As Michigan's coaching search has started taking shape over the past week, one candidate has already emerged emerging as a credible dark horse - UCLA's Jim Mora.
With a 28-11 record in college and extensive NFL experience, Mora has the resume and the experience to be a well-received hire, but he's also a realistic candidate for a Michigan program that's lost some of its luster in recent years. While UCLA is a reputable program with plenty of history, it can't match Michigan's resources...and the Wolverines won't have much trouble matching (or raising) Mora's $1.9 million yearly salary if he really does want the job.
Mora's father, Jim Mora Sr., coached Stanford, Colorado, UCLA and Washington while his son was growing up, and the family moved frequently and he moved between coaching jobs. After graduating from the University of Washington, where he played linebacker as a walk-on, the younger Mora spent the year after graduation as an assistant there...but it wasn't long before the NFL came calling.
After just one year coaching the Huskies, Mora was hired as a lower-level assistant by the San Diego Chargers, and they promoted him to defensive backs coach after four seasons in 1989. Mora was hired away by his father in 1992, and he then joined the New Orleans Saints to fill the same position. After his father resigned in 1996, Mora moved on to the San Francisco 49ers, and after two successful years, they promoted him to defensive coordinator.
Four successful seasons as DC later, the Atlanta Falcons offered Mora a five-year, $7.5 million contract to be their head coach. Mora's first season ended 11-5, with the Falcons advancing all the way to the NFC Championship Game before losing to the Eagles.
The Falcons went 8-8 the next year, missing the playoffs, and Mora caught heat the next season when he joked about how he'd leave for the Washington Huskies job 'even if the Falcons were in the middle of a playoff run'. While Mora wasn't being serious, the comment rubbed fans (and the owner) the wrong way. Mora was fired after the season, after putting together a 26-22 overall record in Atlanta.
Mora then joined the Seattle Seahawks as an assistant, and he was promoted to head coach in 2009 after Mike Holmgren's retirement. Despite his ambitious plans for the Seahawks, Mora was fired after after the team went 5-11 in his first season.
With little interest in returning to the NFL, Mora took over as UCLA head coach after Rick Neuheisel was dismissed in late 2011. Mora immediately helped compile a top-15 recruiting class, and the Bruins took an immediate step up in his first year in charge, finishing 9-5 with a win over heated rival USC.
Mora's stint at UCLA has been an unvarnished success - the Bruins have finally turned the corner after their mid-2000's malaise, and are currently one of the top teams in the Pac-12 South. Mora has also landed UCLA's first megastar recruit in years, with five-star class of 2015 QB Josh Rosen committing in March. Mora has turned down overtures from both Washington and Texas so far, signing a six-year contract extension in the process.
Mora favors explosive pro-style offenses and physical, ball-hawking defenses, and the way he's been using two-way star Myles Jack on offense and defense proves he isn't afraid to innovate. His recruiting success at UCLA will translate anywhere (especially at a place like Michigan), and while a handful of UM fans would bristle at anyone who isn't Jim Harbaugh, the vast majority would see this is a very positive move for the program.
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