The constant need to win to maintain job security is always just beyond the surface. If the UCLA Football program needed to replace Jim Mora who would be on the short list?
At the end of the 2016 UCLA Football season there was some talk that head coach Jim Mora could potentially be fired. Of course a hefty buyout and some potential hesitation at the AD level to make change all but ensured that Mora would be back for another season.
Make no mistake I’m not going out with my pitchfork and torches against the Mora camp. I think he’s done some great stuff for the UCLA Football program. The most physical evidence of what he’s been able to accomplish is the new Wasserman facility that finally puts the Bruins on the same facility level as the Alabamas and the Oregons of the college football world.
He’s also managed to change the culture of the UCLA Football program. Prior to Mora’s hiring I would have gone along with the classic “gutty little bruins” title people usually laid at the feet of the UCLA squad.
In his very first game as the UCLA Football head coach, the Bruins came out and were every bit as physical as the Nebraska Cornhuskers. In all my years watching UCLA, I hadn’t seen anything quite like it.
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He’s brought plenty of talent to the team and gotten people excited about UCLA Football again.
Now we get to the negatives. Player development hasn’t exactly been overly impressive and there have been plenty of coaching blunders along the way. There have been mistakes with playcalling, discipline, and coaching changes (either not happening or questionable hires).
The biggest issue at this point has been the handling, or mishandling, of QB Josh Rosen and the obvious 4-8 record from last year where many of the aforementioned issues reared their ugly heads. While Mora is in all honesty likely to return in 2018 barring a disaster of a season, it never hurts to look at the possibilities. Here are two candidates that I have in mind. One you’ve heard before, the other might just get your wheels turning.