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UCLA coaching search: Chip Kelly and the candidates to replace Jim Mora

By Brad Berreman

Oct 11, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins fans with letters on their chests cheer against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 11, 2014; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins fans with letters on their chests cheer against the Oregon Ducks at Rose Bowl. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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After Saturday night’s loss to rival USC, UCLA has fired Jim Mora. Here are three potential candidates to take over the Bruins.

With a 28-23 loss to USC making a win over Cal next week mandatory to earn a bowl bid, Jim Mora has been fired as head coach at UCLA. Offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season

Mora re-established UCLA’s football program early in his tenure, with a 29-11 record over his first three seasons and two 10-win seasons (2013 and 2014). But eight wins in 2015, with a freshman quarterback named Josh Rosen, dissolved to 4-8 last year and 5-6 now this year. Hot seat talk as 2016 wound down continued into this season and came to fruition on Sunday.

The UCLA job is appealing for multiple reasons, perhaps most notably fruitful recruiting ground in California and warm weather year-round. A wide search, with former Bruin quarterback Troy Aikman among those to be consulted for some reason, is now in store.

Here are three candidates to step in as the head coach at UCLA heading toward 2018.

3. Jim Leavitt

Leavitt went 95-57 as head coach at South Florida from the program’s inception in 1997 through 2009. After a hiatus from coaching he worked as linebackers coach for the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-2014), and after serving as defensive coordinator at Colorado the previous two seasons he’s in his first season in the same role at Oregon.

Leavitt was thought to have a verbal agreement to succeed Bill Snyder as head coach at Kansas State, but Snyder nixed it so his son Sean can be his successor. Leavitt worked under Snyder at Kansas State from 1990 to 1995, so some apparent disdain from Snyder’s end is hard to explain beyond nepotism.

Leavitt has done good work with Oregon’s defense this year, taking it from the 126th in the country in total defense in 2016 to 50th as this year nears an end. By comparison, UCLA’s defense, due in part to the departure of some NFL talent, has gone the opposite direction (59th to 124th in total defense). That drop-off explains Mora’s firing, more than anything else.

Leavitt may be an under-the-radar candidate for more than one open head coaching job this cycle. But UCLA should be in line to interview him.

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