Jim Mora makes bold promise for Colorado State's football future

“So, that's when it got on my radar initially,” said Mora, who takes over the Rams program following the midseason firing of Jay Norvell.

“I have a relationship with Jay Norvell. Jay worked for my dad,” Mora said. “... When the program decided to move on from Jay, I was immediately interested. It renewed the interest that I had in 2019.”

Augmenting that interest is the Rams' move next summer to the newly configured Pac-12 along with Boise State, Fresno State, San Diego State and Utah State from the Mountain West Conference. They'll join Gonzaga and Texas State along with holdovers Oregon State and Washington State.

“Brand recognition is huge,” said Mora, who coached in a Pac-12 that looked dramatically different during his tenure at UCLA. "I've been associated with the Pac-12 since it was the Pac-8 and then the Pac-10 and then the Pac-12 at all levels whether it was my dad as a coach, me as a player or me as a coach.

“The Pac-12 represents excellence. It always has. Now, this may be a new community of members in the Pac-12, but it's still the Pac-12 and this new community of members is going to make the Pac-12 Conference powerful once again.”

The Rams are coming off a 2-10 season, including 1-7 in the Mountain West.

“I like challenges,” said Mora, who led UConn to nine-win campaigns each of the last two seasons. “I like the thought of jumping in head-first and trying to build something that can be lasting and special.”

Mora said he was glad to be back in Colorado where he spent part of his youth and he asked how many 14ers there were in the state because he aims to climb the mountain peaks in between building the program.

Told there were 54 of them, Mora said, “We're going to win a Pac-12 championship, we're going to compete for a national championship and I'm going to scale 54 14,000-foot mountains.”

All appear to be tall tasks for a program that has had just one winning season since 2017.

The 64-year-old Mora, who spent four seasons as an NFL head coach with the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks, produced a 27-23 record in four years at UConn. The Huskies are 9-3 this season, and each of their three losses went to overtime, making them the only school that hasn't lost in regulation this year.

Mora, whose five-year contract at Colorado State starts with a base salary of $2.4 million and includes yearly increases, flew back to Connecticut on Monday night to meet with his former players and staff.

“Because of the way our calendars fell at the University of Connecticut, I have not had the chance to address the team that I coached and I need to look them in the eyes and tell them thank you and that I love them and I appreciate them for all of the things that they did,” Mora said.

Mora will return to Fort Collins for signing day.

“I've had an opportunity to talk to every one of the commits,” he said.

Colorado State fired Norvell on Oct. 19. Norvell was in his fourth season and owned an 18-26 record, including an 8-5 mark and an Arizona Bowl appearance last year. The Rams were 2-5 when Norvell got fired and lost their final five games with defensive coordinator Tyson Summers serving as interim head coach.

Mora’s stint at UConn represented a career comeback. He posted a 46-30 record at UCLA from 2012-17 and then was out of coaching and working as a television analyst until UConn hired him.

UConn went 6-7 and 3-9 in Mora’s first two seasons before going 18-7 over the last two seasons. The Huskies went 9-4 and won the Fenway Bowl last year for their first bowl victory since the 2009 season.

Mora, who expressed confidence this will be his “last step” in coaching, will make his Colorado State debut on Sept. 5 when the Rams host Wyoming.

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