UCLA’s Jim Mora: Recruits remember I was coach when Falcons last won a playoff game
"The bottom line is this: The last time the Falcons won a playoff game, I was the head coach," Mora told the AJC. "Kids remember that game, the 47-17 victory over the St. Louis Rams. A lot of kids around Atlanta, the state of Georgia and the Southeast follow the Falcons. They know that was the last time that the Falcons have won a playoff game."
4 months ago
4everBruin
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I'm willing to let this one go...
given his stellar start. It would appear that he’s reaching, but this more or less his first hiccup. The article also doesn’t provide much context for this statement, in terms of what specific question this came in response to. And hey – who’s to say he’s wrong? In terms of a city starved of football success, maybe that game is the highlight of the last decade. Any GA Bruins want to speak to that?
What hiccup? All he is saying is that he is getting positive feedback from Georgia
recruiting prospects and their parents, due in part to his tenure as Falcons head coach. Coach Mora and his wife still run a foundation in GA for underprivileged kids, so his name brand is still active and recognized. That he was Michael Vick’s coach had an impact on Devin Fuller’s decision, according to Fuller himself. His overall NFL record isn’t a major factor to recruits (neither was Pete Carroll’s identical -2 under .500 NFL record), but Mora’s NFL experience at the highest coaching level certainly is. This is evidenced by numerous comments from 2012 class members.
His success in the NFL is quite limited
with plenty of evidence against the notion that he was a good coach there. Touting his one success in the NFL (which was followed by plenty of failures) is reaching.
From Bruin Bites (Bellerophon)
“Sticking with Mora news, Mike Blum at the Milton Herald took note of Coach Mora’s presence in the Atlanta area prep scene, dropping by the north Fulton County area to check out various Class of 2013 recruits, including DL prospect Karl Lawson (who is also being watched by Alabama), RB Peyton Barber, and WR Ryan Jenkins. Mora’s familiarity with the area, and his name recognition from his time as Atlanta’s head coach, might be opening a new recruiting pipeline to Westwood. "
Again, all Mora is saying is he has name recognition because of his stint with the Falcons. That is good news for UCLA football.
I agree with B
However, I do think the comment Mora made about Falcons winning their last playoff game under him, comes off kind of awkward. Perhaps he was taken out of context but to brag about a playoff game from years ago is just odd to me.
Any perceptions of awkwardness aside
the bottom line here is that Coach Mora has experienced positive name recognition because of his association with the Falcons, including their last playoff victory. That recognition is opening doors to Georgia recruits we didn’t access before.
I think you are getting a little too emotionally invested in a coach ...
… who has yet to prove himself on the field. You need to chill and step back a bit. Mora has opened a pipe line to Georgia b/c of his NFL experience and that’s great. But it’s tacky to play up that one playoff win from years. If you disagree that is all right, but no need to get so worked up over it.
I agree that it's good that...
…Mora is leveraging his familiarity with the Atlanta metro area because it is giving us access to recruits we otherwise wouldn’t even come close to. Likewise, I hope Mora can do the same in the Seattle metro area, given his familiarity with the area.
The Georgia pipeline is very nice, but I think the bigger story (Bruin Bites are just the little bits and pieces, not major stuff) is that hopefully Klemm and Mazzone (who Mora gets credit for hiring) will develop a Texas pipeline (Goines, Millweard are good starts), because, let’s be real, Texas is a real ripe place to get recruits (more so than Georgia).
I imagine Mora’s quote came out different than he intended, because one could easily read a slight to current Falcons coach Mike Smith, and in this business, it’s never good to make enemies in other coaching circles.
And as for what N is saying, I do agree it’s a bit awkward, but Mora has so far exceeded expectations. I think we all can agree that the true bottom line is whether he wins come this fall.
by Bellerophon on Feb 13, 2012 10:17 AM PST up reply actions
I need to chill??
I could not care less if the comment came off as awkward or that someone thinks it’s tacky. I don’t expect roses and sunshine or Winston Churchill-like oration everytime a coach opens his mouth. The bottom line here is we now have an inroad into a rich recruiting area that didn’t have before and that is good news for the program. If someone feels the need to nitpick and detract from that bottom line, that’s their prerogative.
Whoa buddy
No need to be so defensive. Like N just said, if you disagree, that’s fine, but your replies to every post disagreeing with you smacks of being over-defensive. On a meta point, if you post something on BN, then you are, by posting it, inviting people to give their opinions on whether, in this case, a quote from our new head coach, is intelligent/stupid/tacky/misguided/etc. You can’t post something here, and then when someone gives you an opinion, say “you don’t care” for it. If you don’t want others thoughts, then don’t post.
To me, it does seem like you’re getting emotionally wrapped up in defending Mora on this little blip. Maybe you’re not, I don’t know. I’m just telling you what the perception is on my end (and apparently on Nestor’s end too).
Let me speak from experience: I was really pumped for Neuheisel when he came in. I thought he’d turn this thing around and return UCLA to national prominence. He said all the right things and his recruiting classes were impressive hauls. I was, as N would say, emotionally invested in seeing Rick succeed.
And look how it turned out. In the end, it made watching Rick fail not only difficult because UCLA was failing, but because I really liked the guy and hated to see him fail.
It’s a mistake I’m not going to repeat with Mora, which is difficult, because so far, he’s done everything right and it’s hard not to like someone who comes in, says this "over the wall" nonsense is bullshit and it’s ending, and promises to make UCLA into a winner, and then backs it up with excellent coaching hires and a killer first recruiting class.
If you want to go down the road I went down with Rick, by all means, do so. I won’t stop you. I hope it has a better ending, but it makes it hard to be objective when you become invested in a coach who has yet to coach a single college game, that’s all.
by Bellerophon on Feb 13, 2012 10:34 AM PST up reply actions
Also, just to reiterate what Nestor said earlier...
…Mora’s comments do come off awkward, and perhaps it is out of context, but like I mentioned, it does have the potential to start a little conflict between the current Falcons coaching staff and Mora, which could turn out to hurt UCLA in Georgia if, say, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the largest newspaper in Georgia, starts going negative about Mora.
You know, kind of like how they just did:
Lil’ Jimmy Mora is already running off his mouth in his new post at UCLA.
In an interview with Mike Carvell of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mora took some not-so -veiled shots at the current regime.
And here:
Mora took credit coaching Michael Vick. The same player who admitted to basically freesytling and to not bothering to read his game plan. Vick was the same player that he let run around the field dangling the ball around like a hand grenade. (BTW, he called it athletic arrogance. Others called it poor fundamental mechanics.)
Mora is correct. He is the last coach to guide the Falcons to a playoff win.
But he’s also the last Falcons coach to start the season 6-2 and finish 2-6 in 2005. He’s also the franchise’s last coach to coach a full season and post a losing record.
After going 11-5 in his first season, he went 8-8 and 7-9 before getting fired. His final record was 28-23 (.549) and 1-1 (.500) in the playoffs.
Smith, who took over after Vick was sent to federal prison and Bobby Petrino bolted under the cover of darkness, is 43-21 (.671). Smith is 0-3 (.000) in the playoffs.
And it’s even on the NFL Network:
Perhaps it was just a case of Jim Mora puffing out his chest, but the new UCLA coach certainly sounded like he was getting in a dig on the first NFL franchise to dump him in explaining the imprint he left in Atlanta.
This is the kind of press that doesn’t help Mora and it gives writers in the Atlanta MSM, who may have an agenda against him (i.e. their version of T.J. Simers), an opening to hammer at him, which could in turn, hurt UCLA’s recruiting prospects in Georgia. Will it for sure do that? I don’t know, but I think the perception that has come from this awkward quote reinforces the point Nestor made earlier.
by Bellerophon on Feb 13, 2012 10:42 AM PST up reply actions
Nothing to get worked up over
We just recommend to temper your expectations…see, we’re a little older, Budweiser. I mean, but wiser. We’ll just wait to see how things turn out during the season.
The thing with the Falcons? Meh, who cares? Let’s focus on the concrete stuff: good recruiting, good staff, good talk. The rest doesn’t matter at this point.
But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.
I hear you. At the end of the day
it will all boil down to the win/loss columns. Can CJM coach at this level successfully? I think that he can, but nobody really knows yet. I fully understand our shared frustration and disappointment with the lack of results under Neu. I think we all really wanted him to make it happen. It didn’t and yes, “we are older Budweiser” in that we don’t want to believe all the hype again. What happened under Neuheisel’s watch has little to do with Mora’s future success or (God forbid) failure. I am well aware of, but still shrugging off, the potential negatives and looking at the positive moves.
It’s all about net gain vs loss for me at this point. Neu left UCLA well stocked with some very good (if mostly underperfoming) athletes, a fact CJM graciously noted on national TV. So far, I think we are strongly in the net gain column because I like what Mora is doing. I cringed, too at the Falcons comment, but he is a Mora and they are known to speak their mind all too bluntly at times. A heavy dose of winning is an effective antidote to that affliction.
As far as comments about my posting, I have no problem with counter arguments to my take on a given topic. I am used to playing in the realm of national politics and foreign policy closed forums. I am chill in life/death situations, so nothing in here will faze me in the least. If I disagree with a rebuttal to my take, I will hold my ground or change my mind if the argument is compelling enough. I’ve been passionate about UCLA for longer than most of you have been alive. Passionate is not the same as gullible or starry eyed. It’s nice to see some posters who are before the Class of ’73 though. LOL!
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