With Jim Mora struggling, the UCLA Bruins could turn to these three head coaches as potential replacements.
After starting with so much promise, the Jim Mora era appears to be nearing its end at UCLA.
The Bruins were mired in mediocrity for over a decade prior to Mora’s arrival, and topped out at just seven wins during Rick Neuheisel’s tenure from 2008-2011. Mora, fresh off a pair of NFL head coaching jobs, turned in a 9-5 debut campaign before leading UCLA to back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since the mid-90s.
Things looked even more promising with highly-touted quarterback Josh Rosen set to arrive in 2015, and the Bruins put together a respectable 8-5 campaign with him under center as a freshman. However, the last two seasons have brought major regression, with UCLA slipping to 4-8 a year ago and struggling at 4-5 so far in 2017.
UCLA has been blown out in four of six Pac-12 games this year, and Friday’s 48-17 loss at Utah raises some definite red flags about his future. The defense has been shockingly bad with a mark of 38.8 points per game surrendered, and Mora doesn’t appear likely to reach that 10-win ceiling again.
This isn’t the best season to be looking for a head coach, with Florida already on the carousel, likely to be joined by Tennessee and Nebraska soon enough. The Bruins could have a tough time landing a top candidate like Scott Frost, who seems destined for Lincoln, or Matt Campbell, who may hold out for one of the SEC gigs.
Still, UCLA is an attractive enough job that can offer a big paycheck despite Mora’s buyout, and there’s a few more intriguing coaches available. Here are three realistic candidates to replace Mora at UCLA.
3. Ken Niumatalolo
Niumatalolo’s consistency at a difficult place to win has been nothing short of remarkable, and a few programs have shown interest for several years running. UCLA needs a lot of work to contend in the Pac-12, and changing styles to Niumatalolo’s triple option just might be worth try.
Over nine full years with Niumatalolo at the helm, Navy has missed a bowl game just once while winning at least eight games in every other season. The Midshipmen have gone 17-5 in conference play since joining the AAC, which might be just as difficult to navigate as the Pac-12 South.
Niumatalolo has found a way to put together terrific offenses no matter how much roster turnover he suffers, and could succeed right away even with a rebuilding program. While he’s undoubtedly built a special program at Navy, Niumatalolo may want to make the jump to a bigger program that won’t have so many recruiting restrictions at some point.
With the higher level of talent at a place like UCLA, Niumatalolo’s offense could be lethal. The only question is if Niumatalolo would stick with the triple option after moving to a power conference, but now might be the time for the Bruins to experiment
Few coaches are more respected than Niumatalolo, who deserves a shot at a major program after a terrific stint at Navy.