Jim Mora Jr. May Have San Diego Chargers Job on His Radar
By Josh Hill
When a head coach fails in the NFL, or is pushed out of the league, they tend to want to come back and settle their unfinished business. Pete Carroll did this very thing and he’s finally making himself not look like a fool for doing so. But another failed NFL turned successful Pac 12 head coach may try to follow in Carroll’s footsteps in trying to right the wrongs from their failed NFL careers.
Jim Mora Jr. had a rough go of things with the Falcons in the long run, and was ultimately pushed out of the Atlanta after saying he’d take a college job if it was offered to him. After a 5-11 season with the Seahawks, Mora went to the college ranks to try and rebuild his name and reputation.
He did just that during his first season as head coach at UCLA.
But will Mora split for the NFL after just one year with the Bruins, and better yet, will an NFL team want to give him a job after a not so successful career in the pros? In Mora’s four NFL seasons, he’s posted a record of 31-33 with one playoff appearance and one season in which his team finished above third place.
The San Diego Chargers are going to make a coaching change at the end of the season and while sexier names like Gruden, Kelly and others are out there, Mora’s name can be thrown into the hat for a number of reasons.
The first of which, he’s familiar with the area and that’s extending beyond his UCLA ties. Mora’s first NFL coaching job was as a defensive quality control coach on Don Coryell’s staff in 1985. Mora would stay with the Chargers through two coaching changes, from Al Saunders in 1986 through Dan Henning in 1989.
Mora also worked his way up the coaching ladder in San Diego, becoming the Chargers defensive backs coach in 1989 until he left for New Orleans in 1992.
He also made a name for himself not far from UCLA or San Diego, in San Francisco as the 49ers defensive coordinator during the Steve Mariucci era. Combine that with his head coaching expierence in the NFL and his recent success at UCLA and you’ve got yourself a head coaching candidate.
when taking about the rumors, Mora simply said he was happy with UCLA.
Is he the best, flashiest option — absolutely not. But when it comes to hiring new head coaches, those choices usually fizzle out pretty quickly. Mora’s succeeded and failed in the NFL as a head coach, and while he’s said he had a good season with the Bruins and likes where the team is going, he stayed pretty far away from denying his interest in returning to San Diego to coach the Chargers.
The only thing is, will the Chargers consider him and will fans riot if a sexier name isn’t chosen as the new head coach?