Colorado State is expected to make UConn coach Jim Mora the school’s next head coach. | Page 9 | The Boneyard

Colorado State is expected to make UConn coach Jim Mora the school’s next head coach.

UConn Dan said:
That was Warde Manuel who hired Ollie. Unless you mean he was forced to hire Edsall by the board...
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Sorry, my bad. And look where Warde ended up! Benedict did get us back to the Big East, hired Hurley, Mora, drastically improved our facilities, etc. All in all, I think most would agree that Dave's been a good AD. Hopefully the Mora hire was a result of the lessons learned from the Diaco and Edsall2 hires... and fires.
 
CTBasketball said:
“And here comes Chip Kelly, new HC riding out to a sold out Rentschler Field on a motorcycle to take on the Leopards.”
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Hell No!

There is only one name to call.

1000004737.jpg
 
CTBasketball said:
Kind of like how he was forced to hire Hurley as well. Dave had Capel as the top candidate.
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What?

Im curious as to what you are smoking.

AD Dave defied the trustees and fired KO (against their orders) because he saw Hurley as someone we could not afford to miss out on.

It became an ugly incident because the board didn't want to pay KO's buyout, but Dan Hurley was the only head coach DB considered at the time KO was fired.
 
I mentioned this earlier in the thread but I don’t think this is very surprising to AD Dave. Maybe the destination, but not that he’s leaving. I had someone with ties to the program reach out to me after they found out I did a FOIA of his contract to see more details in it; this was like 2 months ago. That person was on the scent back then, so some people had to know this was a possibility.
 
I’m skipping all the posts in this thread, sorry. I’m livid. CSU is a downgrade. Sorry, it’s not a lateral move. They are going to the Mountain West that’s disguising themselves under the name PAC-10. There is no way their resources are that much better than what we have. He is a god here and can retire when he wants. He has built a foundation that can only go up. I don’t care if he wants to go back west. Why come east to start with if that’s the case.

This team will crater if they promote Sammie. Bottom line. As it is, we will go into next seasons challenging schedule without the transfers that will likely decommit and a new coach who we have no clue who it is but will need to try and continue what Mora started. There is a less than 20% chance they can successfully do that.

I am in complete melt down and we are finished mood. We actually were gaining respect again. We were bringing fans back. We were returning to prominence. I just see us going back to finding a new rock bottom. I understand coach Moves when they are young an up and coming guys. But a 60+ year old coach with multiple stops that did not end well but finally finding amazing success up and leave to a lateral/downgrade move?? We’re screwed and I have little confidence that we nail this hire. I love AD DB but we have failed so often hiring coaches for FB, I have no confidence.
 
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Purple Stein said:
He’s losing Fagnano and Bell. We probably aren’t getting nine wins next year and he’s not getting younger. It’s a seize the moment move for Mora.
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I think it probably was a big factor. If he was going to make a move, I think he felt he had to do it now. Didn’t want to chance next year’s team taking a few steps back. He always talked about being motivated by the challenge but when you take over a program that bottomed out, there’s really no place to go but up.

Don’t get me wrong - not trying to diminish the success he had here in any way but the real challenge is sustaining success beyond 4 years - e.g., like Calhoun, Geno and now Hurley did. I appreciate what Mora did here over that time but it’s clear he used the job as a stepping stone. Not blaming him necessarily. Good luck to him.
 
Bubba1957 said:
No retreads. I like Gordy. Can any do more than he’s done? First he fixed a putrid o line. Then the o. He’s the next John Madden!
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No retreads. Also no unproven commodities.
 
I really wish he would've retired here. He could've been another feather in UConn's cap for finding good coaches who leave a legacy. I think more likely than not the move won't look good on his part in retrospect.

With that said, I never got the sense he was some irreplaceable coaching mastermind. A proven and competent head coach is not difficult to find. The key is portal recruiting and a robust NIL/player compensation strategy that keeps our spending at the top of G5 programs (or low P4) and we should keep pumping out bowl-eligible winning seasons. That's all we really need to do until a conference opportunity presents itself.
 
Fatroony5 said:
I mentioned this earlier in the thread but I don’t think this is very surprising to AD Dave. Maybe the destination, but not that he’s leaving. I had someone with ties to the program reach out to me after they found out I did a FOIA of his contract to see more details in it; this was like 2 months ago. That person was on the scent back then, so some people had to know this was a possibility.
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I don’t think it is surprising.
 
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Bubba1957 said:
No retreads. I like Gordy. Can any do more than he’s done? First he fixed a putrid o line. Then the o. He’s the next John Madden!
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While I believe Sammis is the exact profile of someone who can become a quality head coach, there will still be a good amount of risk involved with a first time head coach hire. I believe for this hire, having a high floor us every bit as important as having a high ceiling.
 
Kowalski said:
the real challenge is sustaining success beyond 4 years - e.g., like Calhoun, Geno and now Hurley did.
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And to think, Mora could have been that guy for us for FB.

Honestly, kind of disgusting to think that losing some key players would make him quit on us (if that was part of the reason). Loser mentality. We’re just giving Mora an out.

Thanks for the winning seasons. Hope the grass is greener.
 
Devland said:
If the new head coach is highly successful we will be doing this again in three or four years. It's where we're at.
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I know what you're saying, but I feel like Mora gave no inclination he wanted to leave so this just feels like a slap in the face to me.
 
FfldCntyFan said:
What?

Im curious as to what you are smoking.

AD Dave defied the trustees and fired KO (against their orders) because he saw Hurley as someone we could not afford to miss out on.

It became an ugly incident because the board didn't want to pay KO's buyout, but Dan Hurley was the only head coach DB considered at the time KO was fired.
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That’s not the story I was told. I think we’ve been over this though in the past.
 
JM was the best we could get, at the time.
honestly, he's still the best we could get, now.

i'm very sorry for my pessimism, but i struggle to see a positive 2026 and beyond on the horizon.
I hope i'm dead wrong.
 
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Understand why people are upset here as things have been trending up and now who knows? Lets see how it plays out. As far as sour grapes towards Mora it seems uncalled for when emotions are put aside. The man gave his all to his employer and this program while he was here and earned every penny. The hire was mutually beneficial... we both benefited. He owes us nothing. Unless something like Big12 happened its hard for anyone to think New England was his last stop, especially when he was in campus housing dorm style with former players and coaching prospects (wasn't the campus mansion part of his contract?). If we are going to continue trending up I think Benedict has much more than the right coach to work on.. for example the complete lack of interest from our own state press etc
 
Jetskies said:
JM was the best we could get, at the time.
honestly, he's still the best we could get, now.

i'm very sorry for my pessimism, but i struggle to see a positive 2026 and beyond on the horizon.
I hope i'm dead wrong.
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I agree that JM is probably the best we can do HC wise. But let’s not forget that 9-3 was pretty much the expectation with how bad the schedule was this year. Don’t get me wrong, he’s responsible for getting us to this point. But I don’t think 9-3 was this insurmountable mountain to climb. If he went 9-3 with next years schedule, that’s a different story.
 
At first, I couldn't believe it. Colorado State?! But reading the reddit threads, it does make sense from Mora's perspective:
  1. Per reddit, "oil, gas, mining, big farm and ag loves CSU, lots of Rams in the industry, lots of financial backing for the program"
  2. Conference gives chance to compete for CFP (theoretically)
  3. Closer to home/friends/family
I'm obviously very disappointed, but he brought us back to respectability, for which I am grateful, and I'm not ever gonna blame someone for taking a job that's a bit easier and closer to home. I wish him the best of luck and I hope we hire the right person.
 
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BlueWolf25 said:
I think you have to hire someone with head coaching experience. Sammis isn’t ready yet
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A genius can figure it out. Hate to lose him too.
Who knows maybe Dave has someone in mind who can bring in a great staff with him. But it not, Gordy is the man
 
CoreyBellDT said:
Really? Colorado St. is one of the best G6 jobs, the main reason he is leaving is that he gets the opportunity to win a Championship and get to the CFP, that's the deciding factor.
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Colorado State is a good gig to coast into retirement on. Jim loves the outdoors, hiking in the mountains, cross country shining.?? He can relax now and just ride it out. Good for him.
 
I don't have it in me for another run of garbage football and 2 or 3 win seasons. I love UConn and love my time there as a student and in UCMB, but the next coaching hire has to be an absolute homerun, slam dunk. Benedict is the best AD we might have ever had, but the school and athletic department refuses to invest significant resources to help the program continue momentum.

I really hate this. We've had the most positivity around this program in like 15 years and it all just got ripped away from us by Colorado St.
 
Ehh if we keep scheduling 10 teams in the 100-120 range we will be 6-6 at worst most seasons.
 
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