Playoffs? Are we talking about playoffs?
No, the UConn football team, safe to say, is a long way from talking about the FBS playoffs and they hired the wrong Mora for that rant. That was Jim E. Mora, former Saints and Colts coach who is 86 and retired, but for many, the first thought fans have upon hearing the Mora name are those classic press conference tirades that live forever on YouTube.
“You guys really don’t know when it’s good or bad,” Mora once told reporters. “You really don’t know. You don’t know what happened. You really don’t know. You think you know, but you don’t … know. And you … never … will.”
His son, Jim L. Mora, 59, became UConn’s 32nd head football coach on Thursday and, during his own NFL and major-college coaching career, hasn’t made a habit of raging press conference rants though UConn, 31-87 since 2011, may prove the ultimate test of his composure. In fact, he is rather media-savvy, having worked in TV when he was between coaching jobs. And when it comes to UConn, AD David Benedict made it a point make certain Mora does know, really does know, what he is getting into.
Jim Mora is his father’s son, though. Coaching football has been his lifelong passion and he has had a volatile career of significant success and failure.
He began coaching with Don Coryell’s Chargers in 1985, then joined his father in New Orleans in 1992 before moving on to become the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in the early 2000s. He was named head coach of the Atlanta Falcons in 2004 and led the Falcons to the NFC title game in his first season. He lasted two more years and was fired after a three-year record of 26-22.
He joined the Seattle Seahawks’ staff in 2007 and in 2009 was elevated to head coach but was fired after a 5-11 season. He eventually took over at UCLA and reached bowl games his first four years. He was let go in 2017.
Here are some things to know about he Huskies new coach:
Dream job?
Mora had long wanted to coach the Huskies, just not the ones in Storrs.
He played defensive back and linebacker as a walk-on for the Washington Huskies before graduating in 1984. During his career he flirted with his alma mater. While coaching the Atlanta Falcons he told a radio show host he would take the Washington job, which wasn’t open at the time, even if the Falcons were in a playoff race. He later said he was joking but Falcons owner Arthur Blank was not amused. Later with UCLA he entertained an offer from Washington but stayed put and got a contract extension.
Ammonia
During a Monday Night Football game in 2005 Mora was caught on camera sniffing ammonia capsules, prompting John Madden to comment that smelling salts are normally used by players. The idea is make the sniffer more alert.
Charity work
The Mora family runs the “Count On Me Family Foundation,” which helps at-risk children from low-income backgrounds, children with mental and physical disabilities or a lack of stability or support.
Mora has four children and said Thursday he wants to hire assistant coaches “that parents would be comfortable sending their sons to.”
Moving on and upward
During his years at UCLA, Mora had 30 players drafted into the NFL, the most of any Pac-12 team during that span, with a first-rounder each year but one. In the NFL, Mora has coached 19 NFL Pro Bowl players.
Contract details
Mora made as much as $3.5 million per year at UCLA where he was the highest-paid California state employee in 2013.
On Thursday Mora signed a memo of understanding, the precursor of a five-year contract at UConn which starts with a base salary of $400,000, with $1.1 million in supplemental compensations for services performed on behalf of UConn. This is customary for coaching contacts at UConn and it will increase by $100,000 each year.
Mora can earn up to $200,000 each year in performance bonuses, yet to be determined for the formal contract. These bonuses will be contingent on UConn’s APR score remaining above 950.
He will earn “retention bonuses” of $200,000 each year through 2023, $300,000 through 2026.
If UConn terminates the contract in 2022, Mora would get 100 percent of remaining salary, 75 percent in 2023 and 24, 50 percent in 2025 and 25 percent in 2026. If Mora terminates the contract, UConn would get $8.5 million in “liquidation damages” in 2022, decreasing each year to $5.25 million, $4.05 million, $1.85 million and $475,000 in 2026.
Vision
“We have to make incremental gains every single day,” Mora said. “We cannot waste a moment in our pursuit of regaining respect and becoming competitive. It’s a perpetual journey. We have to find ways to measure our success outside of the scoreboard initially – initially.
“I think the thing you’ll find out about me as we go on, I’m very competitive, very passionate and I don’t really relent a whole lot. It’s all about building and maintaining and cultivating the right culture, the right environment, where every day, everybody in that building is fully committed – fully committed to doing the things we need to do to gain ground.”
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
