UCLA Fires Jim Mora

UCLA Bruins head coach Jim Mora with his team in the tunnel prior to a NCAA college football game against the USC Trojans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, on Saturday, Nov. 18, 2017. (Photo by Keith Birmingham, Pasadena Star-News/SCNG)

UCLA coach Jim Mora was fired a day after losing to USC. Who came up with the $12 million?

163 thoughts on “UCLA Fires Jim Mora

  1. Those broke players who parents make 30k a year, according to Josh Rosen. Actually, I think it’s the California tax payers isn’t it? And they’ll be paying Chip Kelly’s 5 mil a year too, to go 5-6 every year. God Bless Jerry Brown. Can we raise gas prices another 100% to cover the UCLA football program?

  2. How do you like that?! Just when USC fans were getting to like Mora. Can’t say the same about Rosen. He ‘s now saying that he thinks UCLA “won the game” [we know he likes Hillary’s politics —but Hillary’s approach to losing, too?]. Beyond that he’s calling his own teammates out for the “stupid mistakes” that prevented him from coming out on top.
    #AllClassAllTheTime

    • Well it was their fault. Rosen didn’t drop a bunch of balls (on camera) and clip people and cover kick offs. It’s all on the players not named Rosen. Rosen won that game, his team lost it. And Helton made sure it was close so nobody in the CFP will practice when they are facing the Trojans, and that’s where he’s gonna win it all. The Genius Clay Helton.

      • A lot of what you said is correct, Sandy. And it’s okay for YOU to say it. But I’m fairly sure the Bruin Team would prefer that their forever self-seeking starting quarterback not say it.

        • Rosen was Jim Mora’s fatal mistake. Almost like ruin basketball coach Ben Howland with troubled but talented Reeves Nelson. Rosen once again cost the ruins the game, this time with that End Zone pick and fumble in the Red Zone. That hero complex of his is SO fun to watch…. you know he is going to blow it.

          • …and, after he blows it, it’s SO fun to watch him slam both hands to his helmet in exasperation at the ineptitude of his teammates. NFL receivers love playing for quarterbacks like that. They just LOVE it.

          • For such an allegedly smart young man, what did Rosen expect? The ruins ran an offense where the receivers were more like running backs who would catch the ball at the line of scrimmage and try to bull their way for yards. They had no decent downfield threat, sure handed receivers when they recruited him. It was a plan bound to fail. Without our TE Caleb Wilson, who transferred in, they would have had no one reliable to throw to this season.

          • Rosen was bound and determined to play for a school that would listen to his non ending kindergarten views and say, “you know, we think he’s got something there!”
            #AndThatWouldBeUCLA

          • Classic 22 non sequitur: “That hero complex of his is SO fun to watch….”

            It’s much easier to watch a “Hero Yarn” unfold as a giant SUCC lie.

          • Classic Lavar Ball- crying when you realized your ruins would be punked three straight under Rosen.

    • I predict a year long book tour promotion of his 512 page tome entitled “What Happened”, a searing insider look at everything from his prima donna days at Bosco, to his hot tubbing days as the Hugh Hefner of the ruin dorms and his understanding he would start as a true freshman and not even pretend to be a student. It promises to get to the bottom of the Vast Trojan Conspiracy against his ruins with those mean Pac 12 refs ruining his last season..

      • I think it’s time to be brutally honest, gt. There are about 700 reasons the Bruins lost (apart from scoring fewer points)—-they stretch from a “weaponized campaign of disinformation set in motion by the opposition” to USC’s team “driving a wedge between the poor and the middle class.”
        #….We’reAllToBlame

          • Correction, gt —-when he comes to, he’ll be blaming the Russians.
            #ThatWon’tBeForACoupleMoreHours

          • “Making a coaching change is never easy, but it’s an especially difficult decision when you know that a coach has given his all to our university,” athletic director Dan Guerrero said in a statement. “Jim helped reestablish our football program, and was instrumental in so many ways in moving the program forward.” Moving On Up?

          • I get it, gt —-you’re subtly pointing out how this same language can, at some point, be adopted by our A.D.
            #TheLessWork,TheBetter

          • Your very very bad year continued to worsen, Lavar, when it was revealed today that Rachel Mancow lied when she claimed the Trump campaign changed the GOP platform to weaken its stance on Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

            #Poor Lavar!Whataloser

    • Maybe that is the problem with UCLA, they think that they’ve won when, actually, they’ve lost.

      #MoralVictoriesmybehind

      • Hate to say this again –but Rosen isn’t clear on the fact that he piled up too few of the things he needed —-i.e., points— to claim that he won. It’s kind of like Heavyweight Jerry Quarry once saying that he would’ve won had he not been knocked out.

  3. As a USC alum I’m worried because UCLA will probably hire a good coach and we are stuck with…..

    • They can’t go any lower than last in the Pac 12 South…can they? if they get blown out by Cal Saturday and CO beats Utah they will tie for last place.

    • Lunderful, We have a Championship Quality USC Football Coaching Staff. if you understood the game of college football, which you don’t, for Helton’s Trojans to be 10 and 2 at this juncture is nothing short of amazing. What you don’t understand, Lunderful, and this important, the 22 men on the field of play must be experienced, smart (well coached), efficient, and HEALTHY to win the PAC12 Title and the NCAA National Championship. An enormous number of Coach Helton’s 2017 Trojans suffered crucial injuries. Injured and not playing, replaced by inexperienced, lightly coached (very young), hence inefficient players on the first string. Without 3 healthy Offensive Lineman, losing three of you top receivers (includes #88), losing an excellent TB, three Defensive Lineman, your best LB and one Defensive back, should spell DOOM. Lunderful, not if your Coaching staff is a step ahead of the competition. AD Swann, your Trojan Football has everything to be proud of this season. Even with #63 at left guard, let’s beat Wisconsin in the Fiesta Bowl.

        • Personally, I think family members of the coaching staff shouldn’t be allowed to post.
          (But seriously), Aside from the Notre Dame game, USC wasn’t the victim of any more injuries than any other team in the top 25. Beyond that injuries don’t account for the lack of imagination on offense and the utter disaster we call our ‘secondary.’ Helton is far from an awful coach, but he’d inspire more confidence if he didn’t say things like “there’s no such thing as a perfect game” after almost getting his head handed to him by UCLA. Coach Saban would have been LIVID with the performance USC turned in yesterday. And that’s why his teams get better.

          • Micheal I Understand some of your frustrations. But honestly, saying that they haven’t had more injuries than most in the top 25 is just wrong. I look at it every week. We had laundry list comparably speaking. Our high on IR was 24. We had on average 17 since the second game. Two of the three worst was the games we lost. Florida State, Florida but they are not top 25 teams and aren’t 10-2.

          • Ruin injuries are worse. They showed what they could do with an injury riddled receiving corps and front 7 yesterday.

          • We were over 18 on first and second string, including our whole d-line, 60% of our o-line our two top running backs…

          • I grant you most everything you said, Trojans 6942. But grant me this, it wasn’t injuries that prevented us from beating the spread against Western Michigan. That was our first game. And it wasn’t injuries that prevented us from beating the spread yesterday. We were healthy. Helton is far from a bad coach —in fact, with the right staff, he could be a very good coach—but he can’t use injuries as an excuse for the team under-performing this year.

          • Sorry Michael, but if I’m not mistaken Gustin didn’t play yesterday and Rasheem Green played hurt, missed practice most of the last three weeks, as did Nwosu, in addition we lost our left tackle in the first half yesterday, just sayin. But we did win, although not by much.

          • Against an even more injured UCLA team.
            Who does not play hurt in their 12th game?

            There is a factual inquiry to be made here. See my response above to 6942.

            No point in wandering in circles.

          • Interesting that both schools use the Catapult gps system to monitor players during the season, but that goes to endurance more than just injuries. Although players worn down will be more often injured. The curious thing to me is the number of back injuries this year seems higher.
            Injuries fluctuate year to year in any program, last year we had many fewer, not sure why. I’d love to see the breakdown for each school on a yearly basis, it would go a long way in evaluating the strength and conditioning program.

          • By the end of the season most everybody on the field is banged up. Green and, especially, Nwosu played well anyway. My point, though, is not that Helton has messed up an otherwise Championship Team — or that he couldn’t grow into being a fine coach. My point is that in every game this season, Helton almost cancels out all the good stuff he’s doing with this team by not recognizing when he’s in the middle of a critical situation.
            We’ll recover a fumble deep in scoring territory and he goes vanilla with 3 runs up the middle. It’ll be obvious that Imatorbhebhe isn’t right yet, but we’ll keep wasting down on him (don’t get me wrong, I love Daniel —but he didn’t have it against Colorado). Stuff like that —stuff that costs us points or first downs at important junctures of the games, causes concern. Helton will be impressive as hell and then call a needless timeout —only to have the team look confused when they get back on the field. It’s the little things that keep him—as good as he is– from being an elite coach.

          • Only took umbrage with your “we were healthy” comment. You know, as I’ve mentioned to you before, I don’t care about the coach or coaches, and will not comment on them during the season. I do however comment on the factual basis of some of the arguments.
            Don’t care about personal opinions. Everyone has them and they come here to post, for either side. I don’t agree with many on both sides of the coaching issue, and as I’ve said to others many times, if you look hard enough you’ll find facts to support any side. To me, and again it’s just my opinion, but this discussion only causes derision and negativity. Others feel differently and more power to them. I know you feel strongly about the team.

            The new playoff format has greatly changed how many see college football and the programs they follow. Wasn’t that long ago that any coach tha wins 20 games in consecutive seasons would’ve been considered successful, and he still has a chance to win 22 and is deemed a failure by many. That I find curious. And a little sad, if only from a nostalgic standpoint.
            Have a nice day.

          • For you my friend, anything.
            Don’t mean to come across as sanctimonious or dogmatic. Hardly that.

          • One of us will be right in two weeks. I say the rest will make us see a different team. Will win by double digits and look good doing it. But I thank you for a healthy debate.

          • USC seems to me, informally, to suffer lots of injuries every year. You claim to follow stats.

            Here is my question for you, 6942: does USC steadily have materially more injuries than Stanford? If yes, Stanford is supposedly a leader in using new technologies to reduce injuries.

            If Stanford has consistently fewer injuries, what are they doing to get that result?

          • That’s a great question. My suggestion wraps around that this team until this year has been limited with bodies but this year is a mystery. In the past they couldn’t get physical in practice which I believe actually helps cause injuries. Next yr wil be a better yr or at least I hope.

          • MG, you know I got your back and I mostly agree with u about the injuries. Injuries at key positions can, however, adversely affect a team more than others i.e. FSU

          • True, Arturo —and very, very few people are calling for Jimbo’s head. We Trojan fans are pretty unforgiving.

          • Last year, Coach Helton’s Trojans got better on both Offense and Defense each and every game following the loss to Utah. Michael, You can’t have it both ways.

          • True. (Personally, I wonder whether both Tee and Clancy know their days are numbered and are giving Clay 50% of their attention —because I agree with you, the team did get better every game last year after Utah….and I don’t but the stuff about the teams being weaker last year—-we beat teams that were loaded with talent and beat them good).

      • Sir , you don’t understand college ball. Alabama has lost a # of starters, and keeps on going. USC had almost all the players back for the ‘ruins on offense
        with Voorhes filling in nicely for Viane at the guard position. You must be high on something to come up with a statement regarding injuries. Offense scores only 3 TD’s against a team that gave up 44 to 58 pts. playing on the road in the five previous contests. The only injury that could have doomed the Trojans would have been to Sam Darnold. lHelton’s staff is mediocre, and Tee Martin is a lame play caller along with Tyson Helton.

        • “Sir, you don’t understand college ball. You must be high on something.” Steve B., It seems 97% of the Trojan Bloggers on SW’s Message Board and Steve B. don’t understand the significance of the
          2017 Trojan’s run of injuries. Injuries topping anything I’ve seen in my 55 years of playing close attention to Trojan Football. No, I’m not high on something and I resent the accusation. Your claim that Alabama gets by with injuries of this magnitude is nonsense. Edoga, Lobendahn, who had to be replaced by newcomer Hemsley early in the game, Burnett, Mitchell Jr, Imatorbhebhe, Anjeline, Carr are playing injured. On Defense, Green, Fatu, Rector, Marshall, Cam Smith who played the worst game of his career against the Bruins, incredibly slow a foot (injured ?) are playing injured., Missing: Talamaivoa, Toland iV, Tuipulotu, Gustin……Vorhees filling in nicely. Was Vorhees filling in nicely in games one, two, three, four,…twelve ? .

      • If Kelly wants to coach CFB and to be in a city, you are so right. My instinct is he goes to U. Florida.

  4. Mora will need the buyout dough to pay his daughter’s expenses at USC. This newspaper reported a year ago that his daughter attends USC as a full time undergrad. That fact must have made for an interesting recruiting visit if he ever tried to slam USC.

  5. I’m relieved. He did a lot of good for the Bruin program, including killer new facilities—but it was obviously time. It would be ironic if a trick punt triggers a series of events that lands Kelly at UCLA.

      • Several things, 22. To consistently land top 10-20 recruiting classes and rank dead last in FBS rushing D is inexcusable. Sloppy mistake-ridden football, lack of mental preparation… That’s the most talented 5-6 team in the nation… To go 9-14 the last two seasons… that’s coaching. great motivator and skills guy but not a coach to take a team to the CFP (which, as an alum, is my goal).

        • Helton’s thinking right now, “Thank goodness, USC doesn’t require all that to keep your job.”

        • You really think Kelly is coming to ucla ? I think that’s remote. ucla better get on hiring someone before your whole recruiting class goes bye bye, already lost 5

          • Yeah, always a concern when you lose recruits like that. However, they were mostly 3-star guys and not the cream of the class. Our elite dual-threat Bishop Gorman QB Dorian Thompson Robinson is fully on board. The biggest hurdle to UCLA landing Kelly isn’t money, it’s UCLA’s tough entrance requirements.

          • If you are a 5 star recruit, that 80 yard field would kill it for me. They don’t take football seriously over there.

          • Tell that to Billy Joe Jackson who could neither read or write, but he could play football.

          • So very true. The only time we overachieved was that bizarre year in the mid-00s when Drew Olsen channeled Troy Aikman his senior year and we went 10-2 after being picked to finish toward the bottom of the P12.

          • The cupboard will not be bare for the new coach. Mora tried, and succeeded for a bit, to change the culture in Westwood. It seems as though many UCLA coaches find some early success than fizzle. Why is that?

          • Since Wooden, the culture has always been as a basketball school, but that began to change under Mora, whose legacy will be the Wasserman Center and bringing alumni $ into the program. The mentality is changing, and the next coach can build on that foundation. Money is no longer an issue for landing an elite coach; Wasserman has led the way with a new paradigm of giving to the program. Facilities are now top notch as well. We shall see.

          • Mora was neurotic, crazy man. When he cups the def coordinator’s face, yells at the press, says crazy things, he is a legit looney tune. He should have stayed at ugly. He fit ugly to a tee.

          • 66-19 loss to USC that year. It was a very bizarre ucla season. You won squeaker after squeaker and even thrashed OU in the Rose Bowl.

            Didn’t he get arrested for DUI, or was that someone else?

          • It was indeed bizarre because the dumb UCLA fans and Karl Dorrell himself was about to name BEN Olson as the starter over Drew Olson in 2005. 99.9% of UCLA Bruin fans wanted Ben Olson. Don’t try to deny it. I was practically the only person on BruinGold and other boards who said DREW Olson should be the starter in 2005.

            There is no way Ben Olson would have led UCLA to that 10-2 season.

        • Well…how did UCLA end up dead last? Your problem and the rest of the dumb Bruin fans is that you can’t figure it out.

          You forgot to add to the part where UCLA consistently lands top 10-20 recruiting classes AND plays them as true freshmen and even STARTS two more this year in Holmes and Phillips.

          And yet again it’s proven they were not even the better guys. Wade is better than Phillips right now and Collin Samuel is better than Darnay Holmes and these dumb UCLA coaches couldn’t even see this.

          Taking 5 linebackers in 2013 and playing them all as true freshmen. 1. Myles Jack 2. Isaako Savaiaena 3. Cameron Judge 4. Deon Hollins 5. Jayon Brown.

          Then even after this the dumb UCLA coaches play and start Kenny Young as a true frosh and 99% of you dumb Bruin fans agreed with all of these moves and even promoted them and you know it.

          You do realize if those 2013 LB’s redshirted they would have still been on the team in 2017…right? Think about it.

    • It was time. LOL!! It’s time for you dumb UCLA fans to finally figure out that UCLA is going nowhere by continually playing so many true freshmen. Yet again…a ton of true freshmen play and they all pretty much did NOTHING.

      Darnay Holmes is a joke as a true frosh. Phillips hardly did anything also. What did Boss Tagaloa do as a true frosh or even true sophomore?

      The only UCLA players who tend to do well are the upper classmen. When you see a gang of redshirt seniors contributing for UCLA then you will know we have gotten somewhere. I guarantee it.

  6. I don’t think it’s going to be Chip Kelly. If it is they better hustle. Florida insiders say that Florida’s plane is scheduled for Bristol Conn. tomorrow. Mike Riley?

      • Well guess what for those who hate Kiffin, you may hate more soon. It would make perfect since. He has contacts with the high schools he knows the area. He knows the pac 12.

        • Would never happen. We hate Kiffin second only to USC fans (well, and Tennessee fans).

          • Best thing Kiffy would die for that job … his ex wife is out here having the time of her life and it’s killing Goatboy while he is stuck at some crap school with 2,000 fans watching

          • Oh my, quick stick, what’s up? Couldn’t care less. Not about PC or mora.. but you I care about. Started taking that little blue pill yet? Maybe your gf will let you change your handle!!

          • No reason to hate Lane Kiffin, who was 2-1 vs ucla and beat you 50-0. He had to coach the Trojans with his hands tied behind his back by the NCAA.

            The Kiffer would probably be a killer at ucla. I pray you never hire him. Talk about a killer instinct! His ultra-immediate rebound at FAU will land him wherever he wants within a year.

      • Well as long as guerrero is making the choice we’ll be good. Let’s look at his hiring history for football coaches. A who’s who of coaches.

        • With choices such as Toledo, Dorrelll, NewWeasel and now Mora, might it be time for the ruins to consider the qualifications of those doing the hiring?
          Just a question…

          • Many at ruinville have no question about it. Flew a plane with a banner over the Rose Bowl demanding both be let loose of their responsibilities.

          • Of course UCLA didn’t hire Paul Hackett, Sark the Dipso or fire Kiffy in a borrowed LAX office. 5 and 3 on 22.

          • Hard to get rid of the AD of the year? What happens if he’s replaced in a year, AD may want his own guy? AD’s are tied at the hip to their coaching choices, especially football, no?

          • If I was Wasserman I’d demand Guerrero resigns. They don’t even win in Olympic sports any more.

          • You are the Moron stooge who still wears his knee pads and services your master BJ Clinton. On your knees, intern!

    • Especially if it’s the first time in football history that any team couldn’t follow the flight of their own kick….
      #NewContactLensesForEverybodyOnUCLASpecialTeams

      • Owns aka Lavar Ball is being his typical Sore Loserman self as usual. You think he would try doing the opposite for once in his long waste of life.

        • Ha! Anything other than the sore loser bit would be such a breath of fresh air —-even it weren’t for real.

  7. Ucla can forget Kelly, he is a heavy lean to Florida.. No tax state.. Ucla will not pony up $10 million. Chip will be had for $ 9 mil ..Florida is in the driver’s seat ..

  8. According to Pollack and howard……..

    “The college game has past up Kelly and his offense”

  9. If UCLA hires a proven college football coach, then USC has something to be concerned about, especially if Clay Helton stays put .

    • Yes, at least until we find out who’s coming in. It’d be a big relief if it was Mr. T or better yet Ty Helton. LOL!

    • That’s a big IF. When was the last time ucla went outside and hired a proven college coach. It’s never happened actually, unless you go back to the days of Red Sanders.

      ucla’s far from out of the woods here. And just because Troy Aikman is involved means nothing. He’s just a name who knows a lot about he NFL. College, where he could never beat USC, hasn’t been his gig for a long time.

      • Lmao.. true, but I didn’t know Troy Aikman was involved, nevertheless, UCLA is a great job if they hire the right person

        • Nobody has ever been able to crack the underachieving football culture problem at ucla. Nobody. It’s like the bruins’s undiscoverable Holy Grail. Vermeil was there and gone for such a short time, he never established anything. Donahue never aimed high enough. He was good, never great.

          And ucla is a long time hoops school that’s obsessed with the long dead Wooden and trying to succeed in a city owned by USC football. Those are big hurdles to little gutty football success and that’s why ucla never wins consistently. This is no secret.

          You want to coach at PITT when PSU is there? How about Indiana or Purdue instead of Notre Dame? ucla is always in USC’s football shadow and 28-23 was just another nail in the little gutty football coffin. As soon as we got off sanctions, USC started hammering, or as just happened, torturing, ucla football – again.

          ucla football isn’t an easy job and the program is always viewed as one filled with super-talented underachievers who don’t develop and accomplish diddly.

          A lot of coaches don’t want to mess with that, especially with the big gorilla, USC, only 10 miles away.

  10. Jim Mora what a dummy. Goes with true freshman Josh Rosen in 2015 and that’s all you have to say which led to his and UCLA’s demise.

    The fact that he and his coaching staff got no relevant QB in their opinion between Brett Hundley and Rosen shows his true colors right there.

    I called it in 2015. All the dumb Bruin fans claimed Mora was doing the right thing going with 5 star Josh Rosen and dummies like 88Straight believed Rosen as a true frosh could lead UCLA to a conference championship. LOL!!!

    Then these same dumb UCLA fans thought 5 star Darnay Holmes and Jaelan Phillips were going to be a huge upgrade for the UCLA. D. LOL!!!

    The UCLA D played better with Phillips out and even with Holmes out. Holmes has gotten burned all year long.

    Rosen still making stupid mistakes also. There is no doubt there is talent on UCLA’s team but again dumb coaching has led to yet another mediocre season.

    UCLA needs to FIRE Dan Guerrero. He’s totally incompetent. 3 head football coaches and 3 firings. Karl Dorrell, Rick N. and now Mora.

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