Coaching Carousel Updates: UCLA Football Coach Jim Mora Drawing NFL Interest?

In a report this morning on NFL GameDay Morning, Ian Rapoport reported that two college coaches could possibly get some looks at NFL jobs.

One is Auburn coach Gus Malzahn. The NFL may try to find Chip Kelly 2.0 with Malzahn and saw how well molding Cam Newton when he was the offensive Coordinator.  Apparently the Miami Dolphins may be willing to look at Malzahn if they move on from Joe Philbin.

The other name that pops up, as it does every off season, is UCLA Football Coach Jim Mora.

"He is already getting interest from several NFL teams, I would expect the 49ers ... to have some interest in Jim Mora," Rapoport said.

Cue the panic from BN Frontpagers that are Niners fans.

Remember, Mora was the defensive coordinator for the Niners, and moved on to coach the Falcons and the Seahawks to less than stellar turns before taking the head job at UCLA.

Of course, the San Francisco job technically isn't open, but after the Niners blew a 21 point lead to the Chargers last night in a game that meant nothing except for draft position, the rumblings are probably getting louder in Santa Clara.  Of course, Coach Jim Harbaugh allegedly has an offer for 6 years for about $48-49 million, which would make him the highest paid coach in college (until Alabama restructures Saban's deal to fix that little problem) but he's very torn about whether he should take the job. His season ends in a week, and he would rather wait to see what pro opportunities pop up, but apparently friends and family are encouraging him to take the Michigan job.

Former Michigan players would love to have Harbaugh at Michigan:

"I would love to have him here," former Michigan tight end Derrick Walker, a teammate of Harbaugh’s for two seasons, told the Detroit News. "It would put us in a place where we haven’t been in the last eight to 10 years, no disrespect to Rich Rodriguez or Brady Hoke. It would bring instant credibility. He brings a winning culture."

Hmm. Instant credibility in a coaching hire. Wonder what that is like. Sure don't get that with our revenue sports at UCLA.

Of course, Michigan could just be trying to cast the widest net possible - they're allegedly targeting other coaches if Harbaugh turns them down, including the other Harbaugh (ha) but they also are looking at Sean Payton, Doug Marrone and Jason Garrett.  I guess on the bright side, Mora's name is no longer tied to this search... for now.

Looks like another off season of UCLA Coaching speculation. The disaster would truly come from Dan Guerrero having the opportunity to possibly screw up another major coaching hire.  If Mora leaves, who knows what NFL cast off we'll wind up with next.

Save the Bruins.