UCLA's Jim Mora has come up regularly in Michigan coaching rumors, and two very distinct possibilities have emerged...
The first option: Mora is seriously interested in the Michigan position. UCLA is a solid program on the rise, but it just can't compete with Michigan's resources - while Mora is paid well at UCLA, he made $1.1 million less than Brady Hoke in 2014 (Mora makes $3.2m yearly, with Hoke's salary at $4.3). Mora has always been an ambitious coach, and has never spent more than five seasons in the same job, so him being interested in other positions - while mildly surprising, given UCLA's revival - wouldn't come as a huge shock.
The second option is more speculative - it's been brought up by a few people in the know at Michigan, but no one is totally sure what to make of it.
Mora's agent, Jimmy Sexton, is the most powerful agent in college football - and it isn't really close. Sexton, who works for mega-agency CAA, represents Mora, Alabama's Nick Saban, Auburn's Gus Malzahn, FSU's Jimbo Fisher, and a laundry list of other high-profile clients. Time and time again, Sexton's clients have been linked to another job...only to end up signing a lucrative extension with their current employer. We've seen it happen with Nick Saban (you probably remember the firestorm of rumors about him taking the Texas job after Mack Brown was fired) and a number of other Sexton clients over the years - several who have been linked to jobs recently vacated by other Sexton clients.
So, is Jim Mora really in play for Michigan, or is this a way for Sexton to get him a nice raise? Unfortunately, no one outside of Mora and Sexton knows for sure, but it would be a strong hint if Mora ends up extending his UCLA deal again after signing an extension just last winter. That contract extension came on the heels of Mora being linked to the vacant Washington job...a job that Alabama OC Doug Nussmeier, James Franklin (then at Vanderbilt), and a number of other CAA clients were linked to.
As things stand, Mora is still considered one of the top candidates for the Michigan job...so stay tuned.
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