Jim Mora Q&A: UConn’s new football coach on his vision for Huskies, what he learned at UCLA, his dad’s famous rant, more (Vannini @ The Athletic)

[huskymedic]

Not a lot of new ground but decent overall read :




-> Some things that weren’t around the last time you were at UCLA were the one-time transfer, the transfer portal type of stuff. How do you plan to approach that and how important do you think that is now?

I think it’s critical. I think you really have to have a plan. It can be a tremendous resource, but I also think there are some dangers in the portal. When you’re trying to create and establish and maintain a culture, there are types of character traits that you’re looking for in the players that you bring into your program. When you’re bringing in a high school player, they’re younger, more impressionable, you probably know them a little bit better because you recruited them for several years to understand how they’re going to fit into your program. With the transfer portal, you may not have the same amount of knowledge about the character of a man that you’re bringing into your program. You don’t want to have a bunch of mercenaries populating your squad.

I think we’ve added some really quality players, and I’ve seen the impact that they’ve had not just in the ability that you see them demonstrate when they’re throwing the ball around, but their character traits. Guys that have won, quarterback out of Penn State (Ta’Quan Roberson), linebacker out of Kentucky (Marquez Bembry), those guys enter your locker room, and they understand what it takes to win and they’re coming to a team that struggled to win. So their impact, even though you haven’t had a spring ball yet, you can already see their impact. <-

 

[Waquoit]

Well, this was first time I read that he denied knowing who killed Tupac. And I liked this part, "So what I learned is just to stay connected to recruiting. I mean extremely connected."

I also like reading how his father is the newest big UConn fan and just joined Cameo. "That was his idea. One day he goes, “Hey, you heard of this thing called Cameo?” Oh yeah, Dad, I’ve heard of Cameo. He says, “I’m going to do it. I’m gonna do the PLAYOFFS?! thing.” I go, what the hell? Because for years, he just resisted that, anyone associating him with the playoffs thing."

 

[HuskyDogArt]

Without subscribing to the Athletic, anyway of reading it?

 

[JohnFSilver]

Without subscribing to the Athletic, anyway of reading it?

You can get like one year if athletic for $1

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

You can get like one year if athletic for $1

And it's worth the full price.

 

[noeynox]

And it's worth the full price.

I've had the athletic. I found it useless since I'm only interested in UConn content.

 

[ShakyTheMohel]

I've had the athletic. I found it useless since I'm only interested in UConn content.

That's true...it's not good for UConn content. But I like the general college writers like Feldman. And I like their pro sports coverage.

 

[hardcorehusky]

That's true...it's not good for UConn content. But I like the general college writers like Feldman. And I like their pro sports coverage.

If you like Baseball, Soccer, or any other professional sport or league, it is a must have. For UConn stuff, there is nothing ground breaking.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Not a lot of new ground but decent overall read :




-> Some things that weren’t around the last time you were at UCLA were the one-time transfer, the transfer portal type of stuff. How do you plan to approach that and how important do you think that is now?

I think it’s critical. I think you really have to have a plan. It can be a tremendous resource, but I also think there are some dangers in the portal. When you’re trying to create and establish and maintain a culture, there are types of character traits that you’re looking for in the players that you bring into your program. When you’re bringing in a high school player, they’re younger, more impressionable, you probably know them a little bit better because you recruited them for several years to understand how they’re going to fit into your program. With the transfer portal, you may not have the same amount of knowledge about the character of a man that you’re bringing into your program. You don’t want to have a bunch of mercenaries populating your squad.

I think we’ve added some really quality players, and I’ve seen the impact that they’ve had not just in the ability that you see them demonstrate when they’re throwing the ball around, but their character traits. Guys that have won, quarterback out of Penn State (Ta’Quan Roberson), linebacker out of Kentucky (Marquez Bembry), those guys enter your locker room, and they understand what it takes to win and they’re coming to a team that struggled to win. So their impact, even though you haven’t had a spring ball yet, you can already see their impact. <-

I like Mora even more now after reading what he said. Thanks Medic