UCLA has its new coach it is Jim Mora.
UCLA has reached an agreement to hire former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks coach Jim Mora Jr., according to a person familiar with the situation.
UCLA is expected to make a formal announcement today, and he is to be introduced next week at a news conference.
Mora was born in Los Angeles and his father, Jim Mora, was an assistant coach at UCLA.
Jim Mora is no one's top choice. He was not wanted by anyone in college football. If the report dropped late late Friday night is true, he would be taking over a team with talent that should be able to win a weak PAC 12 South next season. We expect him to deliver if the choice has actually been made.
More telling is once again how Chianti Dan blew this chance. This was unlike pass searches; the money was there for a big name. However, we ended up with a guy who had never coached in college and had not been a head coach in years.
Before deciding on Mora, UCLA officials approached Boise State Coach Chris Petersen, who turned down the job. They also reached out to Miami Coach Al Golden, who told them he was not interested. Guerrero flew to Houston to meet with Houston Coach Kevin Sumlin on Dec. 3, but Sumlin was not offered the job.
I will offer one personal positive about the guy.
He was offered the Washington Redskins' job in 2007, when he was a Seattle assistant, but turned it down.
As a DC area resident, let me tell you only a fool or someone only interested in money would ever take that job. He showed some sense turning that done. Hopefully he is making the right decision going after the UCLA job this time.
We will wait for actual confirmation from UCLA athletics. They should know though that if this is indeed Mora, while we will give new coach a chance, we will not support UCLA athletics in any way until a new Athletic Director takes over for Dan Guerrero. This means all out war on Chianti Dan.
Go Bruins.