News broke Sunday morning that the UCLA Football program would no longer be Jim Mora’s to coach. One can only imagine then that any sliver of hope in regards to retaining their junior QB are also gone.
With Jim Mora now out and UCLA Football announcing that offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch is taking over as interim head coach. Fisch has been able to come in and using offensive creativity in terms of personnel, formations and route concepts, create one of the most efficient offenses the Bruins have had in more than a few years.
That went double for UCLA QB Josh Rosen who after setting records as a freshman under Jim Mora and Noel Mazzone as offensive coordinator was led into a grave situation as a sophomore. After losing Mazzone to Texas A&M Mora promoted running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu to offensive coordinator. Bad move.
Related Story: UCLA Football: Despite the loss Josh Rosen is still better than Sam Darnold
With KP’s new multiple offense that had it’s base in power formations and a woefully miscast group of offensive players it’s no wonder that the offense was a major failure and both the scheme and OC were canned after one year. We knew that Mora wanted to become more physical on offense and finally be able to beat Stanford at their own game, something he never did as head coach of the UCLA Football team. However the gross mismanagement of the offense and one of the most precious resources this team has ever had, Rosen, bordered on criminal.
Instead of surrounding their stud QB with playmakers and most importantly, protection, the Bruins opted to run an offense that didn’t maximize his potential and as a result he was lost for the second half of the 2016 season.
While there’s plenty of blame to go around from the coaching staff under Mora and the athletic department for allowing it to go on for so long, the finger eventually points back to the former head coach.
Rosen has battled through two and half seasons of punishment as the UCLA Football QB and despite his immense talent has taken unfair criticism from those that see him as a gunslinger or question his leadership abilities despite being voted a captain and the way he has rallied his team from deficits. In reality he had to carry this team and there are no real other viable offensive options. The running game has been sparse over the past two seasons and as talented as the receiving group has become they still need to have someone throw an accurate pass.
There had been some rumblings about Mora being on the hotseat for some time now and by that same token there had also been some rumors that Rosen may not head to the NFL this year and could return for his senior year. Given that Rosen and Mora are so close and have known one another for so long you have to wonder if Mora keeping his job would have also meant keeping the QB that he hung his hat on.
Now you have to imagine that any glimpse of that future is gone and Rosen will almost certainly go to the NFL. It seems the relationship between Fisch and Rosen isn’t a cantankerous one but that won’t keep Rosen around.
There will be a new QB in the backfield for this UCLA Football team next year. Is the answer on the roster currently or will the new head coach look to the recruitment road for an immediate solution?
Next: UCLA Football: Jim Mora fired as head coach effective immediately
Will the Bruins be able to keep the commitment of high profile QB Dorian Thomphson-Robinson? Who will take over as the permanent head coach? Will this impact the recruitment of players currently committed to UCLA? Make sure you keep it locked in here at Go Joe Bruin for the answers to these and many other Bruin football questions.