UCLA Football: 5 Candidates to replace Jim Mora

UCLA football has fired Jim Mora Jr amidst a 5-6 season and a loss to the rival USC Trojans. Here are five coaches that should be on the Bruins short list.

More: 3 Takeaways from Bruins loss to USC in Week 12

The UCLA Bruins slipped to 5-6 and lost to the USC Trojans, their main rival, once again. The Bruins had dropped three straight to the Trojans under Jim Mora Jr before he was fired on Sunday Nov. 19.

Mora’s Bruins had slipped to 73rd in the S&P+ rankings. Meanwhile, Mora is the 25th highest paid coach in college football and when rankings don’t meet paychecks you’re likely to be out of a job in the world of college football.

Mora’s biggest downfall is being labeled a defensive coach but putting out the 119th ranked defense per the S&P+ in all of FBS football. Mora had followed up an eight-win 2015 with four wins in 2016 and now five wins in 2017 before being fired. The offense is ranked 18th in the S&P+ and that shows how great of an offensive mind interim coach Jedd Fisch is as the Bruins finished 2016 ranked 58th under long time USC and UCLA assistant Kennedy Polamalu.

While the Bruins have never had the success of the USC Trojans, they are an iconic program in college football history. They’ve boasted names like Jackie Robinson, for one, and were the reason Bear Bryant got the Alabama Crimson Tide to integrate their athletics department. Every UCLA Head Football Coach has managed a double-digit winning season, besides Rick Neuheisel, since Terry Donahue took over in 1976 but the Bruins haven’t been ranked number 1 since 1954.

Here are my top five candidates to replace Jim Mora Jr at UCLA.