Saturday Blitz
Fansided

UCLA Football: What’s the legacy of Jim Mora with the Bruins?

By Andrew Miller

PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins looks on while his team warms up prior to playing the Stanford Cardinal in a NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - SEPTEMBER 23: Head coach Jim Mora of the UCLA Bruins looks on while his team warms up prior to playing the Stanford Cardinal in a NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 4
Next

Targeting a big fish in the coaching market in Chip Kelly paid off for UCLA football with the conclusion of Jim Mora’s time in Westwood.

UCLA football had one of the biggest wins of the coaching carousel so far when the Bruins landed former Oregon Ducks and San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly. Both UCLA and the Florida Gators were rumored to be the only two suitors with a legitimate chance to land Kelly.

Kelly replaced former UCLA head coach Jim Mora, who was fired after the loss to the in-state rival USC Trojans. The win for the Trojans kept the College Football Playoffs hopes alive and proved further dominance in the Pac-12 South. Yet, UCLA should be a big challenger with Kelly at the helm.

Yet, before we look at the potential that Kelly has with this program, it’s time to take a look back at what Mora’s tenure was like. He replaced Rick Neuheisel in Dec. 2011, after a 6-8 campaign for the Bruins. Mora was able to turn around UCLA football very fast.

In Mora’s first full season in Westwood, the Bruins went 9-5 (6-3 Pac-12) and nearly won the Pac-12 Championship in a three point loss to the Stanford Cardinal. This team should have been going nowhere but up from there.

Yet, the Pac-12 South does not seem to have any consistent contenders. Even USC was up and down in recent years. The Bruins did have two straight runs to the Pac-12 Championship Game in 2011 and 2012, but that was caused by sanctions to USC from the Reggie Bush scandal.

UCLA is an athletic program that has high expectations for pretty much all of its sports. Football is no exception. Mora gave the Bruins what was needed for a while. But, now it’s Kelly’s turn.

Here’s a look back at the legacy of Jim Mora with the UCLA Bruins.

Home/UCLA Bruins