Jim Mora Expected to be Named HC | Page 12 | The Boneyard

Jim Mora Expected to be Named HC

Why now? They picked him, no reason to wait and now he's got the chance to hit the ground running. Now recruits know who the guy is, there is a certainty that will help. He can start to get to know the guys on the team already, figure out who should and shouldn't be recruited hard to keep them out of the portal. He can assess talent needs both on the team and within the coaching staff.
 
ScottVib said:
Why now? They picked him, no reason to wait and now he's got the chance to hit the ground running. Now recruits know who the guy is, there is a certainty that will help. He can start to get to know the guys on the team already, figure out who should and shouldn't be recruited hard to keep them out of the portal. He can assess talent needs both on the team and within the coaching staff.
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... and this is crucial to getting OUR next year well situated for a leap forward to the first steps to a winning Program. Get Mora around the Team and working; knowing talent; recruiting existing players (remember we have an ungodly number of Fr & Soph) and the diminishing list of verbals.

Methinks ... in this era of Transfer Portal ... the roles of Ryan Steinberg and Mike Zyskowski are pretty important. WE need the eyes on talent and the reaching out in the next 3-9 weeks to be super intense.
 
amishboy said:
Yes, fired after going 46-30. Still “successful“ enough for me at this point. (I also root for the Giants, lol).
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THE UCLA Bruin fanbase has unrealistic expectations - always - and you would have to look very carefully at the record/schedule. When you win every year's National Championship in Hoop for a decade, you have a core donor base that believes you should be NATIONALLY relevant. And ... the Pac 10/12 is a demanding year. I think Mora had one year with Brett Hundley as QB (with Spanos as DC and Mazzone as OC) that he was like 10-3. His losses were to Oregon who was #2; Stanford at #9; and Arizona State at #19.

It is a tough spot in Westwood.
 
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BPT2Storrs said:
Anyone know if Mora was being scouted for other openings? Was he a candidate anywhere else in the past few years?

I am wondering if AD Dave reached out to him first or if Mora was first to express interest in the opening.

Why UConn? Why now?

I don’t mind the hire at all but just wondering about some of those questions above.
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Mora reached out to UConn. And the now is because his UCLA deal pays him through this season with an offset, so if he had taken another coaching job, he would have been coaching for free. Instead he took a job at ESPN to wait out the deal, and now that it's over, he apparently thinks UConn is appealing enough to get back in.
 
amishboy said:
Yes, fired after going 46-30. Still “successful“ enough for me at this point. (I also root for the Giants, lol).
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He averaged 7-4 at UCLA. I am fairly certain that is better than his predecessor or anyone who followed him. College football is not a video game. Spouting a coach’s record is fairly meaningless without knowing what school he was at and whether the program has been better or worse, and how much with other coaches.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Nice running of a tight ship by the UConn AD. AD Dave has been out of state spending 4 straight days with a new HC and none of the beat writers got a sniff of the news (Or, they were told to hold it or forever lose their access). No one noticed AD not at the game on Tuesday? National media releasing names yesterday and none of them had Mora on the list?

That's tough to do in 2021.
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Now that you mention it. That is crazy he was able to talk to him for a month and spend 4 days in Idaho interviewing him without so much as a peep at it happening in this day and age.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Nice running of a tight ship by the UConn AD. AD Dave has been out of state spending 4 straight days with a new HC and none of the beat writers got a sniff of the news (Or, they were told to hold it or forever lose their access). No one noticed AD not at the game on Tuesday? National media releasing names yesterday and none of them had Mora on the list?

That's tough to do in 2021.
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Our local media is a shell of its former self do to cut backs on UConn coverage and other things.
 
Wow. Good get! Mora is a big name & should help with the recruiting, which is what is needed most for the next 5 years. Bring in some qualified assistants to help with the coaching.
 
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Mora checks almost all the boxes. If you had told me a month ago that he was in play I would’ve told you you’re crazy. Like this hire a lot. Head coach. Offensive minded. Can probably attract/retain Spanos and Mazzone. Knows the west coast juco scene. Willing to use the portal but not for mercenaries Straight shooter. Seems like he and and Dave are aligned on the vision. Willing to reach into the various constituent communities. Best of all. No flipping fish cakes
 
Nostical said:
Notwithstanding the rarity of it not being discovered by a prying press corps, something tells me that the more Benedict and Mora discussed the opportunity, they more they got to know each other, liked what they saw and enjoyed hanging out. Said another way, it's hard for me to envision Benedict staying 4 days at the home of Edsall, Pasqualoni or Diaco.
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I was just running some errands and the thought came across my mind that maybe Dave B was the house guest from hell and Mora was too nice a guy to kick him out so he eventually took the job just to get Dave B to leave.

I think there's actually a real low brow, easy $$$$ comedy to be made from that plot.
 
Chin Diesel said:
I was just running some errands and the thought came across my mind that maybe Dave B was the house guest from hell and Mora was too nice a guy to kick him out so he eventually took the job just to get Dave B to leave.

I think there's actually a real low brow, easy $$$$ comedy to be made from that plot.
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It’s great that no one , I mean no one saw this coming. The so called insiders both in the media and elsewhere. The non casual fan. No one. AD Dave gets an A both for the hire and the the process
 
Does anyone know who else was being considered? Very curious about the short list.

This hire shows a commitment to football. Good message to the fans. I expect season tickets to sky rocket
 
ScottVib said:
part of me wonders if Mazzone was as much a scout for Mora as an aid for Spanos. Is there really any talent there?
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I may be in the minority, but I think Edsall did a decent job in getting more talent on the roster than what Diaco left.

Are we slow/small in a few spots, sure but I haven't been seeing a talent gap like we saw in 18 and 19. I think RE's big problem, ironically, was he couldn't teach these guys how to play correctly, consistently. That and the play calling was horrendous.

We are 1-8 this year more because of coaching than talent, IMO.
 
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ZooCougar said:
Yeah with a winning record.

I admit that I completely forgot that he existed. But I always liked the guy. He has very little filter. Like the time he said that Washington was his dream job as the Falcons head coach.

His offenses were always modern and with Michael Vick he was ahead of the curve.

Unlike Randy I do think he will find it easier to attract good coordinators and assistants.

I also think he impresses with recruits and parents.
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Was hot knocking him. I was, however, laughing at someone praising the hire because unlike P and Edsall he wasn’t fired from his last job

It ought to be permissible to dislike stupidity without taking a position on the hire itself.
 
Unlike our last hire which was basically an unprofessional surrender this was handled professionally. I don't know how it will turn out but it's Benedict's hire and he kept it close to the vest while doing his due diligence for a long time. Mora is a professional who has been there and done that, has a ton of connects and he wants to be here. Recruiting at a high level is so much of the battle as is having a professional staff around you and I'm confident Mora will accomplish those two things. It doesn't hurt he is the biggest name we could possibly get.

I'm choosing to be optimistic.
 
Petero said:
Noticed the $1.5m first year pay after we were ready to pay $2.0m. Maybe they wanted a bigger pool to hire high quality assistants. If so that's a great move. Also his deal with UCLA ends in January 2022?????? I think the pieces are starting to come together.
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Nice way to spend time away from the game.. still collecting a check from UCLA ( A nice one no doubt ).. He certainly take the Disco approach (kept trying to latch on to other schools year in and year out while collecting $$$ from us)
 
I'm as excited about this hire as I'm able to be these days. Based on nothing I'll predict 4-8 next year, 5-7 in 2023 and a "breakout year" of 7-5 in 2024. That would be steady progress as Mora said we would see and it will come about largely through the use of the portal.
 
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