UCLA Football: Notes And Rumors of Jim Mora Possibly Returning To NFL, Chargers

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

UCLA is a day away from its tilt with the Baylor Bears in the Holiday Bowl. With Jim Mora’s return to San Diego, there has been talk of Mora possibly joining the San Diego Chargers as head coach as soon as oft-maligned and lame duck head coach Norv Turner is canned.

Of course, those rumors — abundant as hell as they have been — were kinda/sorta squashed by Mora, but not totally. Here’s what he said, via Rahshaun Haylock:

These is a cryptic response to said rumors. He declined to comment on the job but didn’t rule out the possibility the way he did with Tennessee and Auburn earlier in the month. He did say this, however:

If you’ve forgotten, Mora has been an NFL coach before; not too long ago, it was all he had known.

Of course, those tenures ended badly. Jim Mora had one successful season with the Atlanta Falcons before flaming out and returned as the Seattle Seahawks coach not too long after, a stint that ended disastrously after just one season.

This is a UCLA-centric site, though, so you’d expect that to be brought up. But Jim Mora isn’t an NFL coach, and the proof appears to be in the pudding. Oftentimes, coaches in the NFL have certain intangibles, certain personalities and attitudes, that aren’t suited for the professional game.

It seems as if lack of personality and oftentimes, lack of emotion, is a bit of a requirement at the next level. Successful coaches such as Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, and Mike McCarthy aren’t exactly Pete Carroll or Jim Mora on the sidelines.

Still, Jim Mora has a heart for the NFL, having been born and raised in the environment. Sure, Mora appears to enjoy the college game tremendously, but whether or not his primary goal is to coach an NFL team once more is in question at this point.