The Philosophical Gamble That Could Define The Jim Mora Era Of UCLA Football

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Dec 26, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora walking the sideline during the second half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Levi /

The Riskiness of Mora’s Vision – Part III

Mora’s Teams Were Their Best When They Were Aggressive

Reflecting on Jim Mora’s tenure as UCLA coach to date, it seems fair to say that Mora’s best teams so far were his first two in 2012 and 2013. Mora brought much-needed competence to the program and was able to finally develop the considerable amount of talent that Rick Neuheisel had brought in, leading the Bruins to a Pac-12 South title and the most heartbreaking of losses in the Pac-12 Championship Game at Stanford in 2012.

In the past two years, there have been plenty of times when one could say the Bruins were physically beat up by an opponent as they were played off the field, but that was a truly rare occurrence in those first two seasons. Not so coincidentally, 2012 and 2013 happened to be the years in which the defense was run by the hyper-aggressive Lou Spanos, who was so blitz-happy at the start of his time at UCLA that he actually had to have his blitzing tendencies curtailed after the Bruins were curiously (and infamously) beaten by an awful Cal team in the sixth game of the 2012 season.

Although the records for 2012 and 2013 were the same as that in 2014 and a game better than 2015’s, the Bruin defense in those first two years never looked as hopeless as UCLA’s post-Spanos defenses have been at times. Instead, the indelible image of those defenses is that of thumpers like Anthony Barr, Jordan Zumwalt, and Cassius Marsh playing with a physical edge that gave the Bruins a mental edge against most of their weaker-willed opponents. And in the event that an opponent did score, there was no bother because the Bruins had confidence that Hundley and the offense would be able to get that score back.

Tom Bradley’s defenses (and Jeff Ulbrich before him) have none of that edge. Instead, the phrase associated with this defense is the dreaded “bend-but-don’t-break”. After five recruiting cycles under Jim Mora, UCLA has stocked its defensive cupboard with athletes galore who would love to be let loose and use their physical gifts to gallop through space and fly to the ball. Unfortunately, the faithful have now become accustomed to frustratedly watching as opposing offenses gladly churn out small chunks of yards at a time while sapping the souls of Bruin defensive players who just want to get off the field, Bruin offensive players who are itching to get on the field, and Bruin fans who cannot wait for the offensive drive to resolve itself one way or another if only so they can move on with their lives.

It stands to reason that when a team is presently built around athleticism rather than bulk, the best system to maximize those athletes would center around putting those athletes in space and letting them go at maximum tilt rather than restraining them and turning them into automotons on both sides of the ball. As we stated previously: UCLA’s roster, full of lithe and fluid athletes rather than bruisers, seems more likely to run an Oregon style effectively, with its high-tempo offense and all-out defense that either creates negative plays and turnovers or gives up quick scores that allow the offense back onto the field, than it is a Stanford.

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