Jim L. Mora

Jim L. Mora

Mora as coach of the Atlanta Falcons
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	UCLA
Conference	Pac-12
Record	0–0
Biographical details
Born	(1961-11-19) November 19, 1961 Los Angeles, California
Playing career
Position(s)	Defensive back
Head coaching record
Overall	0–0 (college) 32–34 (NFL)
Tournaments	1–1 (NFL playoffs)

James Lawrence "Jim" Mora (born November 19, 1961) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head football coach at University of California, Los Angeles, a position he assumed in December 2011. More served as the head coach of the National Football League's Atlanta Falcons from 2004 to 2006 and Seattle Seahawks in 2009. On February 5, 2009, the Seahawks signed Mora to a five-year contract when Mike Holmgren retired following the 2008 season. Mora was fired on January 8, 2010, after going 5–11 in his only season as the Seahawks head coach. On December 10, 2011, after taking a two-year hiatus from coaching to work as an analyst for the NFL Network, Mora accepted the opportunity to replace the recently fired Rick Neuheisel as UCLA's head football coach.

More played college football at the University of Washington from 1980 to 1983, and spent the 1984 season there as a graduate assistant. He is the son of retired NFL head coach Jim E. Mora. To differentiate the two, the younger More is often referred to as "Jim Mora Jr." However some, like Monte Kiffin, refer to him as "J.L."

Early years and playing career

As the son of an assistant coach in college football, Mora lived in various locations as a child: primarily in Boulder, Colorado (ages 7–12) and also in California, mostly in the Los Angeles area. When Mora was 12, his father left the University of Colorado at Boulder after the 1973 football season to join the coaching staff at UCLA. His parents divorced in 1975.

After one season in Los Angeles, the elder Mora accepted a position at the University of Washington under new head coach Don James, and the Moras moved north from Los Angeles to the Seattle area when the younger Mora was 13. His father coached the defensive line at Washington for three seasons before moving over to the pro ranks with the Seattle Seahawks in 1978, where he coached for four years under Jack Patera. The younger Mora attended Hyak Junior High and Interlake High School in Bellevue, from which he graduated in 1980.

Mora attended the University of Washington, where he was a member of the fraternity Lambda Chi Alpha and played defensive back for the Huskies from 1980 to 1983, appearing in two Rose Bowls. He began his coaching career the fall after he finished college as a graduate assistant for the Huskies under James in 1984, and moved to the professional ranks the following year.

Assistant coach

Mora hired on as a quality control coach with the San Diego Chargers in 1985, moving up to coach the secondary in 1989. In 1992, he moved to the New Orleans Saints to coach under his father, head coach Jim E. Mora. In 1997, the younger Mora moved to the San Francisco 49ers to coach under Steve Mariucci, and became the 49ers' defensive coordinator in 1999.

On January 17, 2011, Mora interviewed with the Denver Broncos about becoming their next defensive coordinator. Reports were that the Philadelphia Eagles were also interested in interviewing Mora for that same position. Mora has announced that he will take 2011 off but would like to return to coaching. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Denver Broncos both had interviewed Mora for their defensive coordinator openings.

Head coach

In 2004, Jim Mora was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as their head coach. He led the Falcons to a record of 11–5 and a first round bye in the playoffs. Atlanta hosted and defeated the St. Louis Rams 47–17 in the divisional round, and advanced to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost 27–10 on the road to the Philadelphia Eagles.

In 2005, the Falcons went 8–8. Mora characterized the season as a "disappointing year." This non-winning season continued one of the NFL's strangest records - the Falcons had never had back-to-back winning seasons in the history of the franchise, a 40-year statistical oddity that no other modern professional team has matched. This record ended in 2009. During a rematch of the 2004 NFC Championship with the Philadelphia Eagles, Mora was seen smelling ammonia capsules on the sidelines during a Monday Night Football broadcast. John Madden noted that some coaches use the capsules during games, although they are mostly for players' use. Following the season, Mora signed a three-year contract extension with the Falcons, extending his contract through the 2009 season.

In 2006, the national media and the Falcons fans had high expectations. However, Mora led the Falcons to a 7–9 record, losing his final three games, including two at home, and missed the playoffs for a second straight year. On December 14, while the Falcons were still statistically alive in their quest for the playoffs, Mora said during a radio interview with Dave "Softy" Mahler and former Huskies teammate/roommate Hugh Millen on Seattle sports-talk radio station KJR-AM that if it were offered, he would take the head coaching job at the University of Washington (a job that was not open), "even if [the Falcons] were in a playoff run." While Mora later claimed that he was only kidding, he was criticized by many Falcons fans as well as members of the national media who claimed that making such comments was irresponsible. Team owner Arthur Blank publicly expressed his disapproval of Mora's comments.

Following the season, the Atlanta Falcons announced that they had fired Jim Mora. Arthur Blank told the media,

This was an extremely difficult decision for us. We had the highest hopes and aspirations for a long run with Jim as our coach, but we feel this decision is in the best long-term interests of our franchise. I have great respect for Jim's passion for the game, and we wish Jim and his family all of the best.

Mora turned to broadcasting after being fired from the Falcons when he became a contributor to NBC's playoff coverage.

The Seattle Seahawks announced on January 21, 2007, that Mora was joining their staff as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach.

Following the 2007 season, Mora interviewed for the Washington Redskins head coaching job after Joe Gibbs resigned, but Mora declined the position to stay with the Seahawks.

One year after the Seahawks planned on having Mora become the heir apparent to Mike Holmgren as head coach, Mora was officially named the 7th head coach in franchise history in 2009, upon Holmgren's retirement after the 2008 season. His first official press conference as the new Seahawks head coach was given on January 13, 2009, where he enthusiastically shared his vision of bringing a Super Bowl championship to Seattle and having a championship parade from the Space Needle to the 'Hawks stadium, Qwest Field.

Mora was fired on January 8, 2010, after going 5-11 in his only season as Seahawks head coach. Mora was replaced by former University of Southern California head coach, Pete Carroll.

On December 10, 2011, Mora was hired as the head coach for UCLA, replacing Rick Neuheisel. Mora signed a contract for 5 years, $12 million, plus incentives.

Broadcaster

After his dismissal by the Seahawks, Mora accepted a position as a commentator with the NFL Network.

In August 2010, Fox Sports announced that Mora would be serving as a color analyst on the network's NFL coverage for the 2010 season. He is a sideline reporter and will team with play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton and analyst Charles Davis to call regional games.

During NFL Network's Thursday Night Football schedule, Mora, alongside analysts Kurt Warner, Sterling Sharpe, Brian Billick, Jay Glazer, and host Fran Charles can be seen on Thursday Night Kickoff Presented by Sears from Los Angeles. Mora and Billick can also be seen every Monday during the season on The Coaches Show, providing a breakdown of the biggest storylines and decisions behind Sunday’s matchups from a head coach’s perspective.

Head coaching record

Team	Year	Regular Season					Post Season
		Won	Lost	Ties	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
ATL	2004	11	5	0	.688	1st in NFC South	1	1	.500	Lost to Philadelphia Eagles in NFC Championship Game.
ATL	2005	8	8	0	.500	3rd in NFC South	-	-	-	-
ATL	2006	7	9	0	.438	3rd in NFC South	-	-	-	-
ATL Total		26	22	0	.542		1	1	.500
SEA	2009	5	11	0	.313	3rd in NFC West
SEA Total		5	11	0	.313		-	-	-
Total		31	33	0	.470		1	1	.500

Coaching tree

NFL head coaches under whom Jim Mora Jr. has served:

• Don Coryell, San Diego Chargers (1985–1986)
• Al Saunders, San Diego Chargers (1986–1988)
• Dan Henning, San Diego Chargers (1989–1991)
• Jim E. Mora, New Orleans Saints (1992–1996)
• Steve Mariucci, San Francisco 49ers (1997–2002)
• Dennis Erickson, San Francisco 49ers (2003)

Following first head-coaching job

• Mike Holmgren, Seattle Seahawks (2007–2008)

Assistant coaches under Jim Mora Jr. who became NFL head coaches:

• Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders (2008–2010)

Family

Mora is married to Shannon, with a daughter Lillia, and three sons, Cole, Ryder and Trey. He has two brothers: Stephen, a mortgage broker in Bend, Oregon, and Michael, an architect in Seattle.

External links

• Seattle Seahawks profile