Mora: "I Don't Want Mercenaries On My Team"

Appearing today on the Rich Eisen Show, UCLA Head Coach Jim Mora explained why he wasn't interested in recruiting Everett Golson to come to UCLA.

Mora told Eisen:

There was a lot of speculation that we might be interested in Everett Golson because we do have a young quarterback group and we have a very effective team, but we never even talked about it. I don't want mercenaries on my team. I want guys who grew up in our culture and who understand what we're all about. I think that when you bring in a fifth year guy, especially at a position like quarterback, he has too much influence on guys that I want to have influence on and our staff wants to have influence on....In order to have sustained success, in my estimation, you have to build a core. When you bring in mercenaries, you fracture that core....Obviously, Jimbo Fisher disagrees. He's won the national championship. I haven't. That's just my opinion.

In response to a follow-up question by Eisen, Coach Mora clarified his use of the word "mercenary." He said that it wasn't a reference to Florida State doing anything they shouldn't be doing and he probably gave FSU more credit than most fans would in that regard. He explained that he meant someone that's coming in for a year and then is gone.

Coach Mora also spoke a little about the experience the team had with Malcolm Bunche last year and he seemed to distinguish between the role of a lineman versus the role of a quarterback who is called upon to lead the team.

Overall, it's an excellent explanation, even if it doesn't explain why UCLA had tried to recruit Vernon Adams, Jr. from Eastern Washington earlier this year.

Go Bruins!!!