Nick Saban questions Jim Mora leaving UConn for Colorado State: 'I don't know why he would do such a thing'

Longtime head coach Jim Mora made headlines on Wednesday morning, as he’s set to leave the UConn Huskies for the Colorado State Rams. It’s a move from one Group of Five program to another, which caught some people by surprise nationally.

Among those caught by surprise was legendary head coach Nick Saban. He hadn’t heard about the hire until an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday afternoon. When they mentioned it to him, he had a blunt response.

“No, I have not heard that,” Nick Saban said. “But I don’t know why he would do such a thing.”

There are a few reasons why a coach might make the move from UConn to Colorado State. Mora is from the West Coast and while the state of Colorado isn’t the same as California or Washington, it’s also a lot closer than the state of Connecticut. The most notable reason why he might want to move on, however, is likely that UConn is an Independent. Colorado State, meanwhile, is in the Mountain West and will be moving into the new Pac-12.

“I like Jim Mora. I think he’s a good coach,” Saban said. “And I thought he was a good coach when he was in the NFL, as an assistant and as a head coach. So, it’s great for Colorado State, I think. Not so good for UConn.”

Certainly, it’s hard not to be impressed with the job Mora did at UConn. In 2022, he got to the program and inherited a team that had gone 1-11 the season before. Immediately, he got the Huskies bowl eligible. Since then, he’s added two nine-win seasons. That included winning a bowl in 2024. If the Huskies win their bowl this season, it would be their first double-digit win season since 1998.

Jim Mora is going to be asked to take on another reclamation project at Colorado State. At 2-9 overall and 1-6 in Mountain West play, it’s been a long season. They’re getting used to that, though, having made just one bowl game since 2018.

Whether or not Mora is able to succeed at Colorado State remains to be seen. He certainly was able to do that at UConn, a job where plenty of coaches before him had failed. Meanwhile, the Huskies are joining a crowded coaching carousel now. That’s not a place they had hoped to end up going into their bowl game this season.