2026-27 college football season.
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