UConn coach Jim Mora informs staff he will take Colorado State job

UConn Huskies head coach Jim Mora is moving on to a new challenge. According to a report by On3’s Pete Nakos, Mora has informed his staff that he is taking the Colorado State Rams job.

This comes after rumors had been swirling that Mora could have his name involved in multiple jobs this cycle. It’s a credit to the turnaround job he’s been able to pull off at UConn. However, the move is also going to force the Huskies back into the coaching carousel.

Jim Mora first got to UConn in 2022. At the time, UConn was a major reclamation project. The Huskies were coming off a 1-11 season and hadn’t won more than three games in a season since 2015. They were also in their second season as an Independent, trying to adjust to life without a conference.

Almost immediately, he turned the UConn program around, winning six games and going to a bowl in 2022. Even with a step back in 2023, UConn has become a successful program in the past two seasons, winning a bowl in 2023 and in 2024, with a bowl win, the Huskies would have their first double-digit win season since 1998, when they were Division I-AA. Mora will leave UConn with a 27-23 record running the program.

Prior to his time at UConn, Jim Mora had experience both as an NFL head coach and a college head coach. That included a three-year stint where he led the Atlanta Falcons, where he took the Falcons to the NFC Championship Game once, as well as one difficult season with the Seattle Seahawks. Later, he would lead UCLA for six seasons, from 2012 to 2017. There, he put together two double-digit win seasons and two AP Top 25 finishes. However, he’d miss out on bowl games in his final two seasons there.

At Colorado State, Jim Mora is going to inherit another rebuild. At 2-9 overall and 1-6 in Mountain West play, the Rams are currently in last place in the Mountain West. That comes before they play their final game of the season against Air Force. That comes one year removed from it seeming like Jay Norvell had figured something out. In 2024, the Rams went to a bowl for the first time since 2017. For his part, Norvell went 18-26 during his time there.

A program that has invested heavily by Mountain West standards, Colorado State has yet to find the success on the field that it wants. The Rams’ last double-digit win season was in 2014. They also don’t have a conference championship since 2002, during the Sonny Lubick era.

Jim Mora will now look to make his impact felt at the Colorado State program. If he can capture some of the same spark he found at UConn, there’s no reason why the Rams can’t be competitive again soon.